So my 80 series doesn't have cruise control. I find it mildly annoying, as I do a lot of long drives, and I appreciate being able to regulate my speed on the motorways with a flick of my finger, and give my foot a rest. Most 80's here in Australia didn't have cruise control however, and models with the 1HZ engine like mine were never fitted with it. I wasn't going to bother with the hassle and cost of tracking down all the parts to retro-fit it to my rig. Until yesterday that is, when I walked into the self-serve wrecker to pull a few bits off a high end VX model they had recently got in. Then I noticed the rig had the factory cruise control, and it was for the 1HDT diesel engine too, so everything was right for the 1HZ diesel in my rig. I might still have passed, as I'm a bit strapped for cash right now, until I found out the whole thing, with the actuator, link cables, and computer, would only set me back $66. At that price I couldn't resist, so I now have everything I need for a cruise control setup..... except the stalk for the steering wheel, since someone else already made off with the combination switch, and the cruise control lever was attached to it in this model (92), like this:
So I've got the entire system, minus a few glorified switches. I'm not too sad about that though, because I don't think I actually want this version of the switch. I like cruise control, I use it a lot where it's present, but every car I've ever driven with cruise control has the control stalk for cruise on the wheel itself, not the combination switch, so the controls rotate with the wheel. I think this is far more practical. Toyota switched to this approach on the 80 and LX450 for later models. I like my current wheel, which looks like this:
It's a good, solid, sturdy wheel, with no leather or any other stuff that wears badly over time. It's also totally incompatible with having a cruise control lever on the wheel though as it stands. I could go down the rabbit hole of looking at modifying it, but I thought I'd see what other wheels are out there though and see if there's something that would be a logical swap. The most common one seems to be this four spoke design:
This has the lever on the wheel, and supports the "clock spring" arrangement at the back to pass the signals through (which my wheel above won't), but I haven't been able to confirm if there's any model that has cruise control that doesn't also have airbags. There are a lot of different steering wheels listed in the parts catalog, and most of them I can't find images of online. I want one that doesn't have "SRS Airbag" plastered onto the front, as my car doesn't have airbags, I don't want airbags, and having a wheel attached to it that claims an airbag is fitted when none is present or functioning could cause me some grief for the yearly safety inspections I'm required to do here. I'd also prefer a wheel that wasn't leather. I think I could make this wheel from a J90 Landcruiser Prado work (which didn't get released in the US):
Before I jump to a totally different series though, I thought I'd ask if anyone knew of a good option here I'm missing? I basically want a wheel that'll be compatible with the 80 series, that has a cruise control stalk on the wheel, without an airbag, or at least, without any badging on the front indicating an airbag is present. I think I prefer three spoke over four as it's not as "chunky", but honestly I'd look at any options.
So, what have you guys seen out there in the wild? It doesn't have to be restricted to 80 series models either, as long as it's genuine Toyota, and it'll physically fit on the 80 series.
So I've got the entire system, minus a few glorified switches. I'm not too sad about that though, because I don't think I actually want this version of the switch. I like cruise control, I use it a lot where it's present, but every car I've ever driven with cruise control has the control stalk for cruise on the wheel itself, not the combination switch, so the controls rotate with the wheel. I think this is far more practical. Toyota switched to this approach on the 80 and LX450 for later models. I like my current wheel, which looks like this:
It's a good, solid, sturdy wheel, with no leather or any other stuff that wears badly over time. It's also totally incompatible with having a cruise control lever on the wheel though as it stands. I could go down the rabbit hole of looking at modifying it, but I thought I'd see what other wheels are out there though and see if there's something that would be a logical swap. The most common one seems to be this four spoke design:
This has the lever on the wheel, and supports the "clock spring" arrangement at the back to pass the signals through (which my wheel above won't), but I haven't been able to confirm if there's any model that has cruise control that doesn't also have airbags. There are a lot of different steering wheels listed in the parts catalog, and most of them I can't find images of online. I want one that doesn't have "SRS Airbag" plastered onto the front, as my car doesn't have airbags, I don't want airbags, and having a wheel attached to it that claims an airbag is fitted when none is present or functioning could cause me some grief for the yearly safety inspections I'm required to do here. I'd also prefer a wheel that wasn't leather. I think I could make this wheel from a J90 Landcruiser Prado work (which didn't get released in the US):
Before I jump to a totally different series though, I thought I'd ask if anyone knew of a good option here I'm missing? I basically want a wheel that'll be compatible with the 80 series, that has a cruise control stalk on the wheel, without an airbag, or at least, without any badging on the front indicating an airbag is present. I think I prefer three spoke over four as it's not as "chunky", but honestly I'd look at any options.
So, what have you guys seen out there in the wild? It doesn't have to be restricted to 80 series models either, as long as it's genuine Toyota, and it'll physically fit on the 80 series.
