View Full Version : Oils from hands onto steering wheel
blownvert
11-15-2005, 12:06 PM
Does the steering wheel ever wear away if you drive with one hand on that same spot? Is leather suppose to come off? Some of the steering wheel at top is a different color like it weared away the leather. I always tried cleaning it like meguires quick detail spray. Its not going away.
How old is your car? What make/model?
A halfway descent leather wheel should not wear out or even show hand prints. I have had mine for six years and it looks as good today as the day I picked it up new.
blownvert
11-15-2005, 01:08 PM
How old is your car? What make/model?
A halfway descent leather wheel should not wear out or even show hand prints. I have had mine for six years and it looks as good today as the day I picked it up new.
I have a ford mustang. Its 5 years old. Does leather actually come off and fade? I looked closely, maybe I can take pics later.
jchetty
11-15-2005, 01:38 PM
I have a ford mustang. Its 5 years old. Does leather actually come off and fade? I looked closely, maybe I can take pics later.
dont underestimate the power of the sun :eek: ...i know that my car on 03 civic that is garage daily and is dressed periodically with 303, part of the interior is fadign :hairpull however, the is a logical explantion...that being the dash board and the steering wheel are fading only where the airbag deploy.. this material has to be thinner, to allow the airbag to deploy...however is fairly obvious that this material is also inferior....many a times, steering wheels are not 100%leather all around....look to see if you have perforations around the entire steering wheel...kinda of like how many cars dont have leather seats ...but leather seating surfaces...
I have a ford mustang. Its 5 years old. Does leather actually come off and fade? I looked closely, maybe I can take pics later.
I think you may have a defective wheel, but there is little you can do about it after five years. You might try complaining to Ford and see if they will help you out, in some way.
exile
11-15-2005, 02:40 PM
I`m thinking what you`re seeing is the dye wearing that was used on the leather. Take it your local cobbler or car upholsterer and see if they could fix you up. Of course you might want to go this route............ http://store.summitracing.com/default.asp?target=partdetail.asp?part=FMS-M-3601-B (http://)
Accumulator
11-15-2005, 02:42 PM
The combination of skin oils and sunlight was enough to kill the leather on an Audi A6 4.2 within a few years- the top half, especially where the owner kept her hands, was all flaking/peeling. I was able to get the owner a new one gratis but it was an unusual situation where I could exert some influence.
blownvert
11-15-2005, 05:44 PM
I`m thinking what you`re seeing is the dye wearing that was used on the leather. Take it your local cobbler or car upholsterer and see if they could fix you up. Of course you might want to go this route............ http://store.summitracing.com/default.asp?target=partdetail.asp?part=FMS-M-3601-B (http://)
I dont think its worth it. :grinno:
TGates
11-16-2005, 08:22 AM
Depends on a couple of variables. Do your hands get clammy? If so, this will accelerate the process. If you always hold on to the wheel at the same place, then after a while, without proper cleaning and conditioning, the leather will start to "flake off" and discolor. I make a conscious effort not to hold on to the same part of the wheel continually, and as always, keep the wheel cleaned and conditioned, once every couple of weeks if possible. I cannot stress enough how important it is to maintain a leather steering wheel. You touch it all the time, every time you drive. Gotta keep those nasty oils at bay and the good oils in the leather.
My first new car was a 1998 Mustang GT with leather. The top of the steering wheel had started to flake after a year and a half of ownership. This was before Autopia ;)
96snake
11-17-2005, 12:35 PM
Its a combination of cheap ford leather and improper owner care. My 96 Cobra leather wheels still looks very nice. I keep it cleaned and conditioned though.
I just experienced the same problem on a 99 explorer limited last week. A ton of dirt was built up on the steering wheel, removing the gunk meant removing the dye as well in some spots. I erred on the safe side. Your best bet would be to get it redyed like mentioned above.
Lorne
blownvert
11-17-2005, 01:37 PM
Its a combination of cheap ford leather and improper owner care. My 96 Cobra leather wheels still looks very nice. I keep it cleaned and conditioned though.
I just experienced the same problem on a 99 explorer limited last week. A ton of dirt was built up on the steering wheel, removing the gunk meant removing the dye as well in some spots. I erred on the safe side. Your best bet would be to get it redyed like mentioned above.
Lorne
Its only on the top, I only can see it probably from my view. I am going to cleaned the leather more often now. Ya its a dye I guess, so its not like the leather seating.
imported_Luster
11-17-2005, 01:50 PM
Sun-fade and sun-rot combined with perspiration.
Once the leather has deteriorated that far, your only choices are to replace the wheel, re-cover the wheel, or do like I did and buy a really nice "WheelSkinz" cover for around $45.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v333/bluster/interior.jpg
sbkang
11-19-2005, 01:19 PM
I had a Mustang, and loved the car. Unfortunately, however, the Ford leather is cr@p. What you are seeing is the dye coating wearing off. It`s basically spray painted. There`s a guy who comes around to the local used MBZ lot and touches up their new arrivals with a spray product; maybe you could find something like that.
Also in your Mustang, if you have the brown interior, beware that some of the hard plastic surfaces also have a color coat that can come off with overly aggressive cleaners. I don`t know about other colors.
imported_Neothin
11-19-2005, 01:25 PM
Anyone know where I could pick up a decent set of driving gloves? For one, it would eliminate oils getting onto the steering wheel and then gloves would help keep the hands warm in the arctic weather of florida winters. I`d like to wear them in warmer (well... hotter than heck) summer months also, so maybe suggestions should be cloth as to allow the hands ventilation in the hotter times of the year?
Accumulator
11-19-2005, 05:19 PM
Anyone know where I could pick up a decent set of driving gloves?
I`d like to know too, I used to *always* wear driving gloves in the XJS and its steering wheel is still like new. There used to be a company called "Signature" that made them to measure.. There has to be *somebody* offering such things today...