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steering column advice needed


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I have a '91 with a standard non tilt column. It has no cruise and no delay wipers.

 

While I don't care whether or not my MJ has tilt, cruise would be nice and delay wipers would be great. I see that replacement cruise/delay arms are relatively cheap new, about $25. Also, I don't mind scrounging for a delay module and cruise components at the pull-a-part . My question is this:

 

If I locate all of the necessary cruise & delay components, will I be able to swap out the turn signal arm and simply plug it in?

 

I suppose I could pull a column from an XJ with cruise & delay, but it seems like more trouble than necessary since I don't care if it has tilt.

 

Any advice is appreciated.

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You just need the arm. They swap easily.

 

Being a 91, you won't need any extra boxes or anything under the dash for the cruise. You'll just need the vacuum actuator for under the hood, the plug for it should already be there, as should a vacuum T to tie into. 91+ Cruise is controlled by the ECU.

 

I think you'll still need a wiper delay box, which will just plug in-line in the harness. The two plugs that would normally go to the delay box should simply be hooked together.

 

The worst part is going to be fishing the cruise wire from the arm down the column, but you don't need to take apart anything for that.

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Thanks...that's great news.

 

I've looked at a few XJ's in the junkyard with delay and you are right, the box just plugs in in-line. It looks like the turn signal switch has a two wire connector...any idea where it plugs in at the base of the column.

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Thanks...that's great news.

 

I've looked at a few XJ's in the junkyard with delay and you are right, the box just plugs in in-line. It looks like the turn signal switch has a two wire connector...any idea where it plugs in at the base of the column.

 

That I don't know... unfortunately, even though both my MJs are 91s, I'm a good 100 miles away from them.

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You just need the arm. They swap easily.

 

Being a 91, you won't need any extra boxes or anything under the dash for the cruise. You'll just need the vacuum actuator for under the hood, the plug for it should already be there, as should a vacuum T to tie into. 91+ Cruise is controlled by the ECU.

 

I think you'll still need a wiper delay box, which will just plug in-line in the harness. The two plugs that would normally go to the delay box should simply be hooked together.

 

The worst part is going to be fishing the cruise wire from the arm down the column, but you don't need to take apart anything for that.

 

You will need more than that. If your truck came w. non-delay wipers you will also need to change out the multifunction switch/harness inside the column as delay wipers require one more contact/wire to through delay box. The harness is included with a new multifunction switch. Be advised the MF switches for tilt and non-tilt columns are different. Changing the MF switch requires going deep into the steering column.

 

For cruise, you will also need the cruise cable that connects to the throttle body. If you are getting the cruise parts from a donor, don't forget that. It's all plug and play for cruise. The cruise wire from the multifunction switch plugs into an existing one-of-a-kind yellow connector up under the dash.

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That being the case, would it just be more simple to get a complete column?

 

That's up to you. Changing the column MF switch for me was easiler than swapping the whole steering column - cheaper too. If your column is in good shape I'd keep it. The MJ columns are Saginaw GM, and there are many writeups for changing the switch.

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