Jeep Wrangler JK Cruise Control Retrofit

Chris

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I just picked up my JK about 2 weeks ago and it is about as bare bones as you can get. Even though I won't be putting a ton of miles on it, I will be using it for commuting during crappy winter weather. My commute is 120 miles a day on the highway so cruise control was an absolute must. So here we go. I picked up the kit from jeepsareus.com from their Ebay store and had it delivered just a few days after I placed the order.

Step #1 Use a 10mm wrench and disconnect the battery's negative terminal. I would suggest laying a rag over the terminal to make sure it doesn't accidentally fall back into place and makes a connection while you are working. MAKE SURE TO GIVE IT A FEW MINUTES TO DISCHARGE THE CAPACITORS IN THE AIR BAG CIRCUIT BEFORE YOU GO TO STEP #2. I believe the directions call for 2 minutes. I work on electronics 40+ hours a week and don't trust them at all. I gave it a good 5-10 minutes. You don't want an accidental deployment of the airbag.......especially if it is sitting in your lap when it goes off.

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Step #2 Jump into the drivers seat and lower the tilt steering wheel to its lowest setting
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Step #3 The included instructions call for a stubby flat bladed screwdriver. As pointed out in the other thread.......this is actually what you want. It makes removing the airbag a breeze, and that is the hardest part of the install
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Step #4 Take your handy little S shaped screw driver and find the 3 access holes around the rear of the steering wheel shroud. Slide the screwdriver in until you feel it stop. At this point just just push the screw driver towards the front of the Jeep and you should feel it grab and pop one of the metal loops off their hooks. The next few pics will give a better explanation than I could ever do with words.

Slide the screwdriver in the access hole
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Then pop the metal loops off of the hooks. There are three in total.

The metal hoop in the foreground w/ one of the hooks on the right
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followed by a better look at one of the hooks
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Step #5 Disconnect the two connections to the airbag. ONCE AGAIN, MAKE SURE THE BATTERY HAS BEEN DISCONNECTED FOR A FEW MINUTES BEFORE YOU TOUCH THESE CONNECTIONS. This is also a nice shot of all 3 hoops and hooks that you removed in the previous step
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Step #6 Use a 13mm socket and extension to remove the center bolt of the steering wheel.
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Step #7 Remove the white connector that attaches the horn buttons to the steering column
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Step #8 Gently pull the steering wheel towards you. This may take a little wiggle/rocking action to remove the steering wheel from the hub, but by no means should you have to pull hard. If you yank on it, you will most likely either damage one of the wiring harnesses or give yourself a black eye when the steering wheel releases and wacks you in the face.

here is a view of the hub once the steering wheel has been removed
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Step #9 Flip the steering wheel over and remove the 4 T20 Torx screws in order to remove the plastic shroud from the steering wheel
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Step #10 Once you have the shroud removed, you should use a pair of needle nose pliers to pinch the backside and remove the horn buttons from the steering wheel. You will be replacing the harness with the new one that is supplied in the kit so take notice to how the wiring is run and the orientation of the horn buttons. Personally, I installed the new harness one horn button at a time as I removed the old one.

