Attention: TDR Forum Junkies 
jltcasper3
TDR MEMBER
3rd gen steering wheel on a second gen with radio controls
Here is all the information in one spot, not much info out there on how to make everything actually work. Here it all is, and its more difficult than initially anticipated.
This was being installed on a 98 12 valve, steering wheel was bought off ebay and are for 02—09 rams with radio steering wheel controls. Steering wheel part # 5je341dvah steering harness part # 56049424. There are a few different color and options on the steering wheels fyi.
Making steer wheel fit and drive clock wheel
First, the steer wheel splines are the same but the clock wheel does not quite fit right to drive it. What I did was grind out the bottom edge of steer wheel mount so clock wheel will clear, I used a carbide burr and die grinder. Then there are 2 spring detent locks in clock wheel that do not get pushed in now, if they are not pushed in the clock wheel does not spin. Easiest way to make this work was take clock wheel apart and remove those spring detent lock tabs and reassemble, they pull right out when the clock wheel cover is taken off. Steering wheel will bolt up now.
Cruise control conversion
3 resisters need modified in the 3rd gen switches to make cruise work
Original switch ohm ratings specs are for 98 ram: (page 8h-3 of manual) (2 pin switch)
Left button
On/off—909 ohms +/- 9 ohms
Set—6.65K ohms +/- 66 ohms
Right button
Resume/accel—15.4 ohms +/- 154 ohms
Coast—2.94 K ohms +/- 29 ohms
Cancel—0 ohms closed circuit
No buttons pushed—open circuit
2005 ram 2500 specs (page 9-641 gas 5.7) (the 3rd gens have 2 signal circuits and test differently based on what pins you ohm to witch, it’s a 3 pin switch)
Ohms between pins 1 and 2
Not pressing any switch - 20.5 kohms
On/Off - 8.87 kohms
Set - 0.825 kohms
Coast - 0.47 kohms
Cancel - 3.92 kohms
Resume/Accel - 1.87 kohms
ohms between pins 2 and 3
Not pressing any switch - 20.5 kohms
On/Off - 0.47 kohms
Set - 5.49 kohms
Coast - 2.94 kohms
Cancel - 1.24 kohms
Resume/Accel - 15.4 kohms
So first off we do not want any continuity when no switches are pressed
Left switch will be wired using pins 1 and 2
Right switch will be wired between pins 2 and 3
Doing this there is no continuity when no switches are pressed, the specs above say differently but my tests show this works.
So the resume/acell, and coast buttons are good
The cancel switch needs resister taken out and the joint bridged with solder to make it close to 0 ohms
On/off switch resister needs changed to 909 ohm
Set switch resister needs changed to 6.65 k
So what resister is what. Take the switch cover off and peel up rubber, resisters positions are below in sketch. The 3 resisters need modified. Sketch is of circuit board resister positions.
res
#ad
SEE SWITCH BOARD RESISTER ATTACHMENT
resisters are surface mount type and are size 0805. I found them on amazon.
Amazon product ASIN B09NQYPXLS
Amazon product ASIN B09X6GPXMP
These resisters are very very tiny and extremely difficult to solder so if you have a electronics repair store, you might take it there that’s what I did.
Then you must modify the wiring connectors on the steering wheel harness and connect them to the correct clock wheel wire for the 98 ram. The steering wheel harness from the 05 has 3 wires for cruise, you must cut off connector and your using the wires that come from pins 2 and 3 on right switch and pins 1 and 2 on left switch combine them and pin it to your own connector and hook up to clock wheel wires. Two of the 05 wires in steering harness won’t be used, just tape them off.
If your using radio steering wheel controls you will need a 99 and up second gen clock wheel on a 98 that is. If you are not, the original clock wheel will work, connectors will need changed though so you can hook things up, I just used a Deutsch style connector and pinned it how I wanted.
