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DIY Swapping 05 Steering wheel Airbag Into 08 Cover


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Hey guys I thought I would share this with everyone so they would know. I wanted to put an 08 Steering wheel into my 05 and came to find out that the 08-09 Airbags are pretty expensive so me being the cheap person decided to find another way. Well I did and that's why I am going to share it with you all.

 

WARNING: If you do this mod and anything happens because of it, it is not my fault do this mod "AT YOUR OWN RISK"!

 

Items needed:

Flathead Screwdriver

T30 Torx bit

Drill

3/16" Metal Drill Bit

Rivet Gun

4x Rivets 3/16" DIA Dome Grip .251"-.375"

(got mine from RIVET-TITE) P/N: 47888 SKU:037495478885

08-09 Steering Wheel Airbag Cover

 

"UNPLUG YOUR BATTERY"

Then pump the brakes to release any electricity

 

Start by removing the 05-07 Airbag using the T30 Torx Bit there are 2 bolts holding them in onto the Steering wheel( Sorry no Pictures These are located behind the Steering wheel)

 

Remove the Wire for the Horn as well as popping up the 2 yellow tabs with a flathead screwdriver to release the red and black airbag connectors

 

Once this is all done you should just have an airbag complete with cover and cage.

 

Now onto the pictures that tell how to do this all.

 

Here is the Airbags side to side as you can see they are very close but there are some minor changes.

 

08-09 Left - 05-07 Right

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v457/AkumaMax/05%20Legacy%20GT/DIY%2005%20to%2008%20Steering%20wheel%20Airbag%20swap/1.jpg

Rear same positions

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v457/AkumaMax/05%20Legacy%20GT/DIY%2005%20to%2008%20Steering%20wheel%20Airbag%20swap/2.jpg

Take you 05 Airbag and flip it around so you see the back. At this point we must remove the Cradle to get a little better access to the airbag to remove it. To do this simply take you T30 Torx bit and remove the three Golden screws 2 at top one at bottom center.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v457/AkumaMax/05%20Legacy%20GT/DIY%2005%20to%2008%20Steering%20wheel%20Airbag%20swap/3.jpg

Once that is done you should now have this

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v457/AkumaMax/05%20Legacy%20GT/DIY%2005%20to%2008%20Steering%20wheel%20Airbag%20swap/4.jpg

Next up is getting the Rivets drilled out. Rivets are pretty heavy duty but when it comes to getting them out it is easy. Sorry I didn't get Pictures of this process but all you have to do is drill where there is a whole in the Rivet. They should come out easily.

Here are some pictures of what it will look like after you have drilled out the rivets.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v457/AkumaMax/05%20Legacy%20GT/DIY%2005%20to%2008%20Steering%20wheel%20Airbag%20swap/5.jpg

Closeup

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v457/AkumaMax/05%20Legacy%20GT/DIY%2005%20to%2008%20Steering%20wheel%20Airbag%20swap/6.jpg

Sides

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v457/AkumaMax/05%20Legacy%20GT/DIY%2005%20to%2008%20Steering%20wheel%20Airbag%20swap/7.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v457/AkumaMax/05%20Legacy%20GT/DIY%2005%20to%2008%20Steering%20wheel%20Airbag%20swap/8.jpg

Now for the part that requires a little bit of muscle. I popped out one of the side sections first just enough to get it away from the covers grip then I popped out the top piece once that happened it came out smoothly. BTW don't worry if the Bag comes unraveled just fold it back together.

