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No one here has refinished or replaced a worn leather steering wheel? You are all just driving with worn through the finish leather sections of the steering wheel?
It don't take long for vehicles with leather covered steering wheel to show wear. I've own a MB, BMW, Audi, Honda, and now a '10 LS 460L. Over time all had some steering wheel wear and discoloration but not enough to replace the leather part. If it was that bad I would go to Autozone and buy a nice leather steering wheel cover. Leather deteriorate and breakdown. If you refinished the leather will the heated part still work?
Mine was bad to the point where I was going to start to look on Ebay. It was faded and almost grey and felt like someone polished it with rough sand paper.
Here is what I used to restore it.
Fiebing's Leather dye (Black) with a cotton dauber
Fiebings's Acrylic clear finish for leather
Small foam applicator from Home improvement store.
Step 1, clean leather with rubbing alcohol thoroughly
2. Mask off them wood and center steering wheel horn section buttons etc.
3. Apply a generous amount of black leather dye onto leather and let it soak it. BE VERY CAREFUL not to get the dye on seat or carpet etc. Use old towels to cover them.
Wait till dry and add a second coat. I applied mine in the summer so it took an hour to dry. Continue to add coats till it is to your liking.
4. Once thoroughly dry. I waited till the next day apply the acrylic finish over the dyed area. Add multiple coats till you are satisfied with the results. I added 3 coats.
Mine has held up for 6 months and look great. I've been keeping my hands clear of motor oils and chemical which will break down the finish. I've just been using water and Pledge to keep it looking good. No signs of breakdown yet,
has the leather always been shiny? because mine is a bit and looks like parts of the finish has come off.. so is not as shiny... I would prefer to have it repaired rather than new leather put on, but the no one really wants to do a leather repair they rather releather because it is more money so...... it is very cheap to get new leather put on here but i would rather have the original on there.... so is acrylic what it is... but.... is it supposed to be shiny like that?
For interior upholstery work you want to use the satin clear coat.
fiebings only comes in one finish... but is that supposed to be that shiny naturally is my question or should i be looking for some other brand in a less shiny finish... i cant tell if thats supposed be satin or un-naturally glossy.
I sourced a 44k mile 09 LS 460 steering wheel for $100. We will see how nice it is in person when it comes in next week.
We are not rich people and restoring our 08’s wear areas puts us closer to what the new owner spent $70k on and enjoyed 10 years ago for much less than $25k.
we calll our 08 “the couch” as it’s like driving on your sofa.
So both door panels and glove box from Lexus and a steering wheel and center console leather cover replacement and a grim v2 installation and the 2016 nav upgrade and the drivers seat foam bottom cushion replacement and the leather seating surfaces refinishing and a new oem windshield should have us very close to this cars new condition experience.
the trans back flush and the engines plug replacement at 70k miles both have noticeably improved the vibration and smoothed the shifting.
i would be remiss to this fantastic cars soul to not fix it back to almost oem condition.
Might as well enjoy this as this car is a “keeper” for us as is our low mile 08 PB sc430.
we have put 19k miles on ours in 9 months.
Changed to akemodo(?) aftermarket pads and rotors and that fixed the too aggressive oem brakes that warped the rotors and had the brake controller clicking all the time. No wonder they wore out. The warped rotors kicking back the pads caused The EBD to wear out in my opinion.
New set of kyb’s struts are here and will replace the front control arms at the same time.
May upgrade the non ML stereo amp when I have the grom v2 unit installed.
You sound like me. I've been buying odds and end pieces off of Ebay to replace worn or missing trim pieces etc. I bet the seller was like "Someone actually bought the part !"
Toyota and Lexus Join Mille Miglia For The First Time
Slideshow: A five-car lineup spanning more than five decades of Toyota performance and engineering will tackle one of Italy's most celebrated automotive routes.
