I have a 2007 E350 with the 5.4 and it does not have cruise control. I'm going to make me a traveling camper out of this, so I will be doing a lot of highway driving and would like to have the cruise option. I see after market options for about every year except the 2007, but I'm guessing maybe that has to do with the recall fire issue and people worrying about liability maybe?

I read a couple of threads here that said all you needed in most cases was the steering wheel with the cruise and to take that to the Ford place and have them program it. Is there a way to verify that my van is cruise ready if I buy the steering wheel? I see you can also buy the switch buttons and harness together on ebay, so I could probably even go that route. I've actually found the steering wheel cheaper though.

My problem is I want to verify my van has the rest of the needed accessories before shelling out for the steering wheel or cruise switches. Is there any real difference in the cruise control functions between a 2008 and a 2007 model E350 or even a 2007 F350 with the same motor? If they sell an after market kit for a 2008 E350, would that work on my 2007?

Any help or suggestions with this would be helpful.

 

I've looked into this same item with my '05 E350.

From what I've found, to add cruse control to this era van, you'll need to replace the steering wheel and the clock spring. Then the ECU will need to be flashed at a dealer to "turn on" the cruse control function.

But, the ABS light can not be on, as this will cancel out the cruse control.

The years that this applies to is from '05-'07. There was a change in '08, and anything before '05 is set-up different.

Yes, there are some $300 "kits" out there, but if you can find a van at the pick-and-pull in this era, get the steering wheel (with the switches) and the clock spring, your way ahead on dollars spent. Just need to spend the $100 or so at the dealer for flashing.

 

Thanks for the reply Wildman. I have found a nice leather steering wheel with the cruise and a clockspring for $100. I called the dealer and they charge $100 to flash it. So, for roughly $200 and some change, I can add stock cruise and get an upgraded steering wheel as a bonus.

I don't have any ABS issues on my unit either as it was well maintained in a fleet service before I bought it, so in really good shape with only 150K miles.

 

Please follow up and let us know how it works out. I am currently on the hunt for a cruise steering wheel and clock spring for my '06 E250 and plan to have it flashed and then hopefully have functional cruise control!

-Brad

 

Follow up: Ok, I just wanted to follow up and let everyone know the outcome of this in case you run into it in the future. I searched car-part.com and found a long list of available steering wheels with the cruise. I got the steering wheel and the clockspring delivered to my front door for $100.00.

It was relatively simple to swap out the old one for the new one. The hardest part was breaking loose the steering nut that holds the wheel in place. It was about a 30 minute process for a novice like myself, so someone with some experience could probably swap it out in 15 or 20 minutes.

Once I got it all apart, I could not tell any difference between the clockspring I took out and the new one, so I'm not convinced you need a clockspring in this process? I got the steering wheel with the cruise for $50, so I could have saved $50 maybe if I had not bought the clockspring too? Either way, I swapped out the clockspring just in case since I had it. Again, it looked exactly like the one I took out though?

So, after about a 30 to 40 minutes swap job, I took the van out to the local Ford place. Of course they had no idea what I was talking about when I asked them to flash the cruise to "on." The first mechanic that came out didn't have a clue either, but they brought out an older guy and he knew immediately and said he would take care of it. I left it with them over night and picked it up the next day.

The cost for the dealer to flash the cruise to on was $96.00. So for roughly $196.00, I now have cruise control and a brand new looking steering wheel on my 2007 E350. I'm stoked, because most of the after market options were high, and in my research I found that a few people bought the OEM steering kit that is sold and that kit alone is $500, and my wheel looks like new and was $50.00. Again, I don't think I needed to change my clockspring, and that did cost me an additional $50.00 so if it wasn't needed, I could have done this for $150.

Anyway, I've tested the cruise and it works like a charm! So again, all I needed to do was swap out the old wheel for a new one with the cruise control. All of the plugs were exactly like the old one, so everything goes back together exactly as you took it apart. Once you swap out the wheel, just take it to the dealer and have them flash the cruise to "on" and you should be good to go. Much easier than I expected really. Again, the hardest part was breaking the bolt lose that holds the steering wheel in place and then getting the dealer to flash the PCM.

The only real difference between my model van with cruise and without is the steering and programming. Seems like it would be cheaper for Ford to just add cruise to them all I would think?

 

Thanks for the update.

 

Yea, Thanks for the update.

I wouldn't second guest replacing the clock-spring. Even thought they "looked" the same, with the same pig-tail connectors, it's what the internal wiring is doing what matters, and everything I've read on this calls for the correct clock-spring.

My hold up is time to get to the p-n-p for the parts, when there available, and getting the problem solved with my ABS light, which was just scanned and there is a problem with "power" to the pump, so it's a bad wire or a bad ABS Control Module $$$.

I do like your idea of going thru car-part.com.

I got to get on this, yesterday was another 6+ hour drive without cruise, and numb right leg today

An air impact on the steer wheel nut for removal would solve time/that problem.