I am in the middle of this swap (2021 to 2022) right now! It’s not easy! Pictures are coming but here is what I have found and done so far!
I recently bought a 2021 Ram. Coming from too many Toyotas to mention! Thinking it was just a bolt on, I bought a 2022 steering wheel because I wanted leather, and I liked the layout of the up and down button! After purchasing the 2022 wheel, I discovered that the 2021 did NOT have volume control buttons in it! What was Ram thinking!! Luckily I discovered that the 2022 had volume controls built in, an added bonus that I didn’t even know about! On the 2021 Ram placed the buttons in 2 vertical rows, very unintuitively to say the least! For 2022, the buttons are in a 4 way configuration with the “enter/ok” button in the center, a very intuitive arrangement!
Here is what I’ve done and found out so far.
1) the 2021 has a large cut out for the clock spring, so I had to modify the 2022 steering wheel frame to fit over the clock spring, more on this later,
2) the clock spring turn signal cancellation mechanism is not the same. The 2022 uses tabs forged into the back side of the steering wheel frame, the 2021 uses a slot molded into the frame, coupled with a round tab mounted on the clock spring. I measured the size of the round tab and drilled out the 2022 frame to accommodate the tab,
2) the 2022 splines are slightly smaller, although it looks the same it required much persuasion with a brass ouch and a BFH, normally I don’t believe in forcing anything in but I didn’t want to use the mounting bolt to pull the wheel onto the splines because I was afraid that it might’ve snapped off with the force of an impact gun. The brass punch worked fine and didn’t require too much force.
3 with ALL of that done and the steering wheel mounted, I discovered that the airbag would NOT mount due to the weight added to the mounting bolt (in the 6:00 position), I simply removed the weight.
4 finally I discovered that the steering wheel harness plug will NOT plug into the Clock spring! As 2022 Clock Springs are different and used ones start at $200 and new are over $400, I stopped here, but completed the assembly process so I can drive My truck for work,today, I will post pics later, and let you know how I resolve the plug situation. I don’t even know if I will need to let the BCM what’s going on or if it will work once the plug situation is resolved!
Stay tuned for more!