yeeeeeeee haaaaaa the only thing holding me back from a stereo
upgrade was the steering wheel control and my wife lol
she wouldnt let me do it unless i could get it to work
i found this

http://www.pac-audio.com/products/swi.htm

 

OK, I'm a little slow.....how does this thing work?

 

Installation Instructions

it has a IR light on the end of 4ft wire that is mounted near the head unit and the box is a learning remote

 

FYI, the IR eye will be a little sensitive to sunlight....so if you have a sunroof, this may be an issue. Try to mount the eye as close to the HU sensor as possible. Here is a pic as an example...

Notice the eye installed by the door clip over by the left side of the HU.

I had one of these on a Honda S2000 stereo upgrade. With the top down, it did not work very well. I also noticed a slight delay from pushing the control to actually getting a response. If/when I replace my system on my 4runner, I will use this device.....but, I found the remote on my Alpine HU to be so slick, that I hardly used the controls.

I assume in your install that the rear controls are gone???Anyone ever looked at a setup to retain this type of functionality?

 

All the people I know install the eye in the center console, set back a bit... Never a complaint from any of them.