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Yes you have to take the airbag out. The silver piece is attached to the courtesy buttons on the steering wheel so you have to remove all of that together. There is a write up of how to remove all of it. Not really that difficult once you realize what you are looking at when you start the whole process. Also make sure you remove the negative terminal from the battery if you do this. It is in the write up but as for anything when removing clips cables and wires anything electrical it is always best to remove power from the situation. You do not have to take the actual steering wheel off though.