Leather Wheel Cracking/Wearing

[Guest Close Guest]

My stering wheel has developed blemishes and wear in the surface to te point where I have to use a steering wheel cover now. The leather was pretty average when I bought the car at 42,000 kms and has since sterted to crumble. This occured about the 50,000km mark.

I remember the leather wheel initially struck me as being a lessor quality then many other makes but I didn't expect it to crack up like it has. Has anyone esle experienced this?

[GeoffO Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close GeoffO]

This is a known fault with the 120 and I had mine replaced under warranty. Yours being 2003 I guess your warranty has expired so might be a bit of an issue to get replaced.

Worth a shot though.

Geoff...

[Chippy Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Chippy]

Yep .... mine was pretty tatty when I got it ... and proceeded to get worse on the long drive.

I've put a cover on it .... and absolutely love it. Its got a great feel, no sweat, extremely comfortable.

Cheers
Chippy

[IRON-PAWW Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close IRON-PAWW]

The oz sun is a killer. Humans get cancer, and in way, so do car interiors. I always put up a decent sun shade when parked in full sun. Over a few years you'd be surprised what begins to fall apart. I've had cab light covers turn to dust and dashboards lose a few shades of colour over time. UV resistant really only means things hold out a little longer before succumbing to the Oz sun. For the price of a sunshade I think it's worth it.

You also need to be careful of things like RID, Aerogard, and some sunscreens. Read the fine print on the next can of RID you see and see if you still want to use it. The point being it will absolutely kill some types of plastics and upholstry. My girlfriend is a geologist and one of her field assistants literally had his sunglasses disintegrate after using RID for a week. Chilling stuff really.......

[speedcomm Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close speedcomm]

Mine is like that on the very top, not real bad but there all the same. It is also where I regularly rest my hand while driving. Maybe a combination of sun and abrasion.

[Jon Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Jon]

Had my steering wheel replaced under warranty on both my 90 series and my 120.
Started to wear after about 2 months on each vehicle.
The replacements have not shown any wear at all (now done 178,000KM in my 120).
Apparantly, they are very expensive due to the cruise control, airbag, etc..
Just remember, the replacement has a warranty too.

[Shell Member Find all posts View Profile Close Shell]

have any of you tried treating them with someting like Dubbin I know it's for leather shoes etc but it should help keep the wheel in good condition but unlike armourall and like products it shouldn't make the wheel slippery.

[Steve & Sandra Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Steve & Sandra]

or lanolin................................mmmmmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmmmm

[MattWhite Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close MattWhite]

or tried pricing re-trimming?

Matt