Fitting cruise control DIY - anyone tried?

Flatulentoldgoat

My friend has a small van and with me being the more technical of the two I thought I'd have a try. Not quite sure what I'm getting into though. Has anyone ever had a crack at this job before, specifically the CANM8 system?

From what I can tell I'll need to take the wheel off and drill a hole into the steering wheel cowl for the stalk to be fitted. Then there's the wiring from the stalk to the harness located on the control box which I'll slot into the dash. This control box then needs to connect to something (the ECU) and also on to the the clutch pedal. Connector here.

I think soldering is the preferred option but if I can get away with regular connectors or bullet ones then that would be easier.

Any thoughts?

Someone's tried this before I see

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipP5FQdPEQPQ0DLMSLYzkGGTY2e7B7NTWhJcF29T7gepVnGqRtZvSv80WHKiapU2fw?key=MjA3QmUzaDlPbDVLNEs0T1V4M2pWbWozUE0xazFB

Alanp

Don’t forget to inform your insurance when you’ve done the mod….
good luck…

Ebe_Scrooge

I've never heard of even trying this before.  Sounds like it could be horribly complicated, and potentially dangerous unless you really know what you're doing (I'm thinking experienced auto-electrician).  And as Alanp points out, you'll need to let the insurance company know about the modification.

Is it really worth the hassle for something that, let's be honest, is not used an awful lot of the time on roads in this country?  Yes, I have it on my car and yes, it's useful when you're on the motorway in relatively light traffic.  But in heavy traffic it's no good - and traffic is heavy far more often than it's light :-)

AdrianC

It depends very much on the vehicle.

On many modern and semi-modern vehicles, the hardware's all there bar the stalk. All that's needed is to fit that and to tell the body control computer that it should be turned on.

On others, there may be an extra loom and/or pedal switches.

fred990

I've done a couple on vw's. Take pictures, label very thin leads where the colour coding is not easy to see, take care with the steering wheel removal (air bag, clockspring). It's well worth getting the proper connector extraction/insertion tools, I did the first one without which was a pain! 
It'll look absolutely horrendous with the looms, panels, ecu's out, steering wheel/airbags etc...just work methodically. 
You'll likely need to code it in and set it up with a laptop, vagcom (vw, audi) needed some manual coding then did the rest automatically. 
Saved a ton of ££.