FEELER - Heated Steering Wheel Kits

Hey guys and gals,

Were starting to get some colder weather up here in the NE area, and when I went out to my truck today, my hands almost froze off as usual from the cold steering wheel, and I was reminiscing of the days when I was lucky enough to drive my parents 06 BMW X5 that had a heated steering wheel and really want to add that to my truck.

So what I've been doing for most of my night was thinking of ways that I might be able to make my "dream" come true.

First off, there is not one kit that I can find that offers you to be able to add a heating element to your existing steering wheel. If you find one. Please let me know, but I doubt it...next was the issue of finding an element pad that is going to be the correct size to fit on the steering wheel. Hours later, I've found a company that may be able to make these..and they just so happen to be owned by the company I work for (Robert Bosch). I'm going to give the engineering department a call tomorrow and have a few chats with them and see if they can do this, then find out how much it will cost to produce.

Which leads to my next question. I'm going to assume that the price of these will decrease for the more that are purchased at once. Not sure of the quantities that would do that, hopefully of many. But who would be interested in purchasing a kit if I put one together to make this happen? Don't have a clue on price as of yet. I want to wait to see how much these will cost which will reflect the most on the price of the final kit.

 

I've never heard of a heated steering wheel..... I mean.... I can see heated mirrors. But steering wheel? Now a steering wheel cooler, THAT i want Lets make one that does both!

 

Brother you are missing out. I may just end up doing this for my truck only if I can get a sample out of the company, but it would be so worth it to me. Nothing is worse to me then having to get into a warm truck with a cold steering wheel. I cant do the whole glove thing, and having a heated steering wheel cover would drive me nuts. I hate seeing cords and what not.

 

Subd to see where this goes...

 

Heated steering wheel has been available in BMWs for years. It's a better feature than heated seats IMO.

How will a retrofit work? You somehow have to get the heating element inside the steering wheel rim, then feed the wires through the spiral cable...

 

Try getting into a truck that sat out side at -25 deg celsius. Then you'll understand. You may have gotten in your truck and the steering wheel was too hot to even touch. Like that except the opposite.

 

I have Since it was just as cold outside, it didn't really bother me much Thats why I have two vents right behind the steering wheel . Now if I could make my steering wheel cooler on a hot day, then I'm down for this mod!

Op I think your biggest problem is gonna be finding out whats inside the steering wheel and if it can handle a heating element being inside it and not burning up.

 

subbed

 

I love this forum

 

subbing

 

Well think about it this way. You just said that when you get into your truck the steering wheel is WAY too hot to even touch right? Well the max the temperature would go on this mod would be around 105-115. That isn't so bad to the touch compared to what you're talking about

I'd like to look at possibly taking the leather off, wrapping it around the metal part of the wheel on the outside, then rewrapping the leather. I'd provide new string to sew it shut and whatnot, but I don't know how much of a pain in the ass it will be. That's why I want to try it out first. I'm not opposed to doing it for anyone..but who can go a few days without their steering wheel....

I haven't taken apart the column yet, but I'm going to be optimistic and hope for a few different options. One being running it through the spiral cable, even though I've never seen one before on these trucks..or just being able to power it all right there and put the button right on the steering wheel.

I haven't gone too far into research quite yet, as I have no idea on a cost for the elements, but I know just from being in the business that when you order in bulk, you get a better deal. So it seems after only being on here for a few hours that there is quite a bit of interest. Enough to make me go farther with this at least

 

...and then they invented GLOVES. you may as well go buy a man purse and capri pants if you can't get over a little bit of cold on the hands.

 

Hiding the wires will be tricky. My guess, and it's just that at this point, is that underneather the leather wrap, you're going to find the same steering wheel that the base model trucks have, not metal. An upholstery shop should be able to stitch a new cover on and make it fit snug and look professional. Be careful of how you run your wires so they don't get wrapped around something they shouldn't when you turn the wheel or get in the way of the air bag should it need to deploy.

Instead of a custom project, it might be worth your time to see if Toyota or Lexus offers this option on any of their models and see about retrofitting the whole steering wheel. Someone did manage to do this with a Hilux steering wheel but it was more for looks. Personally, as much as I would love to have a heated steering wheel, I wouldn't mess with it because of what could potentially go wrong. It could end up being an expensive adventure.

Just my $0.02, take it for what it's worth.

 

I have the heated steering wheel on my Nissan Maxima 08, and already searched few times through this forum how to do that for my truck. It is first thing getting hot in the car in winter, I love it.
I will be definitely looking into this mod. Pls share the experience.

 

Hey, I didn't ask what kind of man purse I should buy or if I needed any manly advice. So go back to your manly ways and forge through the cold with these newly invented gloves that you seem to find. If you actually read the posts, you'd see I don't want to do that. I'm not going to die of stress if I don't have this, and as you see from other people they would also love to have this done. As it is a LUXURY to have. Not a must have.

$0.02 cents taken. I did do a quick, and by quick I mean the first page of a "Lexus Toyota heated steering wheel" google search, and everything that came up were for the new 2013 models, and getting parts are more than likely going to be hard and expensive to come by.

I thought about doing like homer did to start out and thought of doing a "ill send you a heated one, but you have to send me your steering wheel" idea, but then you get into what controls you have on your steering wheel compared to someone else. I have the entune system, so I have the Bluetooth, phone buttons on the right. Which might make that hard to do when shipping "pre heated steering wheels"

My next step, when I find the time, is to take the plastic off of the steering wheel and explore my wiring possibilities. I know the ignition wires are up there, and if I can steel power from them, it might make my life easier if I don't have to run a wire back to the dash.

Thanks for the input. I deff appreciate it, as the more minds that can help bring this about the better.

I with you buddy, I've got a few coworkers that want to do this with their cars, but they don't drive taco's. so that may be my next tackle if I can get this to work

 

Subbed. I've been wondering about unlacing my steering wheel and adding heatin elements for motorcycle handlebars. Decided I'd rather try it on a spare one first if I can find one in a junk yard to practice lacing it back up

 

I would think that the entire steering whelk would have to be dis assembled?

 

Atleast the cover would have to be removed. You probably need to take out the center piece too so you can route the wires

 

Wouldn't be practical on the factory wheel.

The wheel itself is solid aluminum.
The rim and spokes are covered with a high-density closed cell foam.
Remove the cover and there's no getting it back on because it'll be in about 400 pieces.

 

I'm not gonna lie, unless you have vagina lips growing out of your hands, and in the cold those lips freeze to the wheel, like flicks tongue on a flag pole, than you shouldn't need a heated steering wheel in a truck. Just sayin.