How Man Miles Do You get out of your Steering Wheel

45,000 and it’s falling apart. My fist Tacoma went over 100k before this happened

Recall !!!!!

 

72K on mine, still running strong!

 

The faux leather coating on the top of mine started coming off during the previous owner. Truck was 4 years old and had 36k at the time. Hasn’t gotten any worse since I’ve owned it over the past 6 years.

There’s another thread on here on the same topic. Certain lotions/etc. can cause issues.

 

130K and doesn't look anything like that. It does have a bit of wear in the exact same spot though (unsurprisingly)

 

This or something similar was the route I was going to take if mine deteriorated more.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/installed-new-stitched-leather-steering-wheel-cover.600866/

Mines not horrible though. I’ll attach a pic for reference after I get off.

*edit. Pic for reference. Like I said, Not horrible.

 

"Certain lotions" for sure -- one possible culprit would be the use of DEET insect repellent. DEET has extraordinary solvent power on many kinds of plastics. Even a thin film of DEET left on the palms/fingers after normal application is often enough to make some plastics lose their surface finish and get "gummy." I'm sure there are certain other chemicals in some lotions, sunscreens, etc. that act similarly.

 

Good point. Forgot about deet. Shit is nasty stuff. Will wreck your fly lines too.

 

Came on quickly. I didn’t notice it at all yesterday and now a gaping hole. Not too worried about it. Work truck.

no Deet. Lots of dirt and sunscreen

 

"Came on quickly" seems like a sure sign that it was exposure to some specific chemical or other that caused the rapid breakdown. Maybe something on your work gloves, or even on hands?

 

Gotta stop wearing those rings to work

 

I can't let that screen capture pass without comment. OEM only please, no aftermarket substitutes.

 

It's something on your hands. Mine looks pristine at 70k miles.

Pretty much any sunscreen/lotion/cream/gel/etc that feels slick/slimy has the potential to deteriorate materials.

 

Mine is only showing very minor wear on the top after nearly 17 years and 239,000 miles. And that is from the sun.

 

143,000. Look almost new

 

junkyard. 50 bucks

mine's pre-facelift, high miles, not seeing wear
maybe they wear different
it's the non perforated/non sporty one

 

My 2005 with 218k miles is like new. I’ve had my hands covered in diesel, oil, dirt, everything.
I keep it clean with Malco detailing products.

 

My 2010 with 307k looks very similar to this. But has a small little piece missing about the size of a pencil eraser and it bother the shit out of me lo. I have been considering buying this off and replacing the whole thing. But I'm not sure of the quality.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/134217933481

 

I put one of these on the M3. They have an option for the Tacoma. Its all in the installation.

https://www.eastdetailing.com/products/copy-of-2011-2014

 

OP's Tacoma is a work truck.. seems like a low grade plastic steering wheel would have been the ideal material to stand up to repeated exposure to susncreen and dirt.

 

Mike looks like this and it drives me crazy but finding a suitably priced replacement has been tough. At least I can't put the blame for the wear on myself since I bought it like this.

I've come to realize that steering wheel wear is more a "user error" thing rather than bad materials from the OEM. Sun is a factor but other than that it just seems some people are really hard on steering wheels I don't know if they have sandpaper for skin or just a hulk death grip or what.