Peeling/abnormal wear on the Steering Wheel

[jetsettersd]

Anyone have issues with the white leather on the steering wheel wearing out? It just seems it shouldn't wear out this fast with normal driving habits. The dealer says it's not warranty covered.




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[Tweak]

Anyone have issues with the white leather on the steering wheel wearing out? It just seems it shouldn't wear out this fast with normal driving habits. The dealer says it's not warranty covered.




[ATTACH=CONFIG]8874[/ATTACH]

Welcome to the forum.

I haven't heard of this but seeing it I think it won't be long before many have some complaints! Hope you can find either a new wheel cheap or a cover you like, be careful though as some have found with covers the color bleeds into the white.

[Felnus]

Hmm...that's a new one as far as I am aware. Do you wear a ring or rings on that hand normally rests there? Do you use hand sanitizer or lotion regularly(the chemicals could be affecting the leather)? Some folks have a body chemistry that makes their sweat more corrosive than normal.

I don't have a Gucci but the black leather on my Sport wheel is showing no signs of anything like this.

[msjulie33]

Hmm...that's a new one as far as I am aware. Do you wear a ring or rings on that hand normally rests there? Do you use hand sanitizer or lotion regularly(the chemicals could be affecting the leather)? Some folks have a body chemistry that makes their sweat more corrosive the normal.

I don't have a Gucci but the black leather on my Sport wheel is showing no signs of anything like this.

Mine in my (previous) Pop never had an issue and Feinus, you asked pretty much the questions I was gonna ask

[Felnus]

Mine in my (previous) Pop never had an issue and Feinus, you asked pretty much the questions I was gonna ask

Great minds, etc., etc., etc...

[Abarth619]

Judging from the picture, it kind of looks damaged, not worn. What year and how many miles are on the car? If its not covered under warranty, try this. Lightly hit the worn spot with some very, very fine sandpaper and then some white shoe polish would help hide it. I've used black polish in the past on old worn leather steering wheels with great success.

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[ScorpionSkins.com]

Some folks have a body chemistry that makes their sweat more corrosive than normal.

I was about to mention this. I had an old friend whose skin would disintegrate leather belts.

Time to invest in a pair of these:

[MikeThinks]

I put nearly that many miles on my 1st Fiat 500 and my wheel looked flawless. Looks very much like a ring or one really hard callous.

[Abarth619]

I was about to mention this. I had an old friend whose skin would disintegrate leather belts.

Wow I've never heard of that. I guess the acidity of sweat varies from person to person.

[Felnus]

It's pretty crazy but it can vary quite a bit based on inherent body chemistry and diet plays a role too. A woman I work with has worn the plastic texture on the handset of her desk phone as smooth as glass and worn the lettering off the numbers.

[Andree]

I'd not seen it before on the leather Fiats, but I did a Google search for leather+wears+off+steering+wheel and it looks like there have been many people having the problem with all kinds of cars.

I do remember the vinyl wearing off on the shift boot and the shifter knob in an old Datsun pickup. It baked in the sun, in a hot area, so I assumed it was from heat/sun and long-term wear.

Did the whole thing just crumble off all at one time? Or has it been chipping, rubbing, or scraping off over time?

[Andree]

Thought I'd look up some info on sweaty hands. LOL.

This fella really has the acidic hand sweat!:

http://www.sciforums.com/showthread.php?113487-What-Causes-My-Corrosive-Sweat-and-How-Can-I-Counteract-it

And there are plenty of links within the thread on various aspects. It's interesting. And it's worthwhile reading a bit about, to understand why/how some things can be worn or damaged, simply by handling them in a usual fashion. I recall someone on the forum wearing the lettering off the radio controls or something like that, and they too could have the acidic sweat. They may not have had the problem previously, it could depend solely on the type of lettering compound used and it's interaction with the sweat.

This was short: http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swe...ssive_sweating

[tknospdr]

Didn't you read the owners manual? It clearly states not to chew on the steering wheel.