RADIO CONTROLS
For radio steering wheel controls, like I said above, you will need the different clock wheel witch will have 2 more wires. Even if you have a 99 and up if it did not have the steering wheel controls option your clock wheel may be wrong ??. I used a dorman one from rock auto part #525104 . That means you also need the clock wheel connector on bottom of steering wheel to have 2 more pins, it’s already a 5 pin connector with only 3 pins in it. The terminals I could not find, so best bet is to go to junk yard and cut off a pigtail and depin it and insert terminals into connector and then wire it. The wires will be, one is ground and other is signal to steering wheel control box. The original wires would have went to a module and then onto the radio both 99 and 2005. You will have to have an aftermarket radio that can take steering wheel controls, I am using a kenwood ddx9705s double din. The steering wheel control box I used is a Axxess ASWC-1. https://axxessinterfaces.com/product/ASWC-1#product-features
I found a great link on how to make this work.
https://www.dieseltruckresource.com.../adding-steering-wheel-radio-controls-322496/
wire it like this:
#ad
SEE RAM RADIO BUTTONS ATTACHEMNT
The 3.5mm jack connection you see above, my kenwood does not have this, so there is an adapter that comes with the aswc-1 box, use that and the brown wire coming out of it and it will connect to the kenwoods blue/yel wire for remote. It programmed and everything works.
AIR BAG
I have not tested anything to know if the air bag will actually work. Do at your own risk.
98 air bag has 1 connector. The 2005 air bag has 2 connectors. Here is operation out of manual of 2005. Page8o-273.
OPERATION
The multistage driver airbag is deployed by electrical signals generated by the Airbag Control Module (ACM)
through the driver airbag squib 1 and squib 2 circuits to the two initiators in the airbag inflator. By using two initiators,
the airbag can be deployed at multiple levels of force. The force level is controlled by the ACM to suit the
monitored impact conditions by providing one of three delay intervals between the electrical signals provided to the
two initiators. The longer the delay between these signals, the less forcefully the airbag will deploy.
-I hooked up the 98 rams single air bag connector to both squib lines on 05 air bag one at a time, air bag light would not go off. Upon further inspection of the connector on 05 air bag, there is shorting bars across terminals and the 98 connector is slightly different and doesn’t unshort them I think. I got some cut off pigtails for the 05 air bag, wired both them together and hooked up, light still would not go off. Hooked one up at a time and the light goes off, you can hook either up one at a time and the light goes off but together it stays on. I did experiment with a resister in the air bag connector and a 2.2 ohm resister does shut the light off, FYI.
View attachment 137431
Here is all the information in one spot, not much info out there on how to make everything actually work. Here it all is, and its more difficult than initially anticipated.
This was being installed on a 98 12 valve, steering wheel was bought off ebay and are for 02—09 rams with radio steering wheel controls. Steering wheel part # 5je341dvah steering harness part # 56049424. There are a few different color and options on the steering wheels fyi.
Making steer wheel fit and drive clock wheel
First, the steer wheel splines are the same but the clock wheel does not quite fit right to drive it. What I did was grind out the bottom edge of steer wheel mount so clock wheel will clear, I used a carbide burr and die grinder. Then there are 2 spring detent locks in clock wheel that do not get pushed in now, if they are not pushed in the clock wheel does not spin. Easiest way to make this work was take clock wheel apart and remove those spring detent lock tabs and reassemble, they pull right out when the clock wheel cover is taken off. Steering wheel will bolt up now.
Cruise control conversion
3 resisters need modified in the 3rd gen switches to make cruise work
Original switch ohm ratings specs are for 98 ram: (page 8h-3 of manual) (2 pin switch)
Left button
On/off—909 ohms +/- 9 ohms
Set—6.65K ohms +/- 66 ohms
Right button
Resume/accel—15.4 ohms +/- 154 ohms
Coast—2.94 K ohms +/- 29 ohms
Cancel—0 ohms closed circuit
No buttons pushed—open circuit
2005 ram 2500 specs (page 9-641 gas 5.7) (the 3rd gens have 2 signal circuits and test differently based on what pins you ohm to witch, it’s a 3 pin switch)
Ohms between pins 1 and 2
Not pressing any switch - 20.5 kohms
On/Off - 8.87 kohms
Set - 0.825 kohms
Coast - 0.47 kohms
Cancel - 3.92 kohms
Resume/Accel - 1.87 kohms
ohms between pins 2 and 3
Not pressing any switch - 20.5 kohms
On/Off - 0.47 kohms
Set - 5.49 kohms
Coast - 2.94 kohms
Cancel - 1.24 kohms
Resume/Accel - 15.4 kohms
So first off we do not want any continuity when no switches are pressed
Left switch will be wired using pins 1 and 2
Right switch will be wired between pins 2 and 3
Doing this there is no continuity when no switches are pressed, the specs above say differently but my tests show this works.
