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Navigator Steering Wheel Swap Tutorial!

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Old Sep 22, 2017 | 11:45 PM
  #1  
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Navigator Steering Wheel Swap Tutorial!

My current Expedition stock wheel had taken a severe toll from the southern sun. So- instead of buying the same, boring Vinyl wheel, I ordered a Navigator wheel from eBay. I also ordered a clockspring (which I did not need because I did not add the EATC or MACH audio controls!) I'll get right into the tutorial and cut the introduction:

The tools required for this swap are as follows:
Soldering Iron/Solder
Electrical Tape
Multimeter (only need continuity/resistance, so a harbor freight meter will work fine)
Navigator Wheel
Navigator Clockspring (ONLY REQUIRED IF YOU WISH TO ADD EATC AND MACH CONTROLS)
Torx t50 socket
Threadlocker
2 tooth puller or any way to pull the wheel
8mm socket
wire strippers/snippers
2 zip ties
a flat head (to remove the bolt covers)

***AS ALWAYS WHEN HANDLING THE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM OF YOUR CAR ALWAYS DISCONNECT THE BATTERY, ESPECIALLY WHEN WORKING WITH THE AIRBAG YOU MUST WAIT 30 MINUTES TO WORK ON THE CAR***

1) Disconnect the battery, and wait 30 minutes until you work on the car.
2) Remove the bolt covers from the side of the steering wheel (circles on the trim of the steering wheels)
3)Remove the airbag by unbolting the two 8mm bolts you just uncovered.
**BE VERY CAREFUL WHEN HANDLING AN AIRBAG MAKE SURE YOU PLACE IT FACING UP SO IT DOES NOT BECOME A PROJECTILE IN THE CASE OF A MISFIRING**
**ALSO BE CAREFUL WITH THE WIRING OF THE AIRBAG**
4) Disconnect the two leads to the airbag. the red clip requires a screwdriver to remove.
5) Set the airbag aside for now in a safe place
6) Remove the torx t-50 bolt from the center of the steering wheel.
7) Pull the steering wheel off using your desired method.

Now, this is where the two installations differentiate.
If you have an XLT model and only want cruise control, which is about 4x easier and can be completed in only 1 hour, use this route.

1) Cut the old steering wheel connector that plugged into the clockspring (it is the flat connector), leaving about 5 inches of leads for soldering and fitment.
2) Cut the connector off of the navigator wheel, leaving as much length as you would like.
3) Peel back some of the electrical tape from the navigator wheel's wiring loom. Just enough to solder.
4) Most of the wires color match, with one exception: the horn wire on a 2002 Expedition is an orange/dark green wire. The horn wire on a navigator is BLACK. To make things even more confusing, the ground wire on the navigator is also black.
5) Probe for continuity between the black wire's pin on the red connector of the wheel between the two black wires in the loom. The one that has continuity to the horn wire should be soldered to the orange/dark green wire from your expedition.
6) Solder the rest of the wires that color match (there are two blue and red wires from the navigator, solder those two together with the wire from the expedition.
7) tape up your connections, and zip tie the wire loom to the top of the metal frame of the wheel.
8) Install the wheel, which is the reversal of the removal, except
**YOU MUST ADD LOCKTITE TO THE BOLT OF THE STEERING WHEEL AND TORQUE THE BOLT DO NOT STRIP THE THREADS**

Now, for all of you King Ranch and Lariat who want EATC and MACH controls:

You must find two donor pins to mount into the connectors for the respective units. (I recommend getting more than one, as they are prone to breaking.)
i.e. A pin from the EATC electrical connector from a donor can be mounted into your existing pigtail by inserting the pin from the back.
Also, your clockspring must be from a navigator from around the same model year, so 2000-2002 for my case.

Lets get to it!
1) Remove the trim pieces around the steering column. (I am not going to go into depth with this one, as there are guides available elsewhere).
2) Verify that the colors of the navigator clockspring match the colors of your current clockspring before you cut the wires.
3) Cut wires of your OEM clockspring, leaving as much room as you can for soldering
4) Color match all of the wires, but leave the Brown wire, as well as the Blue/White wire.
5) Solder a wire to the brown wire long enough to run through the dash into the radio cavity. Solder the pin from the donor vehicle, and insert the pin through the back of connector number 261. The pin to be added is called pin 14, which will be labeled on the connector itself.
6) Run the white/blue wire to the pin number 8 of the EATC connector
7) Mount the new clockspring
8) Install the wheel, which is the reversal of the removal, except
**YOU MUST ADD LOCKTITE TO THE BOLT OF THE STEERING WHEEL AND TORQUE THE BOLT DO NOT STRIP THE THREADS**

Bask in your glorious Wooden wheel.
I will somehow post pictures of how it looks in the expedition. This is applicable to F-150s as well happy cruising!