Removing the old horn buttons
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The new harness that comes with the kit. This has an added pigtail that plugs into the cruise control stalk.
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The new harness installed. Notice the orientation of the horn buttons and the pigtail in the 12 o'clock position.
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Step #11 Installing the new included shroud onto the steering wheel. Here are the new and old shroud side be side. Old on the right, and new on the left. Notice the cutout for the cruise control stalk on the shroud on the left.
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Reuse the 4 T20 Torx screws to secure the new shroud to the steering wheel
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Step #12 Install the included cruise control stalk onto the steering wheel assembly.
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Secure it from the back of the steering wheel using the two small included screws
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Flip the steering wheel over and secure the front of the stalk using the remaining included larger screw
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Step #13 Connect the wiring harness pigtail to the newly installed cruise control stalk
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Step #14 Feed the airbag wires from the hub back through the steering wheel and align the steering wheel back onto the steering column, lining up the little arrow on the center of the steering wheel with the small alignment mark on the splined shaft of the steering column. The steering wheel should slide right back into place with almost no effort. Do not force it.
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Step #15 Once the steering wheel is back in place, connect the white connector from the steering wheel harness to the connector on the hub.
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Step #16 Install and torque the steering wheel center bolt to 36 ft-lbs.
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Step #17 DOUBLE CHECK THAT YOUR BATTERY IS STILL DISCONNECTED. Then reconnect the two connections for the airbag.
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Step #18 Inspect all of the wiring to make sure nothing will be pinched upon reassembly, line up the airbag with the steering wheel like so, and apply pressure like you are blowing the horn. This should cause the metal hoops to snap back into place over the steering wheel hooks.
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Step #19 Reconnect the battery's negative terminal and tighten with a 10mm wrench. I will also WARN YOU.......for some reason as soon as I connected my battery back up, my horn let out a quick BEEEP. Not a big deal if you are expecting it, but quite startling if you are stretched across the front of your jeep and it goes off unexpectedly. Had to check my underoos after that.
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Thats it. Easy as pie. Take her for a spin and try it out. The install took me a little over an hour, but that was due to really taking my time and taking pictures. Its really a 30-45 min job tops. Enjoy, and feel free to shoot me a PM if anyone has any questions.
 
Hi Chris,

I read your post from 2019 Cruise Control. I am in the same spot. However, it would appear these kits are no longer available. Do you have the part number you ordered from Jeepsareus or another supplier? Thanks
 
Chris another question. What was the difference between the old horn harness and the new harness. It would appear the wires were the cruise switch sits is longer. Is that it?

Perry
 
All is not lost. While MOPAR quit selling the complete cruise control kit. I reassembled all the parts and tell you where to get the best deal.

But first here are a few notes. Chris's installation procedure above is excellent and no need to duplicate but my 2008 JK was slightly different.
  1. Removing the Steering wheel back cover. My factory-installed cover did not have the access holes like those depicted above. Mine were behind (can't see) except for the one located and 6 o'clock position, it was bigger. The other two are at 10 and 2 o'clock positions. you will need to remove the upper steering wheel ignition switch cover which is held on by three torx screws under the steering wheel ignition switch lower cover. The bottom cover is a pain to remove so I only removed the top cover and turned the steering wheel to access the holes to remove the air bag/horn cover as described above.
  2. Speed Control Switch Covers - See ** below. My installed cover had a filler tab where the speed switch would mount. If so you can remove those screws and filler tab and use the screws to mount the switch. You will need a small self-taping screw to finish the speed control switch installation. If your Steering Wheel Back Cover is like mine you will not need those parts. But if not I left them in the list below with a **.
  3. Finally MoparFactoryParts was the best place I found they not only had all the parts but were by far the cheapest. My local MOPAR dealer wanted $375 and six weeks to deliver.
  4. Took me about 1.5 hours. The hardest part was getting the horn cover off. You have to get a beefy screwdriver up in there and twist it to pop those hooks off.
Good Luck

parts@moparfactoryparts.com

Part NumberPart NamePriceQuantityTotal
68003477AAHorn / Speed Controls / Radio Control Switch Connector$70.431$70.43
4671929ACSpeed Control Switch$45.831$45.83
6KK05ZJ8AA**Steering Wheel Back Cover (Black) back collar$8.591$8.59
6KK06ZJ8AA**Steering Wheel Back Cover (Brown/Gray) filler tab$2.361$2.36
6KK05XDVAA**Steering Wheel Back Cover (Black) back collar$8.291$8.29
6KK06XDVAA**Steering Wheel Back Cover (Brown/Gray) filler tab$2.361$2.36



Subtotal: $137.86
 
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