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I've searched around and can't see anyone with a detailed instructions on how to install an oem cruise control kit. I'm gonna buy most of the parts off of ebay and whatever else I need from the junkyard. Can someone steer me in the right direction of everything I'll need. I know I'll need to get the truck flashed after. My truck is the bare bones no power windows locks seats or anything but I've taken off the steering wheel and seen the plugs for cruise control so how hard can it be?
Be easiest to go to a salvage yard and grab all the CC stuff. Cables, hoses, control unit, wiring, switches, and as you said, a flash. Almost easier to trade for a truck that has that stuff.
I've searched around and can't see anyone with a detailed instructions on how to install an oem cruise control kit. I'm gonna buy most of the parts off of ebay and whatever else I need from the junkyard. Can someone steer me in the right direction of everything I'll need. I know I'll need to get the truck flashed after. My truck is the bare bones no power windows locks seats or anything but I've taken off the steering wheel and seen the plugs for cruise control so how hard can it be?
Yep. In fact, my very first post EVER was in that thread, copied below. That post applies to the earlier 3rd gen Dakotas which still have a cable-actuated throttle body (2005 to, I believe, 2007). If yours is newer (maybe 2008+), and your throttle body is purely electronic-controlled without any cables, then adding cruise control should be 100% plug-and-play with only having to add the steering wheel buttons instead of the blank caps: I had a coworker with a 2008 Jeep Liberty and the newer 3.7L with the electronic throttle body, and we added cruise control simply by installing the cruise control lever out through the right side of the steering wheel via about a 1" hole I had to cut (different steering wheel design than the Dodge which uses buttons) and connecting it to the pre-wired plug and unused screw-mounts for the lever inside the wheel. It instantly worked, including the dash gauge indications, without the need for a dealer flash.
**Just remember, make sure to keep the main battery disconnected prior to unplugging/re-plugging in in the airbag.
Originally Posted by erau
Hey y'all, first time poster, long time lurker.
2005 ST here. I was fortunate enough to do this mod when Dodge sold the entire cruise control kit as an "under the hood" accessory, but it appears they no longer do so. At the time it was listed on the Mopar website and ChryslerPartsDirect.com where I got it for $194, however my original packing list didnt have a part number for the kit, nor does the 2005 Dakota Parts List pdf have the kit either (it does have the numbers individually for each cruise control part).
If you can get a hold of the switches, servo, and bracket, it is a very easy install. The servo mounts under the air cleaner box next to an existing (unused) wiring harness snapped to a dummy plug, and this plugs into the servo. Route the throttle actuator cable and vacuum hose around the left side of the engine bay, connect the vacuum hose to the unused side of the Tee fitting behind the engine just below the passenger-side wiper, and connect the throttle cable on the unused clip of the butterfly valve. Switches, as posted earlier, replace the caps on the wheel, and the wires have been pre-run in the wheel & plugged into the back of the caps.
That's it! You do NOT need to have it starscanned (contrary to even it's own instructions) for cruise to work. The ONLY thing starscanning does is activates the "cruise" light on the dash. If you don't want to see the dash light when cruise is on (I prefer all annunciators off when everything is fine), then don't have it starscanned.
Yep. In fact, my very first post EVER was in that thread, copied below.
I just read through that thread. Looks like you posted some really good information, especially some pictures, that would be great references. But, the pictures seem to have disappeared. Any chance of adding them back in?
I just read through that thread. Looks like you posted some really good information, especially some pictures, that would be great references. But, the pictures seem to have disappeared. Any chance of adding them back in?
Ahh, thanks for pointing that out. I re-added them to that post, and also re-added the images with the part numbers in a previous post:
Originally Posted by erau
Before I determined I didn't need to have it done, the local dealer quoted their minimum-allowable labor time/charge which was half an hour for like $40 or $45. I really don't know if only the dealers have it, not sure the licensing on it.
Figured I'd post a couple pics of the install, helps to clarify what goes where...
Top of the pic is driver side, bottom is passenger side, right is toward the front. Servo mounts under the air cleaner box (as-shown removed). Mounting holes had already been pre-drilled in the fender cover. Note the pre-existing wiring harness now plugged in to the servo. Throttle cable comes out through the middle of the servo, and the vacuum tube comes off the side of the servo.
Cable and hose run (yellow arrows). This is the best route I could find to keep the bends as gradual as possible without any sharp corners. Those two cable clips on the left-side wall (circled in green) came with the kit, and the holes for them had already been pre-drilled.
Vacuum tube at red arrows, plugged into the existing "tee" fitting. Throttle (cruise) cable at teal arrows, its retainer slides into existing bracket next to the accelerator cable (which must be removed *carefully* from the bracket to allow the cruise cable retainer to slide in next to it). The retainer holding the accelerator cable in the bracket has a snap on it so it doesn't slide out. Be *very* careful not to break it. The end of the cruise cable clips onto the existing stud on the butterfly valve alongside the "channel" that the accelerator cable sits in.
Aside from a few turns of a screw/nut driver and cable/hose routing, it really is as plug-and-play as you can get. Just need the parts.
Originally Posted by erau
Here's the page out of the 2005 Parts List for the servo hardware. Number 8 is just the existing accelerator cable and number 7 should be the existing vacuum hose with a capped-off "tee" behind the engine, in front of the passenger wiper. The servo/bracket/cruise cable came pre-assembled in the kit with the misc hardware, so I assume if you buy them separately they'll need to be assembled before installed. As mentioned before, there's an existing electrical harness snapped into a dummy plug next to where the servo mounts under the air cleaner box...Connect this to the servo. The vacuum tube (6) routes around the passenger side of the engine bay, and plugs onto the nipple on number 7. I ran the speed control cable (4) along the same run, and it connects to the throttle body next to the accelerator cable. There's a small bracket behind the throttle body where the retainers for both the accelerator cable and the cruise cable clip into, side by side:
And here are the part numbers for the switches (they carried over the diagram for the 2nd gen Dakota steering wheel in our 3rd gen/2005 parts list, so don't mind that the steering wheel looks different):
A Starscan tool is actually a device that controls "options" in the PCM like you would control the options, say, on a desktop computer program. It allows you to turn on and off various features of the vehicle. Cruise happens to be one of those Starscan options on the non-fly-by-wire 2005 (and 2006), only in this case the only thing it appears to actually "activate" is the dash light. I guess it makes sense you didn't need to have your 2007 starscanned to get the dash light, since your fly-by-wire system is already integrated into controlling each and every throttle position. Our system apparently hadn't yet reached that level of computer/control integration to recognize when the "cruise" light needs to be shown, yet for some reason the system still works fine without it. Which is fine by me.
04-26-2021, 04:12 PM
Adding Cruise Control
That post applies to the earlier 3rd gen Dakotas which still have a cable-actuated throttle body (2005 to, I believe, 2007). If yours is newer (maybe 2008+), and your throttle body is purely electronic-controlled without any cables, then adding cruise control should be 100% plug-and-play with only having to add the steering wheel buttons instead of the blank caps: I had a coworker with a 2008 Jeep Liberty and the newer 3.7L with the electronic throttle body, and we added cruise control simply by installing the cruise control lever out through the right side of the steering wheel via about a 1" hole I had to cut (different steering wheel design than the Dodge which uses buttons) and connecting it to the pre-wired plug and unused screw-mounts for the lever inside the wheel. It instantly worked, including the dash gauge indications, without the need for a dealer flash.
