2001 to 1996 steering wheel swap ? | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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2001 to 1996 steering wheel swap ?

skipperman

Member
Joined
May 21, 2015
Messages
17
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0
City, State
New Jersey
Year, Model & Trim Level
1996
Read a LOT of posts here but I'm still confused ...... will a 2001 explorer steering wheel be a direct bolt on into a 1996 explorer ?? ( Or what would have to be done ??? ).

.... thanks in advance guys, Skip
 






C'mon guys ...... If nobody ON HERE knows the answer ..... then NOBODY ON THE PLANET KNOWS .... ;-)
 






It's an interesting question and reading it I got curious and was wondering to find out myself hoping for an answer.
I have no clue if a 2001 explorer steering wheel can be directly bolted to a 96 Explorer steering column.

All I can say is, expect a swap to require getting a matching clock spring, because I'd certainly expect different connectors for different cruise control buttons and different types of airbags.
And who knows, you might have to do some soldering to get a cruise control connected also.

But the job of re-wiring electric connectors to make a new airbag fit for example is something that should definitely NOT be done by each and every amateur back yard mechanic! That should much rather only be done by people who REALLY know what they are doing and know how to do it thoroughly and properly test everything afterwards!

Pretty much all over western Europe for example anyone who would be legally allowed to do such a modification to a car replacing an airbag would have to be certified and have a government license and would in many cases even be required to have a special certificate to legally be allowed to work with explosives and to store the parts.

I really don't know how much the steering wheels changed in those 5 years and how much they vary from trim to trim. But I would try to research the airbags and clock springs and try to find out if and how they might be interchangeable or not.

Sorry, but that's all I can say.
Hope you get it figured out and if you do, please post your results. Good luck!
 






Mechanically, probably the same, wiring is going to be a little different however.
 






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