Steering wheel audio controls are one of those features you miss once you've had them. Keep your eyes on the track, tap a button, skip a song, take a call. The problem is that a lot of popular 4WDs, particularly the pre-facelift Toyota 70 Series LandCruiser and the N70 Hilux, never came with buttons on the wheel at all. If you've swapped in an aftermarket steering wheel you're in the same spot: a bare rim with no way to talk to the headunit.
For years the only real fix meant running wiring through the clock spring, a fiddly job that can compromise your ADR compliance and void warranties. That's the problem PVS Automotive set out to solve back in 2018 with its wireless steering wheel control module, the product that launched the company's entire steering range.
At a Glance
- Wireless Bluetooth steering wheel controls take away the need to rewire through the clock spring
- Made for older 4WDs like the pre-facelift 70 Series and N70 Hilux that have no factory audio buttons
- The button pad fits to the steering wheel itself and transmits wirelessly to a receiver module at the headunit
- The kit works as part of a complete setup, paired with a compatible steering wheel that has the control pad already fitted
- Priced at $499 with a lifetime warranty on the electronics
If your wheel has no audio buttons
Pre-facelift 70 Series LandCruisers and their contemporaries were built tough, not tech-forward. The wheels are functional, durable and completely bare of audio controls. If you're running a modern aftermarket headunit, that means reaching across the centre console every time you want to change the volume or skip a track. Not ideal on a rough track with both hands needed on the wheel.
An aftermarket steering wheel adds a second layer to it. A quality leather or carbon wheel can transform the feel of a classic 4WD, but most bare aftermarket rims come with no control buttons at all. The traditional fix, wiring new buttons through the clock spring, means significant modification to the steering column. Get it wrong, or use a non-compliant setup, and you're looking at ADR compliance issues that can affect your roadworthiness.
How wireless steering wheel controls work
The idea is straightforward. A control pad fitted directly to the steering wheel sends button presses wirelessly over Bluetooth to a small receiver module mounted near the headunit. The module turns those signals into inputs your headunit understands: volume, track skip, phone calls, voice activation, depending on what your head unit supports.
The key point is what doesn't happen. No new wires run through the clock spring. The clock spring, the coiled electrical connector that lets your wheel rotate while keeping electrical contact, is left untouched. That isn't just convenient, it's central to keeping the install ADR-friendly, since modifying clock spring wiring can put your vehicle outside compliance.
Worth being clear about what the module is and isn't. It's not a standalone add-on you can bolt to any bare wheel. The system works as a complete package: the wheel itself needs the control pad fitted to it, and the receiver module carries that pad's wireless signal through to your headunit. We pair the module with our own LandCruiser 70 Series steering wheel upgrade kits, so the pad, wheel and electronics are made to work together from the start.
What it pairs with
The wireless steering wheel control kit is made to work with PVS steering wheel upgrade kits and with the MK4 headunit. If you're building a complete upgrade for a 70 Series or a similar older 4WD, that combination covers the three touchpoints: the wheel, the controls and the headunit, all talking to each other without invasive wiring changes.
On the 70 Series, where a quality steering wheel upgrade is already a common modification, adding wireless Bluetooth controls to the setup is the logical next step rather than an afterthought.
Price and warranty
The kit is $499, and the electronics carry a lifetime warranty. The module is the core of the system and the part most owners ask about for longevity, so the cover sits on the module. We've been refining this technology since 2018, which makes it one of the more established wireless steering control setups available to Australian 4WD owners.
If you've been putting up with a bare wheel because the wiring alternatives looked too messy or too risky, the wireless approach is worth a look. Your clock spring stays as it is, your compliance stays as it is, and you can leave your hands on the wheel on a corrugated dirt road.