Here are some pictures

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v457/AkumaMax/05%20Legacy%20GT/DIY%2005%20to%2008%20Steering%20wheel%20Airbag%20swap/9.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v457/AkumaMax/05%20Legacy%20GT/DIY%2005%20to%2008%20Steering%20wheel%20Airbag%20swap/10.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v457/AkumaMax/05%20Legacy%20GT/DIY%2005%20to%2008%20Steering%20wheel%20Airbag%20swap/11.jpg

By now you should have an Airbag/Cradle/Airbag Cover

 

Next part is the easy part putting the 05 Airbag into the 08-09 Cover

Start by placing the Airbag itself into the cover first making sure it is still Folded correctly then push the whole metal back with the charge on it into the bag it will snap into the three places 1 on top 2 on the sides.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v457/AkumaMax/05%20Legacy%20GT/DIY%2005%20to%2008%20Steering%20wheel%20Airbag%20swap/14.jpg

Completely pressed in

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v457/AkumaMax/05%20Legacy%20GT/DIY%2005%20to%2008%20Steering%20wheel%20Airbag%20swap/16.jpg

 

Now Time to put in the Rivets this part is very easy I did a criss cross pattern when putting these in. One on top of the cover and then on on the bottom across from the top one. Pretty much the Rivet gun does all the work. Put the Rivet in Put the pole into the hole on the rivet gun(might need to change the head to match the size) 3 times and it should snap then just pull the rod out and the rivet should be holding the airbag. Do this for all 4 and the hardest part is done. I also swapped over my Stickers from my 05-07 cover to make it look legit. Also since the Rivets on the 05-07 Airbag were black and the new ones were Aluminum I took a Sharpie to it for that OEM look.:lol:

Once you are done with the Rivets then Reassemble the Cradle onto the Airbag and VIOLA your done now you got an 08-09 Airbag for Half if not more then a Junkyard one.

Rivet Placing

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v457/AkumaMax/05%20Legacy%20GT/DIY%2005%20to%2008%20Steering%20wheel%20Airbag%20swap/19.jpg

What you should have leftover from the Riveting

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v457/AkumaMax/05%20Legacy%20GT/DIY%2005%20to%2008%20Steering%20wheel%20Airbag%20swap/20.jpg

That OEM LOOK LOL

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v457/AkumaMax/05%20Legacy%20GT/DIY%2005%20to%2008%20Steering%20wheel%20Airbag%20swap/25.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v457/AkumaMax/05%20Legacy%20GT/DIY%2005%20to%2008%20Steering%20wheel%20Airbag%20swap/26.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v457/AkumaMax/05%20Legacy%20GT/DIY%2005%20to%2008%20Steering%20wheel%20Airbag%20swap/27.jpg

All Finished

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v457/AkumaMax/05%20Legacy%20GT/DIY%2005%20to%2008%20Steering%20wheel%20Airbag%20swap/29.jpg

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  • 3 months later...
Why? What does the 08 steering wheel give over the 05? How do you get the controls on the 08 to work?

 

Well First Thing is first. I did this for the fact that I though it needed to be done when swapping in Steering wheel Paddle Shifters from an 08. The other thing is my buddy was throwing me a sweet deal on the Steering wheel so I though eh I'll see what I can do. As for controls it is waaaaaay better having the cruise on the steering wheel both look wise and feel wise. I actually just got my SWC for the audio side from Subaru so sometime this week if I am feeling better I will put up a how-to in here to show everyone how to wire it up. From what I know it will not be that hard for the audio. I know for sure that the Cruise control button can be wired up very easily.

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  • 4 months later...
I'll be waiting. I changed my head unit with Jdm Dual control and a pioneer radio but I would like to control the unit at the steering wheel and have the paddle shifters. right now I'm waiting for a module to start on my JDM motorized side mirror project.
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I'll be waiting. I changed my head unit with Jdm Dual control and a pioneer radio but I would like to control the unit at the steering wheel and have the paddle shifters. right now I'm waiting for a module to start on my JDM motorized side mirror project.

 

That'll be nice. If you would like to you do not need to upgrade to an 08 wheel for the paddles to work. You will still need to mod an 08 Column cover to fit on the 05-07 lower dash panel. I did the 08 Wheel swap because I thought it was a step that would be needed to make the Paddles work better. In the end it wasn't needed but since I had bought everything for the 08 wheel I went and did it anyway. Plus I liked the look of the 08-09 SWC's over the 05-07 SWC's

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  • 2 months later...

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