Aftermarket steering wheel

im sure people out there have installed an after market steering wheel on a taco with airbags, looking for what I need in order to do that. Looking for a true wooden wheel and whatever kit I need to install it. Don’t mind doing away with the airbags. Any info would be highly appreciated thanks

 

Easiest thing to do would be to get Camry or Lexus steering wheel with wood and install with little to no changes being made.

 

If losing the airbag (I pulled my 95, but would have left a later 97-on- the first generation of airbags had ... issues ..., but the second-changed went went to dual airbags-> lower powered & much safer) ...

Find a wheel you like.

Get an adapter kit that suits your wheel type, using 91-94 models for the spline size.
There are 3 hole bolt patterns in the typical wheels, plus 9, 11, & more bolts, each with their own hubs.
1 is 5 lug & most commonly Grant or APC.
2 Are 6 hole- one with holes at the top & bottom center & the other centered left & right (Momo, Nardi, Sparco etc)

This is install (highly simplified):
Take dash apart
Remove the airbag
Remove the clockspring & wiring (connectors)
Install adapter, spacer, & wheel
Figure out how to run a horn
Put dash back together


I’m running a customized 2-spoke Grant 16” wheel:

 

Awesome thank you

 

If you don’t care about the airbag or controls, then I would say 75% of all Toyota steering wheels will fit on the steering column. The splines on the shaft has been the same for decades on a majority of Toyota vehicles.

The early 2000’s Lexus IS300 wheel fits just fine, plus the clockspring is compatible so you can have the airbag and the horn. Or the column shifters if you so choose to wire them up.

 

OP has an 03.
I’m not sure which airbag wheels are compatible.
It does have the better airbag, so I’d keep an airbag if it was mine.

Rereading my earlier post, I was a bit confusing.

The first generation of airbags was introduced in the 1980s as one of several passive restraint systems then required by federal regulations. Most of the other involved some form of seat belt mounting, including door mounted, track mounted, & others.
Over time, the airbag proved to be the best type, as most others were worse than just using seatbelts (inc. people falling out of cars when doors opened during wrecks).
Over the first decade or so of use, however, problems with airbags were found too, with reports of injuries caused by the airbag itself that would not have happened otherwise, esp to arms, hands, wrists, faces, & even necks. Pretty much every “air bags are dangerous” story originates from these early airbags.
In fact, I have scars on both thumb-bases from a deployment that was fairly minor front end damage. My hands spun around the wheel from bag deployment & popped the stalks behind the wheel. That resulted in jet-black buises & bleeding.

Anyways, in the late 1990s, it was realized that the bags themselves were seriously overpowered. So, they were depowered (significantly). They also expanded to dual front, then side, etc.

Most manufacturers went from a single high-power airbag to dual lower powered/safer airbags. The Tacoma did that during 1997 production, with early 97 built models having single airbags & late 97s having dual airbags.

 

Information, so can make an informed decision.

I pulled bags from my 90 Miata & 95 Taco, but left it in the 09 xB.

Also, stuff on an 03 might vary from other gen 1s, besides the gen 2s.

Edit- my father thinks I’m an idiot for pulling the Taco bag

 

The hands? Why the hands?

 

Showing the scars ...
I’ll remove them.

 

Why the hands .... visuals

 

Oh. I can't see anything out of the ordinary. Just pores and hairs.

 

There are rectangles on each one- about 1/2x1” where the coloring is darker (picks up sun differently) & shinier than the rest-subtly, but there.


I probably see it better as I know them as the back of my hand ...
hahahahaha


Edit- all that was meant as an aside, not a major detour.

 

So, interested in an airbagged wheel?


For non-bagged-
There is a 6-hole one on Ebay that would look good, similar to stock size too:
15” diameter-