Wheels - Of The Steering Variety

[Navcorr]

Good afternoon gentlemen,

Does anyone know if it is possible to fit a GT steering wheel to a 4200.
Anyone tried or is it a definite no no?
Had a look through the forum but can't find anything specific.
Thanks in advance.

 

[CatmanV2]

Highly unlike.y I'd have thought. The GT has many buttons on it.

C

 

[Navcorr]

Afternoon Squire - it is some of these buttons I'm interested in as I'm planning on replacing/moving the Info screen/NIT. As the new hardware will have facility to connect to wheel controls I'm wondering if a straight swap is do-able.. Or whether it is goung to be a pain. To start with though I don't know whether alternative Maserati wheels would physically fit or whether airbag connectors would be interchangeable. Or even if an error message would get thrown.

 

[CatmanV2]

Hmmm interesting
So the airbag connector is likely to be interchangeable. Whether the airbag ECU is looking for a specific unit at the end, I don't know. But that may be a consideration
The 4200 only has a horn does it now? So the clock spring should be able to handle that if it physically fits.
The rest of the buttons will need connecting somewhere. In the GT it'd be (assumption alert) via a clockspring and (possibly) the CANBUS. You're not going to have that option so off the top of my head:
1) Multicore cable connecting the wheel to the car. Probably not going to look great as there will need to be sufficient slack at the dead ahead to allow full steering lock and tilt / reach.
2) Build some kind of remove control into a void in the wheel so the buttons on the wheel actually send remote commands to a receiver.
3) Something else.

I also immediately find myself wondering why a GT wheel. Is there something on the market already that can do this kind of thing?

C

 

[Navcorr]

Thanks for your thoughts. If, and I appreciate that it could well be a big if, if all the physical elements are achievable the CANBUS would be the primary concern. I haven't yet got my hands on one to investigate. Re: aftermarket - do you mean wheels or controls? I'm guessing controls and yes most modern head units can be fitted with remote devices. Wired or otherwise. My preference would be for an integrated solution using a complimentary Maserati wheel.

 

[Navcorr]

Another thought re: CANBUS is whether this could be given the signals it expects to see and everything else run seperately. Unfortunately, at present, just like Manuel:

 

[CatmanV2]

Well the 4200 doesn't have a CANBUS connection to the wheel. So if you're thinking of adding one: good luck

And why would you? Is the replacement head going to integrate into the CANBUS, in which case, read above. Many more times.
C

 

[Navcorr]

No, not that - just the potential airbag issues. I try to keep things simple where possible and may well end up ditching the wheel control idea all together.

 

[CatmanV2]

OK

To the best of my knowledge the airbag does not use the CANBUS. It's just a simple connection with (possibly) some kind of resistance / continuity tester to check for the presence / goodness of the airbag. The computer will be controlled / triggered by the CANBUS, but the actual firing signal is just 12v.

Make sense?

C

 

[Navcorr]

Indeed. Should anything come of this and actually work, without fu**ing-up everything else, I'll update. On the off chance it may be of interest to others. First things first though a car purchase in the not too distant. Thanks again.

 

[CatmanV2]

Indeed. Should anything come of this and actually work, without fu**ing-up everything else, I'll update. On the off chance it may be of interest to others. First things first though a car purchase in the not too distant. Thanks again.

De nada. A car would be good. Buy Wack's

C

 

[Navcorr]

Yes, have been working blind to some extent although the forums have been excellent. Most of the posts re: stereos are fairly old now and relate to hardware available at that time. Have an idea, using current equipment, which in theory should work. It is mostly a time consideration. Whilst doing that I thought I could go the whole hog with the steering wheel. That would be a nice bonus but maybe not worth the hassle.

But yes - car first. That said I do like to get my research done ahead of time if poss. and formulate a plan: https://youtu.be/Rb0QLxcvowk