EDIT: I forgot to mention that doing this will retain the lighting within the steering wheel buttons as well!
The new navigator wheel in an expedition
 

Last edited by kevmobile; Oct 1, 2017 at 12:24 PM. Reason: adding pics
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Old Nov 25, 2017 | 03:53 AM
  #2  
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I did this very swap this summer into my 98 F150. Once I found a 2000 Gator clock spring, that was affordable, I went ahead and did the swap. There is some cutting and soldering involved to swap plug ends, but it is worth it in the end, IMO.

I do not have the electronic heat/AC controller, so I only did the redundant audio wheel controls. I have an Android head, it has built in controls for adding SWC's, so that made it easy. I ran the wire from the c/s and added it to the radio "key" wires and set things up to work from there. I have SWC's and love it.

I did this very thing to an 07 Mustang, using a 2012 Boss steering wheel, and adding the correct 2 switches, and two wires, I had SWC's. I used this set up for a factory, Job 2 radio with navigation. Swapping to an Android, like I'm doing in the spring, is plug and play now.
 
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Old May 24, 2018 | 05:47 PM
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Help with wiring

Hello I have a 02 f150 lariat and I am replacing my steering wheel with an 01 navigator wood steering wheel and I am having problems with this wiring can I get some help please!
 
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Old May 24, 2018 | 09:35 PM
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If anyone is available I would like to get some help on wiring my 01 navigator steering wheel to my 02 f150.
 
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Old May 25, 2018 | 11:29 AM
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Originally Posted by Dktnt20
If anyone is available I would like to get some help on wiring my 01 navigator steering wheel to my 02 f150.
Are you trying to use a factory radio or are you swapping up to a double din? The radio makes a big difference if you can make the swap work or not. If you are talking about the wiring for the F150 vs Navigator, then I can post those color wires to change. If you are talking about the wiring down the column to the radio, you will first need the Navigator clock spring. Post up the parts you have, what you are trying to use for a head, and I'll try and post the correct wiring colors for your truck.
 
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Old May 25, 2018 | 03:49 PM
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I also dont know if it matters but I have a crew cab lariat... so I just want to get the correct wiring order so I can soldier the wires and have cruise control
 
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Old Jun 6, 2018 | 04:22 AM
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Do I need the clockspring if I have an Android like pumpkin? the notes say "ford resistance based analog signal input steering wheel"

Also what year models and ranges can I swap in? I saw EATC mentioned. Is there a way to wire that to my 01 SCAB?

Thanks
 
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Old Jun 6, 2018 | 03:09 PM
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If you didn't have the controls before, you will need the clockspring to make them active. The heater head change is so major an undertaking, it's not a viable swap out.

I have the same type android head, but without the signal from the buttons, it has nothing to read from. So, to make it short, you need the clockspring swap to make things work. At least you don't need a PAC connector with that head. Good luck.
 
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Old Sep 14, 2019 | 02:15 PM
  #9  
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Originally Posted by kevmobile
My current Expedition stock wheel had taken a severe toll from the southern sun. So- instead of buying the same, boring Vinyl wheel, I ordered a Navigator wheel from eBay. I also ordered a clockspring (which I did not need because I did not add the EATC or MACH audio controls!) I'll get right into the tutorial and cut the introduction:

The tools required for this swap are as follows:
Soldering Iron/Solder
Electrical Tape
Multimeter (only need continuity/resistance, so a harbor freight meter will work fine)
Navigator Wheel
Navigator Clockspring (ONLY REQUIRED IF YOU WISH TO ADD EATC AND MACH CONTROLS)
Torx t50 socket
Threadlocker
2 tooth puller or any way to pull the wheel
8mm socket
wire strippers/snippers
2 zip ties
a flat head (to remove the bolt covers)

***AS ALWAYS WHEN HANDLING THE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM OF YOUR CAR ALWAYS DISCONNECT THE BATTERY, ESPECIALLY WHEN WORKING WITH THE AIRBAG YOU MUST WAIT 30 MINUTES TO WORK ON THE CAR***

1) Disconnect the battery, and wait 30 minutes until you work on the car.
2) Remove the bolt covers from the side of the steering wheel (circles on the trim of the steering wheels)
3)Remove the airbag by unbolting the two 8mm bolts you just uncovered.
**BE VERY CAREFUL WHEN HANDLING AN AIRBAG MAKE SURE YOU PLACE IT FACING UP SO IT DOES NOT BECOME A PROJECTILE IN THE CASE OF A MISFIRING**
**ALSO BE CAREFUL WITH THE WIRING OF THE AIRBAG**
4) Disconnect the two leads to the airbag. the red clip requires a screwdriver to remove.
5) Set the airbag aside for now in a safe place
6) Remove the torx t-50 bolt from the center of the steering wheel.
7) Pull the steering wheel off using your desired method.

