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Solution for Peeling Steering Wheel Controls for 07 - 09 ES350
I’ve had the same problems as many others with the soft paint peeling off the steering wheel controls. $450 for the replacement part was ridiculous, so I tried several things which weren’t acceptable. Finally, I traced and documented the graphics and locations, then had a local vinyl wrap guy produce artwork and make some up. My wife is tickled pink with them although I’m not entirely happy. My question to you guys is, would it be worth $25 or $30 for two sets of these wraps? One set is to apply and screw up, the second is for when you’ve passed the learning curve. One of my problems is that I didn’t clean all the old paint off the one side and it’s outlines show through the vinyl. It can be seen in the photo. If there's any interest, I'll revise my art a skosh and try again.
this is very cool! Even though my wife did not complain I do have the same peeling problem on our steering wheel. I would pay pal over $25 for these new stickers. Take my money please!
$450 for the part or is that including labor? Here the part is $300, and I'm sure Sewell's site has it for a good bit less than that. Still, hard to pay that just for lettering.
Well, I guess, I'll have to get off my lazy duff and work these out so the bottom applies smoothly. Although my wife thinks it's fine, I'm not happy with the wrinkle on the underside, OCD, I guess. I'l post the results of version 2.0 here soon.
The dealer, Lexus of Clearwater, quoted me $735 to replace it when I had the can into them for an AC evap replacement. I've done many evap replacements, but I know my limits, so chose to use the dealer.
If you're going to go about it this way you need to at the very least use vinyl glue behind that. It'll keep it from peeling off again.
Also, you should use a hairdryer or a heat gun on low to make it easier to get the vinyl into the crevices.
If you pealed all the OEM coating off then use a black plasti-dip spray coating, use just the button decals cut from the vinyl stickers and placed them on the buttons then sprayed them with a clear plasti-dip you would have no wrinkles and a OEM finish that you could never tell the difference for around $50. I would be willing to buy some of these vinyl stickers to give it a try on my old buttons.
This is a good idea but vinyl will always bubble eventually unless it's applied to a clean flat surface.
i bought the decals from ebay and they are just stickers its hard to have clean edges. it does not look factory at all .....oi also didnt place them on with a heat gun which may have helped ill post a picture a lil later ...but honestly the vinyl the way this guy did is exceptional ..
I’ve had the same problems as many others with the soft paint peeling off the steering wheel controls. $450 for the replacement part was ridiculous, so I tried several things which weren’t acceptable. Finally, I traced and documented the graphics and locations, then had a local vinyl wrap guy produce artwork and make some up. My wife is tickled pink with them although I’m not entirely happy. My question to you guys is, would it be worth $25 or $30 for two sets of these wraps? One set is to apply and screw up, the second is for when you’ve passed the learning curve. One of my problems is that I didn’t clean all the old paint off the one side and it’s outlines show through the vinyl. It can be seen in the photo. If there's any interest, I'll revise my art a skosh and try again.
That second attempt looks great. Mine are doing the same thing on the left side control. I would like to get the 2009 (or '10?) series buttons, but the only place I can find them besides factory is from a Chinese website. I know someone else around here ordered them for around $125 and they look great, I would feel much better if I could read the web page
OK, Bad News. The guy I'd worked with decided not to be bothered with them any more.
So, for anyone who'd like to make them yourself, here's everything I have. Instructions, a pdf and some .jpg shots that your vinyl guy should be able to load in and resize.
Just go to any of these shops that do vinyl car wraps and use the same material they use.
Unfortunately, all I have is the very first cut at the artwork. The placement of the graphics is pretty close, but they’re way too large and must be reduced. I’m including both a pdf and jpg files of them. The label guy should be able to directly import the jpg files and work from there.
Find a small vinyl sign place.
Take photographs of what you want
Using thin tracing paper, trace the locations of the buttons
Have the guy make up artwork. All the graphics are available on Google images
When you get them tweaked to work, cut them so there’s lots of extra material. The biggest issue is the bottom side of the pod. It’s a single thickness and there’s nothing for the decal to bond to, so it needs to be 3/8 to 1/2 inch long so you can kind of stuff it under.
Since they can’t do the vinyl in a flat or matte finish, just spray it beforehand using Krylon Matte Finish #131
It’s important to spray with the Krylon unless you want them glossy. I'll try to attach the instructions on another post, or in sections as the file is too large
Mine aren't peeling, but I've had 2 ES 350s with the sticky steering wheel controls when I bought them. To fix them, I tinkered for a while and found that laying moist paper towels on the buttons for 30 minutes and then wiping them repeatedly with an all in one wax (I used XMT 360), they come out looking pretty much like new.
Not the same as peeling, but maybe this will help someone.
i bought the decals from ebay and they are just stickers its hard to have clean edges. it does not look factory at all .....oi also didnt place them on with a heat gun which may have helped ill post a picture a lil later ...but honestly the vinyl the way this guy did is exceptional ..
great job!
I bought them too. They look cheesy but a HELL of a lot better than what I had. I still might just paint the damn things and get it over with.
10-22-14, 08:38 AM
Solution for Peeling Steering Wheel Controls for 07 - 09 ES350