So the resume/acell, and coast buttons are good
The cancel switch needs resister taken out and the joint bridged with solder to make it close to 0 ohms
On/off switch resister needs changed to 909 ohm
Set switch resister needs changed to 6.65 k
So what resister is what. Take the switch cover off and peel up rubber, resisters positions are below in sketch. The 3 resisters need modified. Sketch is of circuit board resister positions.
res
#adSEE SWITCH BOARD RESISTER ATTACHMENT
resisters are surface mount type and are size 0805. I found them on amazon.
Amazon product ASIN B09NQYPXLS
Amazon product ASIN B09X6GPXMP
These resisters are very very tiny and extremely difficult to solder so if you have a electronics repair store, you might take it there that’s what I did.
Then you must modify the wiring connectors on the steering wheel harness and connect them to the correct clock wheel wire for the 98 ram. The steering wheel harness from the 05 has 3 wires for cruise, you must cut off connector and your using the wires that come from pins 2 and 3 on right switch and pins 1 and 2 on left switch combine them and pin it to your own connector and hook up to clock wheel wires. Two of the 05 wires in steering harness won’t be used, just tape them off.
If your using radio steering wheel controls you will need a 99 and up second gen clock wheel on a 98 that is. If you are not, the original clock wheel will work, connectors will need changed though so you can hook things up, I just used a Deutsch style connector and pinned it how I wanted.
RADIO CONTROLS
For radio steering wheel controls, like I said above, you will need the different clock wheel witch will have 2 more wires. Even if you have a 99 and up if it did not have the steering wheel controls option your clock wheel may be wrong ??. I used a dorman one from rock auto part #525104 . That means you also need the clock wheel connector on bottom of steering wheel to have 2 more pins, it’s already a 5 pin connector with only 3 pins in it. The terminals I could not find, so best bet is to go to junk yard and cut off a pigtail and depin it and insert terminals into connector and then wire it. The wires will be, one is ground and other is signal to steering wheel control box. The original wires would have went to a module and then onto the radio both 99 and 2005. You will have to have an aftermarket radio that can take steering wheel controls, I am using a kenwood ddx9705s double din. The steering wheel control box I used is a Axxess ASWC-1. https://axxessinterfaces.com/product/ASWC-1#product-features
I found a great link on how to make this work.
https://www.dieseltruckresource.com.../adding-steering-wheel-radio-controls-322496/
wire it like this:
#adSEE RAM RADIO BUTTONS ATTACHEMNT
The 3.5mm jack connection you see above, my kenwood does not have this, so there is an adapter that comes with the aswc-1 box, use that and the brown wire coming out of it and it will connect to the kenwoods blue/yel wire for remote. It programmed and everything works.
AIR BAG
I have not tested anything to know if the air bag will actually work. Do at your own risk.
98 air bag has 1 connector. The 2005 air bag has 2 connectors. Here is operation out of manual of 2005. Page8o-273.
OPERATION
The multistage driver airbag is deployed by electrical signals generated by the Airbag Control Module (ACM)
through the driver airbag squib 1 and squib 2 circuits to the two initiators in the airbag inflator. By using two initiators,
the airbag can be deployed at multiple levels of force. The force level is controlled by the ACM to suit the
monitored impact conditions by providing one of three delay intervals between the electrical signals provided to the
two initiators. The longer the delay between these signals, the less forcefully the airbag will deploy.
-I hooked up the 98 rams single air bag connector to both squib lines on 05 air bag one at a time, air bag light would not go off. Upon further inspection of the connector on 05 air bag, there is shorting bars across terminals and the 98 connector is slightly different and doesn’t unshort them I think. I got some cut off pigtails for the 05 air bag, wired both them together and hooked up, light still would not go off. Hooked one up at a time and the light goes off, you can hook either up one at a time and the light goes off but together it stays on. I did experiment with a resister in the air bag connector and a 2.2 ohm resister does shut the light off, FYI.
View attachment 137431
