Adding Cruise Control to my Chevy Express Skoolie (Will It Work?)

I've read several accounts of people adding cruise control to their Chevy Express Skoolies just by replacing the steering wheel with one already wired for cruise control. It's supposed to be an easy plug and play hack. Lets see if it works!
I bought my new wheel for $95 on Ebay with free shipping.
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The Steering Wheel I used:
ebay.us/yWTLyA
AI Tracking Phone Gimbal:
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Bi-directional OB2 Scanner I use on all of my vehicles:
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See you again for another bus camper adventure with our skoolie.

[@buscampers]

Just got back from a 1000 mile, 4 day trip with the skoolie. The cruise control was clutch on those long highway stretches. It was so nice to have this available.

[@hikingoutdoorfamily]

Thats great you added that. Cruise control is really a must have feature for long trips.

[@buscampers]

I couldn’t believe that it was just a matter of adding buttons to have it functional. I wonder how much the up charge is when new 😂

[@gomoe_2416]

Amazing vid! And thanks for the link! I’m going to give this a try

[@buscampers]

Thank you. Let me know how it goes for you.

[@starmaster191]

today, September 4th, 2024, i completed most of this job with a $50 junkyard steering wheel with cruise control off of a 2021 GM VAN onto my 2017 gm van. i had a little trouble with taking off the airbag and inserting something thin on either side of the wheel in order to dislodge the airbag. i eventually got that done. i then had a little trouble getting the airbag cord off with the little 2 orange clips, to pull up on those. i eventually got that done. i did not leave the nut on the steering wheel and i pulled and pulled and pulled and came back to it after a few minutes, and it came out kinda forcefully, I can see why one youtube video says to leave the nut on while pulling on the steering wheel. Anyway, I got that all done, and got the steering wheel main clip undone as well. I then cleaned on the clockspring cause it was dusty and cleaned the new wheel just cause. I clipped the steering wheel cruise control thing in and then clipped the main wheel thing in as well. I tried pushing the airbag in, but to no avail as it is still currently kinda loose and I may have to cannibalize a part or two from the old steering wheel in order to make sure that the airbag is in securely. on the bright side I tested it with the battery plugged in, and pressed the cruise on button and it lit up! I'll get it back from the mechanic tommorow so I can properly test whether I even installed the steering wheel the right way [considering the 2 front wheels were not pointing straight] and whether the cruise light on the dash lights up or not.

[@buscampers]

Hmm weird that the airbag is kinda loose. Are you sure there’s nothing obstructing the latch or that the latch isn’t bent on the new wheel? Yeah the wheel comes off fast once it gives lol you definitely don’t want to smack yourself in the face with it. A couple of threads on the bolt will prevent that from happening. The light being on is a good sign. When you test it you have to turn CC on then set it. I forgot to hit set on my first test drive.

[@MOLRobocop]

Huh. Great video. As luck would have it, you just posted this. Mine 2010 is a 2500 Express cargo van. The internet was saying you might have to flash the BCM. I think I'm ready to just throw parts at it now.

[@buscampers]

You may have to get it flashed. I think thats something the dealer has to do if it's needed. I ordered my steering wheel via Ebay Motors and it was returnable if it didnt work lol. I got lucky that I did not need to do anything other than add the new wheel. Good luck! Let me know if it works for you.

[@Lostsoal]

@@buscamperswhich year is your express ?

[@buscampers]

@@Lostsoal 2010 on the 3500 chasis

[@Forgvn.Adventures]

Good deal! While watching, I was thinking you'd have to activate the cruise function in the ECM

[@buscampers]

It appears that on a lot of the bus builds the ecm info is already programmed but they just didn’t include the buttons to use it 🤷‍♂️

[@LucasBoyden]

Nice video! Sorry if you mentioned and I missed it, but what year is your Express? I am looking to do the same thing to mine.

[@buscampers]

Thank you. Mine is a 2010 Express 3500 with the 6.6l Duramax.

[@starmaster191]

Would this work on a 2017 gmc savana? If i end up getting this vehicle, it doesn't have facotey cruise control so i am researching ways to add cc to it if i end up purchasing it. I hope it is as simple as doing what you did with your vehicle. I have heard things about flashing the ecm/bcm too. With the newer gmcs and chevies, the cc is on the steering wheel, and the older 2000's gm vehicles the cc is on the turn signal. I have seen at least one other gm van where they added cruise control to it and they put it on the turn signal, this one was a 2015 or 2014 gm van.

