llcc1975

Hi all - wondering if any of you have had this issue also. I have a 2005 GX470 with the Sport Package. I purchased it used about 6 months ago. When I purchased it, the top wood segment of the steering wheel was "pitted" pretty heavily. That's the best way I can describe it. Even though looking at it you could not tell there were any blemishes, but if you ran your hands over it, you could tell the indentations where there (and I'm talking about the outside of the wheel, not the inside of it where there are premade grooves).

I was able to get my dealer to replace it under warranty about 3 months ago (it took 5 weeks to get the wheel from Japan and supposedly costs $4000???). The new wheel was of course smooth. Anyway, 3 months later, I'm noticing the pitting again (although not to the degree of when I bought the car). My wife drives this vehicle primarily and I know that she doesn't pound on the wheel with a mallet.

Any ideas what may be causing this? I sure hate to have to replace this on my own dime next time. Or did I just get another bad wheel. This certainly doesn't affect driveability but it is really starting to annoy me.

Thanks.

purplehazek4

maybe from a ring?

jjbodean

yup, its jewelry that is causing the "pitting", tell your wife to wear less, grip the wheel more loosely, or use a steering wheel cover, otherwise it will be an ongoing battle

SilverLady

Is a steering wheel cover safe for the wood? I am freezing my hands off around here (now that we are having real winter) on the wood part of the wheel. I bought a nice, soft, suede imitation steering wheel cover, but I have been afraid to put it on because I figure the non-slip inside surface could mar the wood finish. Is this a problem?

jjbodean

i wouldnt think it would be a problem at all

llcc1975

Thanks for the responses. I suspected that at first but wasn't quite sure. I'll need to secretly hide all of the rings (except the wedding band of course).

Silverlady - I concur in that I doubt the inside of your steering wheel cover will mar the wood part unless the inside contains hard plastic or another abrasive material.

rj4510

Living in AZ, I would guess it's the heat. Is the pitting following the wood grain? My 2003 wheel is far from smooth. There are peeks and valleys following the wood greain throughout the top of the wheel.

All it takes is baking the wheel in mid summer once or twice, before you'll begin to feel the "pits"...just a guess.

llcc1975

I hadn't thought of the heat issue but if that's really contributing to it, I'm seriously dissapointed that Lexus can't build these wheels to handle high interior cabin heat that every car will get subject to.

Unfortunately, since I don't drive it much, I don't have a sense of when the pitting occurs or when more of it happens. I might try to pay better attention to it. I guess it's possible that the heat softens up that material that covers the wood and when a ring or other hard object hits it, it results in a pit.

loflin

Another potential culprit is lotions.

Many women apply handlotions (multiple times a day) I know my wife and daughter do. They even keep a bottle/tube in the car door pocket.

Could be some interaction between the chemicals in that specific lotion that is contributing to it.

I seriously doubt heat has anything to do with it. Wood finishes in direct sun, due to the UV rays can be affected, but inside the car, the windows have UV filters. But your plastic components would have issues before the wood and wood finish at higher temps, in my opinion.

The G Man

Thats my excuse for not buying my wife jewelry, thats my story and I am sticking to it.

llcc1975

I'll try this argument with my wife tonight G Man!

rj4510

Good point. My car was formerly registered to a women