Now, this is where the two installations differentiate.
If you have an XLT model and only want cruise control, which is about 4x easier and can be completed in only 1 hour, use this route.

1) Cut the old steering wheel connector that plugged into the clockspring (it is the flat connector), leaving about 5 inches of leads for soldering and fitment.
2) Cut the connector off of the navigator wheel, leaving as much length as you would like.
3) Peel back some of the electrical tape from the navigator wheel's wiring loom. Just enough to solder.
4) Most of the wires color match, with one exception: the horn wire on a 2002 Expedition is an orange/dark green wire. The horn wire on a navigator is BLACK. To make things even more confusing, the ground wire on the navigator is also black.
5) Probe for continuity between the black wire's pin on the red connector of the wheel between the two black wires in the loom. The one that has continuity to the horn wire should be soldered to the orange/dark green wire from your expedition.
6) Solder the rest of the wires that color match (there are two blue and red wires from the navigator, solder those two together with the wire from the expedition.
7) tape up your connections, and zip tie the wire loom to the top of the metal frame of the wheel.
8) Install the wheel, which is the reversal of the removal, except
**YOU MUST ADD LOCKTITE TO THE BOLT OF THE STEERING WHEEL AND TORQUE THE BOLT DO NOT STRIP THE THREADS**

Now, for all of you King Ranch and Lariat who want EATC and MACH controls:

You must find two donor pins to mount into the connectors for the respective units. (I recommend getting more than one, as they are prone to breaking.)
i.e. A pin from the EATC electrical connector from a donor can be mounted into your existing pigtail by inserting the pin from the back.
Also, your clockspring must be from a navigator from around the same model year, so 2000-2002 for my case.

Lets get to it!
1) Remove the trim pieces around the steering column. (I am not going to go into depth with this one, as there are guides available elsewhere).
2) Verify that the colors of the navigator clockspring match the colors of your current clockspring before you cut the wires.
3) Cut wires of your OEM clockspring, leaving as much room as you can for soldering
4) Color match all of the wires, but leave the Brown wire, as well as the Blue/White wire.
5) Solder a wire to the brown wire long enough to run through the dash into the radio cavity. Solder the pin from the donor vehicle, and insert the pin through the back of connector number 261. The pin to be added is called pin 14, which will be labeled on the connector itself.
6) Run the white/blue wire to the pin number 8 of the EATC connector
7) Mount the new clockspring
8) Install the wheel, which is the reversal of the removal, except
**YOU MUST ADD LOCKTITE TO THE BOLT OF THE STEERING WHEEL AND TORQUE THE BOLT DO NOT STRIP THE THREADS**

Bask in your glorious Wooden wheel.
I will somehow post pictures of how it looks in the expedition. This is applicable to F-150s as well happy cruising!

EDIT: I forgot to mention that doing this will retain the lighting within the steering wheel buttons as well!
The new navigator wheel in an expedition
I have a 2001 f150 and im doing the same swap everything was the same other than two wires on the truck side which is a yellow and black, also on the navigator clock spring i have one blue/red striped wire left. What would they go to
 
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Old Oct 17, 2019 | 10:43 AM
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Those wires may be for the audio control and the a/c sytem. You can leave them disconnected.
 
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Old Oct 17, 2019 | 11:24 AM
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I figured out that they went to my radio controls and when connected to pins 8 and 14 on my radio allowed them to work with my factory radio
 
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Old May 9, 2020 | 05:06 PM
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which wires went where?
Originally Posted by John utz
I figured out that they went to my radio controls and when connected to pins 8 and 14 on my radio allowed them to work with my factory radio
 
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Old May 9, 2020 | 05:19 PM
  #13  
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Originally Posted by Benjamin Denley
which wires went where?

This should be the pinout if not pm me on Facebook its easier to use

 
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Old May 10, 2020 | 12:44 PM
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I don’t know which one you are on Facebook.
 
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Old May 10, 2020 | 12:54 PM
  #15  
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Originally Posted by Benjamin Denley
I don’t know which one you are on Facebook.
marcus utz the guy who sent you the link to here
 
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