Just out of curiousity, I was wondering if it is possible to change out a 1994 steering wheel and air bag assembly with one that is the newer style. Has anybody done this before? I don't think the steering wheel would be an issue. I'm more concerned if the newer air bag will work on the old set up. I'm not sure if there is a difference in resistance that would kick on the air bag light or make it none functional. Any thoughts?

Well I have searched several other forums and around on the internet and still have been unable to find the answer to this question. I have found threads where it was asked and the reply was I don't see why it wouldn't work, but no posts that said they did it or it did work. So I'm taking this one into my own hands here and going to find out if it will work. I just picked up an airbag, just have to round up the newer steering wheel now. Hopefully I can get that rounded up and sitting at my house so when I get back to the states in about a month I will be able to jump on it. I don't know how many people want to know this, but at least if it's out there and someone does it may make life a little easier or save someone some money if it doesn't work lol. More to come....

well, I dont have an answer for you, but I wanna give you props for trying to do it cuz those 93-94 steering wheels with the controls look awful...

looks like straight 80's, in an awful way

good luck man and let us know how it turns out!

Thanks, and I would have to agree with your opinion on the way those controls look. I have an aftermarket cd player in the car so they didn't do anything anyway. After a while the seam on the airbag started to open up on it and it just looked bad. So I bought an airbag off ebay for it that wasn't split on that thin area in the middle of the bag. And the one I bought came off of a car that didn't have the stereo buttons on it. It just had little filler panels for both sides that are solid pieces that match the steering wheel and airbag. So it looked WORLDS better once I changed that out. No more big floppy looking buttons on the steering wheel lol. I think it will look a million times better though if this will convert over without any issues. The only thing I think I may run into is if the computer is looking for a different resistance through the airbag for its diagnostic of the airbag system or if the connector off of the clockspring is different and if that is the case getting a different clockspring wouldn't be that big of a deal. I don't know, I guess I will cross that bridge when I can get home and get to it. I'm getting anxious to work on it since I haven't been able to for months. But I'll definately keep everyone posted on what comes out of it!

I've got an aftermarket head unit too, so mine are useless too. Mine are the newer style tho, but the lettering is scratched off on 2 buttons, and only the left side lights up so I need to do something about that. Is there a place you know of online that has the filler panels for a 95 and up steering wheel? I know the new buttons can be pricey and they dont work anyway......

Well I looked around for a little bit trying to see if they offered filler panels for the newer steering wheels. I checked out gmpartsdirect and they have somthing listed as filler under the steering in the catalog, but it says its unavailable. So there is no part number to try and track down if that is the actual part I was trying to find. I know I have come across a site out there that tells how to replace the bulbs in the switches. I will see if I can find that again, and I'll keep an eye out on the filler and see if I can come up with anything but as of right now it's not looking too promising.

Well here is the long awaited answer to the question: YES, IT CAN BE DONE! It is no more painful than removing your steering wheel and airbag for normal maintenance and re-installing it. And I think the newer style looks a lot better than the older style set up did. One key note that I did learn the hard way (and I knew better but just wasn't thinking) is that in 97 - 02 the clockspring connects directly to the airbag itself. So if you have a 93 - 96 car it has a clockspring designed to connect to another connector which is wired into the airbag. So you have to change your clockspring to the new style along with an airbag from 97 - 02, or you will need to purchase a newer style airbag from a 95 or 96 car so it will be a direct connect with the factory clockspring. Other than that side note, it's very painless.