Steering Wheel Replacement 2008 220 SD - Do I need the switches?

Hi folks,
Just bought my 220SD. My faux woodgrain steering wheel is beat and needs replacement. Can't find a woodgrain one on the face of the earth, so considering replacing with a non-OEM model. Question: Do I need the switches on the stock wheel? They just seem to be redundant duplicates for radio and gage functions already present on those units. Can I do without or are they tied into the whole Smartgauge deal?

Thanks
Also if anyone has any SeaRay woodgrain wheels for sale I'm your man, You can also email me at sjser2012@gmail.com

Thanks in advance
Stan

They are convenient to have but I’m not sure that they are necessary.

You should be able to locate the connector for them. Disconnect it and see if it had any adverse effects.

Thank you for the speedy response. I'm up here in Buffalo NY and in the deep freeze until Spring unfortunately, so I'll have to wait to test it. Everythings connected and worked fine during winterization but I never thought to disconnect and try it.

Thanks for the response.

There are a few OEM wheels online but they're silver. If I could find a matching dash in silver I'd switch, but that's probably as hard as finding a wheel - sigh