[@buscampers]

The steering wheel will fit but the question is does the ecm need to be flashed or not. Thats why I bought a steering wheel that was returnable if the plug and play did not work. I got lucky that no flashing was needed and it was just a matter of plugging in the new wheel. I havent seen the turn signal add to anything older than like a 2008-9ish. Ive seen it down with early 2000s. Good luck with your van purchase and let me know if you try the cruise control mod. Is the van you're looking at a duramax or a gasser? thanks for watching!

[@starmaster191]

@buscampers it's a 4.8 v8 gas. 2500. regular wheelbase van. yeah, I watched some other video last night and the guy said something about he's heard all these things about flashing which you don't necessarily need to do. I suppose if I end up getting this vehicle, it will be a project I will have to do since cruise control is essential.

[@starmaster191]

​@buscampers is your new wheel with cruise control that you installed, it looks like the little wire clip that attaches to the cruise control button is wired to the main steering wheel plug. So all in all, it looks like there are only two wired corded plugs for this job. One for the air bag and one for the steering wheel correct? I am thinking since mine is a 2017 gm van and not a skoolie or box truck it should work lol.

[@buscampers]

Yep, just 2 wiring clips to it. I think the difference between the non-cruise and cruise wheel is the non-cruise is a 4 pin connection and the cruise is 6. You don’t have to change anything on the dash side, the connection accepts 4 and 6 wire plugs.

[@starmaster191]

@@buscampers ok I was in a junkyard yesterday and the guys there didn't think this could be done. They tried to sell me the whole entire steering column instead lol. It's like I've seen 2 youtube videos where the people did add cruise just by changing out the steering wheel not the column.

[@starmaster191]

Update #2 - Sept 5th, 2024 - i ended up having to utilize my mechanic to finish installing the steering wheel because the junkyard that removed just the steering wheel had some trouble with removing just the steering wheel from the column or whatever. So anyway, the cruise control button on the wheel lights up but sadly still no dice on the dash, in other words there still is no cruise control light on the dash that lights up. I have an appointment at a shop next week to get it re-flashed, ans i guess all they do is "buy the rights to the vin" and then hopefully all it is is turn cruise control on: yes or no. If this doesnt work, I'll just give up, at least i got a new steering wheel out of this whole process.

[@buscampers]

ohh you have to get yours flashed? Good luck.

[@starmaster191]

@@buscampers yep. if flashing doesn't work. I'll just give up. at least I got a new wheel out of it

[@starmaster191]

09-12-2024: just tried taking the vehicle to a mechanic shop for it to be "re-flashed" the shop said that it did a big update on the ECM & BCM or whatever but that it still didnt take, and unfortunately the cruise control still doesn't work. Unfortunately, me replacing the steering wheel and taking it to this shop still didn't get it to work. What do i do now? I wasn't there and didn't take pictures of them doing the re-flashing, but i believe they said they just did an update, they didn't necessarily look to turn cruise control on or off, idk.

[@buscampers]

Sorry this isn't going smoothly for you. I would suggest reading up on forums or FB groups for the Chevy Express and see what other people did who ran into similar road blocks. I know there's also an aftermarket module out there but IDK if it works on later model vans or only the early 2000s. I can't remember the name of it though.

[@starmaster191]

@buscampers I know there is aftermarket. but I was just trying to go OEM. I've seen at least one other up in Anchorage, Alaska that had an aftermarket cruise control stalk on it. So I know it can be done. I was just trying to go OEM is all. What forums have you been to/would reccommend? There's so many out there. As for aftermarket cruise control, I've heard of Rostra and Redline.

[@buscampers]

@@starmaster191 I just google things and read a lot of different forum threads (most of the time it's for the LMM Duramax that I'm searching for info), I dont have a recommendation.

[@starmaster191]

@buscampers the only other thing I can think of would be to do the wiring harness and I don't even know what that is. I think that involves taking out the steering column?

[@buscampers]

@@starmaster191 No idea, thats above my pay grade lol