Steering Wheel Peeling? Here's Your $5, 30 Minute Solution!

My steering wheel looked bad when I bought my truck, the black trim pieces were starting to peel.

It annoyed me, but the areas that had peeled off looked gloss black. So, I starting scratching with my fingernails, and indeed, the pieces are gloss black plastic under that coating that is on them.

Tools needed:

Your hands.
Any decal/adhesive remover.
A few paper towels.
A roll of tape.

I prefer the adhesive remover that can be bought at Advance Auto in a small blue can for $5. I've used it for many things. Stickers, pinstripes, and now my steering wheel.

The first step is to use your fingernails to get some edges started. Then, spray a small amount of the adhesive remover on a paper towel and rub down the trim area, gently, we aren't trying to remove anything right now, just apply a good coat and let it soak in the covering on the trim.

Don't spray the adhesive remover directly on the steering wheel, this stuff can damage other parts of your vehicle. I taped off my steering wheel controls to make sure none got on the white markings and consequently damaging them.

After a few minutes, spray some more on the paper towel on a point you've made with your finger. Be careful that none drips in your truck. Then, get to rubbing.

I suggest leaving your floor mats in, because the stuff comes off in small pieces, and when you are done you can simply remove your floor mat and shake the stuff off and vacuum out what remains.

Rub until all the adhesive is gone, but be gentler on the plastic when you reach the bottom, it can scratch.

It took me no more than 30 minutes to do it, and I was careful. Good luck!

Before:


During:


After!:

Looks good... nice write up!

I agree - looks good and great write up!

This should help those that have a little time to spare, but don't want to go the whole way of replacing those pieces, and having to deal with the airbag in the process. Thanks for taking the time to take some photos, and write up the process for people looking into this. It always helps to have a guide to follow!

Thanks guys, see I am actually a fan of the woodgrain and was very close to pulling the trigger on the woodgrain replacements on eBay for $170 or so...lot of money for steering wheel trim.

Then I got to thinking they looked good black, and I had this idea. It worked out great!

good deal

Any pics of the can so we know what brand you used?

Asking to see peoples' cans is wrong.


Nice writeup Chris ... there's nothing as rewarding as simple and cheap solutions.

Thanks.

Sure, here's my can ha (for some reason photo-bucket is rotating the image?):

Cool.... Thanks I will definitely do this soon mine's not bad but would look much better after this

Yeah mine wasn't too bad, the "before" pic I posted was after a couple minutes of scratching at the top right "spoke" before the easier idea of rubbing the adhesive remover dawned upon me. But you can see what the left side looked like, I didn't purposefully remove any of that that you see on the left in the first picture.

Thanks for the write up. Glad someone tried this. I was about to attempt it but my truck was still under warranty so the dealer put in a new set of trim. We'll see how long this set lasts.

I recall there was some sort of stripping chemical that someone used on the FJ Cruiser forum to strip the paint off of the bumpers since the base was black. But IIRC, that stuff would require you to take the trim off and soak it in the chemical.

Good mod and nice write-up, I am surprised that mine has not peeled at all(took delivery 5/2006) but if it does I will definetly be stripping it and then putting on some carbonfiber vinyl to match my dash pieces.

nice! mines doing this and ive thought about doing this, but now i def am thanks!

Thanks. Step 1) This. Step 2) Paint to match exterior color (silver birch).

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Nice write up. Mine has been peeling for some time now as well. I just hadn't put the thought or time into figuring out how to get them off, but now I realize don't need to.

How'd you get the stuff removed on the egdes where it goes down below the center of the steering wheel?

Awesome post, was wondering what to do with the steering wheel before I read this.

awesome idea! I have the same problem, and now have a nifty solution!

Sweet fix bro. Not much more satisfying that fixing a prob that bugs you by yourself... Even better when it's cheap too!

Chris ... do you mind updating the pic of the product you used?
I linked this thread to help folks on another forum.

Just saw your reply Serge, I can't find the pic anymore, but any adhesive remover should work.