Getting wires down steering column

**blazinlow** · 08-04-2006, 06:11 PM

I have a truck, no airbag, but id like to put one of those PS2 mini keyboards right where the horn is...

the steering wheel is old-school style, the horn cap just pops off and has the center lock nut then you pull the wheel off. Under the wheel is a lock plate, and under that is the horn rotor and the turn signal cams.. There's not really any place to run a wire from the top of the steering wheel down the column without it twisting up...

Now Ive searched these forums, the only think i could see working is trying to find one of those Spring Coil Assembly units and somehow retrofitting it..since its 5 conductor it should easily work with 4-wire USB - maybe i can grab one out of a 95+ Blazer and change the column over to the newer one, but I can only see this as a last resort...

Any ideas?

**shotgunefx** · 08-04-2006, 06:16 PM

Outside of retrofitting a "Clock Spring", I don't see how you can, but maybe I'm missing something.

If you hack something, I have a feeling it will end up being roughly the same idea anyway.

I believe more or less, it's just a ribbon cable coiled so it can't slip out the sides.

That or maybe you could make a circular pcb with 4 circular traces, and use wipers on the steering wheel side to make the contacts, like a potentiometer.

**Enforcer** · 08-04-2006, 06:38 PM

get an RF keyboard, no need to run wires

**blazinlow** · 08-04-2006, 06:47 PM

Originally Posted by Enforcer

get an RF keyboard, no need to run wires

I have one. It works fine, but its a pain to use...It sits in the back seat and i have to find it first, then usually something is on top of it so the batteries last about a week...

The steering wheel keyboard is the way to go, it would be comfortable to use, easy to type on since Im used to my PDA, and just cool looking.

For reference, this is what my steering wheel looks like: