Steering Wheel Spacer / increase Telescoping

[sgray944t]

Hi All - new owner of a 23 Blackwing here. One thing that I’ve seen mentioned here before, and experienced myself, is a desire to bring the steering wheel closer to the driver.

I’m very aware the car has a telescoping wheel, but for some of us tall drivers it would be great if it came out another inch or 2 from its current max.
That would also give more right knee room from the lower corner of the center stack.

I’ve done a ton of digging and don’t see a product that offers this, while keeping the stock wheel and all functions. That is non-negotiable to me, needs to keep the wheel itself stock. There is this place in Italy that sells to many speed shops, and seems to be the best thing I’ve found that would accomplish the goal and keep the stock wheel. I contacted them to inquire about developing a Blackwing spacer, but never heard back. Example of an F80 M3 spacer they sell: BMW 3 Series F30 M3 Steering wheel spacer

So…generally a question of has anyone else looked for and found a solution? Granted it’s a small market of an already small Blackwing market, but I think some of us would be willing to spend a little to improve the ergonomics.

I’m not an engineer or fabricator, so curious if anyone out there wants to take on the challenge or has some insight to share?

 

[nordique14]

I contacted the same company. I also never heard back other than receiving an obviously AI generated email when I asked if their Covette spacer would fit a CT5.

I agree that more telescoping is definitely needed for tall people. I would be in for a well designed spacer like the ones from that Italian company.

 

[sgray944t]

Thanks for the reply! Agreed their design looks great. Honestly someone with some CAD and fabrication experience I’m sure could figure out the physical spacer. What also would be needed is likely a jumper harness or something for the wiring.

 

[Z28]

For the price, I would be tempted to buy the C6 one and try to see if it fits. If not, find someone local to modify it accordingly and go from there.

 

[sgray944t]

Thought about it, it’s just at least a decade different in design so figured a long shot. If they had a Camaro version I’d 100% agree worth a shot. Anyone whose put on an aftermarket steering wheel have the oem to take some measurements and spline count?

 

[sgray944t]

Small update for the few of us who are interested . I've been emailing with Spacershop and they did actually reply and said they could make the spacer. I sent him a ton of photos of the Blackwing wheel, hub, steering shaft, etc, and he did some investigating and said that this spacer would technically fit (same spline layout). Its for a Holden Colorado pickup truck (different than Chevy Colorado): Holden Colorado RG Steering wheel spacer

However his next point was that the wiring complexity of the blackwing is significant. Looking at the wheel, we have a large yellow connector that seems to house all of the steering wheel functions. If it was possible to get a Male / Female connector, it may be possible to fabricate a jumper harness...but this is not something he has much interest in doing as the demand is fairly low.

The yellow steering wheel connector appears to be used in a ton of GM products, so these must be available somewhere?

 

[GTANotch88]

I'd check with parts yards/dismantlers about trying to source that connector. A matching pair from a wreck or airbag deployment vehicle should be useable. You may need to buy a damaged wheel/column setup however.

 

[sgray944t]

I'd check with parts yards/dismantlers about trying to source that connector. A matching pair from a wreck or airbag deployment vehicle should be useable. You may need to buy a damaged wheel/column setup however.

I had the same thought, could strip a steering column and steering wheel.

 

[nordique14]

Thanks for updating us! I was just thinking about this a couple of days ago. Great you heard back from them and they already have a spacer that would work if we can source our own wiring.

Damn that is a lot of wires in that harness. Most companies offer repair wires that have the right ends to click into their harnesses. If someone is a GM parts expert, maybe they can help with that and also with the part numbers for the male and female connectors.

 

[GTANotch88]

Is this the male side?

https://www.gmpartsclub.com/oem-parts/gm-wiring-harness-connector-13510218?srsltid=AfmBOooJmnFLJFais918kMc9f2BCnK8P-GmMj62yQg-7iEhB0SspE-Go

 

[sgray944t]

Yep that looks like it to me. I also found this which appears to be the male side and harness, though the description says no heated wheel and references the wrong # in the image: https://www.gmpartsonline.net/oem-p..._VrhXBoQMY0TUAnNbxb8wbrUcOYpmY5IMlSFsMhjG5Ask


One thing I’ll say about BMW…all of their parts diagrams are available for free online (realoem.com) Why am I not finding that for GM?

On the female side, might be a little trickier since it appears to be a part of the clock spring assembly: 2020-2024 CADILLAC CT5 STEERING WHEEL CLOCK SPRING OEM | eBay

 

[sgray944t]

Honestly I feel like this is pretty achievable. The male connector and harness could be used as a jumper and we just need a female connector to wire it into. I could buy a clock spring and try taking it apart, but would really like to see if it’s available on its own AND check the actual PIN out / wiring diagram.

Is the only way to access the legit diagrams by paying for a subscription to AC Delco TDS? I think I read at one time someone was able to buy like a 5 day subscription for a nominal amount.

 

[sgray944t]

I ordered a clock spring and steering wheel wiring harness today. I’ll take them apart and see about mocking up a jumper harness. If that’s do able, I’ll order the Holden spacer and give it a shot.

 

[nordique14]

I ordered a clock spring and steering wheel wiring harness today. I’ll take them apart and see about mocking up a jumper harness. If that’s do able, I’ll order the Holden spacer and give it a shot.

That is awesome! Thanks for taking a shot at figuring this out. Let me know if there is anything I can help with.

 

[nordique14]

I was thinking that all you need is the wiring harness and not bother with trying to take apart the clock spring to cannibalize the clip. You take the wiring harness and cut the wires to the extra length needed. Then you put blade connectors on the end of each wire. The blades then get inserted into the female side of the existing harness. As long as the blades are not sitting in there loose, then it should be fine. You would just need to find the right side blade connectors.

 

[sgray944t]

Yeah I'll take a look at that for sure. I'm also curious if an easier route would simply be to add some extension wires just before yellow clip within the steering wheel itself. We only need an extra 2 inches or so, so possibly that would be enough to reach through the spacer and then we're just connecting OEM plugs together.
Whatever route is chosen, I'm highly focused on it being safe and not introducing a risk of poor connection. Too many sensors, airbags, etc flowing through there to take a risk in a car my kids ride in . So we'll see, I've been digging around to see if anyone sells the Clockspring side connector NOT as part of the clockspring itself, but no such luck. Its used in a ton of GM vehicles from 2020+ (SUVs etc.), but looks like its always an integrated part of the clockspring assembly.
The parts I ordered should get here today and tomorrow, so I'll start playing with it this weekend.

 

[sgray944t]

Small update, I received a clock spring from a CT5 and steering wheel harness for a CT4. They all appear interchangeable.
Findings:
- as suspected the male connector on the clock spring is molded as 1 piece and not easily separated. The pins are separate and integrated with the ribbon cable, so again, not easily separated. There’s a mirror connector on the back side of the clock spring that is more easily removed, but the problem is the pins and ribbon cable are still essentially 1 piece.
- the steering wheel harness has a lot of wires, including wires that cross from one side connector to the other, while others run directly into the yellow connector.
- given the clock spring male connector limitations, I think it’s more realistic to extend the wiring on the steering wheel harness.
- the yellow connector is surprisingly easy to depin (1 YouTube video and I got it).
- theoretically if I can find the right gauge wires and terminals, I could depin the yellow connector, add 2 inches to the wire with the best quality splice (TBD), add the terminal to the end of the new extended wire, and then re-instert to the connector. That would let the yellow connector feed all the way thru the wheel spacer and plug into the factor clock spring.
- I think this would best be achieved by buying a new steering wheel harness for my exact car, and modifying it off the car so that an untouched factory harness is still available. Since the steering wheel itself has to be removed to do the install of the spacer anyway, swapping in the modified harness would be a breeze.

So next steps:
1. Get some legit depinning tools
2. Figure out the exact terminals the yellow connector uses
3. Figure out what kind of splice is best for this application
4. Attempt to extend the harness on my test connector here.

Long term, could easily hack off 2 inches of wire from this harness so that my extensions use the exact same wire, coloring, etc as OEM.

So that’s where I’m at. I think my Biggest question at this point is #3. Since there are airbags etc in play, what is the safest splice that is dead nuts reliable , but also doesn’t add a bunch of resistance to the signal that could trigger errors.

 

[sgray944t]

Plot twist, thanks to a Facebook group I’ve found the male and female connectors, including the terminals! Perhaps a plug and play is possible.

I ordered 4 plugs and receptacles and a bunch of terminals to give it a shot.

https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/JST-Automotive/ATLCPB-21B-2AY?qs=%252BRX4mxi9f%2F9MpoDSMHKCuw%3D%3D&srsltid=AfmBOorBEvTkl9yp_yv8KfVgNS2QDCo_J_uddroF9ntmj0AbfrksYuPv

Then found some Pinouts for a 2024 Colorado, likely similar but not going to count it as gospel. Still helpful to have an OEM description

 

[nordique14]

Great news! If you have the male and female connectors, I would not spend time trying to figure out which pins to use. There look to be 21 pins. So just wire all 21 slots and you should be good to go. This assumes the wires have the correct ends to click into the holes in the connectors.

 

[sgray944t]

The wires require terminal to slot into the female connector. The trick is actually going to be the back side of the male connector. It is designed to be soldered to a motherboard, so the male pins have a backside that is a 90 degree pin bending down. Somehow I need to remove/replace that with the wires connected to the male pins inside the front of the connector.