So. My black steering wheel is getting pretty old. I'd like a "newer one" but since I'm looking I'd really love more steering wheel controls.

Newer Altimas have much more controls and almost the same design (2002+)

Has anyone ventured down this path or am I gonna be a lone ranger with the wiring?

 

aaron92se has a 5.5gen wheel on his car. I sent him the slip-ring assembly (non-airbag 3rd gens only) which he put onto his 5.5 wheel so the cruise buttons and horn would work. I don't know how much easier/harder it would be to use an airbag-wheel (spiral cable). the mounting hub is the same for all of them... at least 240sx, maxima, and 300zx all mount up interchangeably... surraTT had a 90SE wheel on his 85z, and i have a 240sx wheel on my 85z.

but yea your main issue will be making sure the electronic hookups and buttons work properly. what kind of controls are you trying to add anyhow? volume/track controls? that might not work anyways, because i don't know many/any aftermarket head units that accept those kind of button controls... my bro's 6th gen has those buttons but they're useless with his aftermarket h/u.

 

I have a 4th gen SE leather-wrapped in my 90 GXE. It works perfectly, and since my 90 doesnt have airbags, there was no concern for the hook-up.

http://carphotos.cardomain.com/ride_...0046_large.jpg

 

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_127SWIX...ml?o=v&tp=3405

Might work, no?

 

would you like a black steering column cover so that it matches the wheel? i have one you can buy.

 

i don't really pay much attention to car audio haha. i haven't heard of other people using it, but if you want to try it i'm sure it would make a few people happy.

 

Yeah. what the hell. After I'm done doing a million other things I say I'm gonna do i'll test it out for ****s and giggles. worse comes to worst I'll craigslist it.

 

I have to say I really love the steering wheel controls on my FX35. They are well designed and easy to use, especially the cruise and the volume controls (only picture I have of it right off hand).



I think the newer Maximas use a similar set up.

I had a QX4 before the FX and the steering wheel controls for the audio were a little clumsy to me, kind of behind the wheel on the LH side.

 

So basically Any Gen maxima steering wheel will will work in a 3rd gen non airbag??? and if so is there a special tool needed for the steering hub or is it a basic Nut?

 

but the later-year wheels ALL have airbags, meaning they all have spiral cables, meaning they might work better on an airbag-equipped 3rd gen than a non-SRS one... cuz aaron actually bought the slipring from me and somehow mounted it on his 5th gen wheel b/c otherwise it would not have worked on his non-airbag car. as far as i'm aware, nissan steering wheels use a spiralcable for the SRS type (some 92, and all 93+), and a slipring for the non-SRS (some 92 and all 91-and-older).

so as far as audio controls and whatnot, I was thinking that it had a digital system that encodes/decodes the audio controls so that you don't need eleventybillion wires inside the spiral cable... In fact the z31 GLL models used this sort of system (albeit with sliprings for the cruise/horn rather than a spiral cable), with some sort of crude fiber-optic transmitter and an optical sensing ring.

http://www.boredmder.com/FSM/Nissan/300zx/1988/ start on EL-126.... just to give you an idea. dunno if the 6th gen or INfiniti wheels are the same tho.

edit: actually the 05 maxima's wheel uses just 3 wires for the audio controls, and depending on the combination of wires used, and the voltage coming across the wires (due to several resistors in the circuit whose resistances each correspond to a different signal) and a receiver box just interprets the signals. that probably means that if you push a bunch of buttons all at once haha. here's how the 6th gen wheel works:

power all goes thru a brown wire and is split to the switches. this is probably 12v. then the signal comes back thru a blue wire and a white wire. so you have a total of 3 wires.
volume up: white thru 2 resistors = low voltage signal
volume down: blue thru 2 resistors = low voltage signal
track/seek up: white thru 1 resistor = medium voltage signal
track/seek down: blue thru 1 resistor = medium voltage signal
power: blue thru 0 resistors = 12v signal
mode: white thru 0 resistors = 12v signal
so if you wanna try getting a wheel like that, then the crutchfield thing you posted just might work....