How hard is it to replace a steering wheel with the smart wheel?

I'm looking at buying a used T680 and it doesn't have the smart wheel (buttons for radio controls and cruise control on the steering wheel). Is it possible and if so is it even worth the effort to try and replace the standard steering wheel with a smart wheel?

 

I would just ask Kenworth what is involved just to get an idea if it's worth it or not.

 

You need clock spring , smart module , new wiring to steering column , wheel.
I plan to do on my t660

 

There are aftermarket radios that have a wireless remote that installs on steering wheel.

 

Why in the name of sanity do you want a less comfortable, more dirt prone overpriced peice of junk that will deteriorate rapidly and cause more problems as buttons fail (few years ago the smartwheel direct replacement was about 2.5k) instead of a standard tilt/telescope wheel?

 

I'd just get one of these.

 

That was a good idea. I called a KW shop and the wiring for the smart wheel isn't built in if you don't get it from the factory so they'd have to do a lot of rewiring. It's also possible that the ecu would have to be programmed to recognize the buttons. Yeah I can live without the buttons.

 

Can I remove my smart wheel and replace it with a aftermarket wheel without buttons and still have all the functions?

 

You will need to set up new switches and figure out which wire goes where on the new switches. But yes.

Consider attached picture, cruise control set/speed up and resume/slow down is simply a momentary switch, on off is simply a regular switch

Bottom left, winch in is speed up/set cruise
Winch out is decel/resume.
Next over is simple on off

Dont do it if you dont like a challenge but its relatively simple