FJ80 Steering Wheel Alternatives (1 Viewer)

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Jan 15, 2020
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Nashville, TN
Just wanted to throw this up here. Before pulling the trigger on sending my factory steering wheel off to be reupholstered, I wondered if there were any alternatives. After reading around on here, I found some user suggesting a Camry from the same era would work. I figured I’d give it a shot!

I snagged a clean steering wheel in oak from my local pull a part here for about $10. It came from a 1998 Lexus ES300 (if I’m not mistaken) and the same rear fascia. Because I didn’t want a Lexus logo on my Toyota, I found a clean airbag from a 1997-1999 Camry off of eBay (fingers crossed it doesn’t happen to randomly go off on me while driving).

Everything matched up nicely, however an astute FJ80 owner would recognize the subtle differences. For about $50 in the hole, not a bad alternative until it drives me nuts enough to bite the bullet and send off the original. I hope this helps anyone looking for a “new” steering wheel.

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Your interior lights look great!

Thank you! You can thank treerootCO and being bored on lockdown. Here’s the thread that helped me. If feel confident soldering a PCB, it can definitely be done.
 
Looks good and appears to be a little larger in diameter than the Cruiser steering wheel.
 
Looks good and appears to be a little larger in diameter than the Cruiser steering wheel.
I’ll get some numbers back to you ASAP, but from the initial drive around the block, the thing that I noticed the most was the steering wheel padding. The ES300 steering wheel wasn’t the pinnacle of luxury like a cruiser.
 
Looks good and appears to be a little larger in diameter than the Cruiser steering wheel.
That's wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing.
 
Double post...

BTW, I was the the Pull-a-Part today and looked very seriously at an LS430 steering wheel for my rig.
If the hard trim portion hadn't been ruby red, it probably would have followed me home.
 
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Thank you! You can thank treerootCO and being bored on lockdown. Here’s the thread that helped me. If feel confident soldering a PCB, it can definitely be done.
Did you emulate the factory colors?
 
Just wanted to throw this up here. Before pulling the trigger on sending my factory steering wheel off to be reupholstered, I wondered if there were any alternatives. After reading around on here, I found some user suggesting a Camry from the same era would work. I figured I’d give it a shot!

I snagged a clean steering wheel in oak from my local pull a part here for about $10. It came from a 1998 Lexus ES300 (if I’m not mistaken) and the same rear fascia. Because I didn’t want a Lexus logo on my Toyota, I found a clean airbag from a 1997-1999 Camry off of eBay (fingers crossed it doesn’t happen to randomly go off on me while driving).

Everything matched up nicely, however an astute FJ80 owner would recognize the subtle differences. For about $50 in the hole, not a bad alternative until it drives me nuts enough to bite the bullet and send off the original. I hope this helps anyone looking for a “new” steering wheel.

View attachment 2523928
This looks great! I have been toying with the idea of installing a 100 series steering wheel with dark grain wood and grey leather in my 94 Land Cruiser... I don't have airbags so I figure I could just remove the airbag however the horn in a 94 is wired differently than in a 100 series. I feel like I could figure rewiring the 100 series wheel as the horn is one of the simplest circuits in the vehicle! Any thoughts on this?
 
This looks great! I have been toying with the idea of installing a 100 series steering wheel with dark grain wood and grey leather in my 94 Land Cruiser... I don't have airbags so I figure I could just remove the airbag however the horn in a 94 is wired differently than in a 100 series. I feel like I could figure rewiring the 100 series wheel as the horn is one of the simplest circuits in the vehicle! Any thoughts on this?

Thanks, it came out pretty well considering the cost and a lot nicer than my worn out factory wheel!

I’m guessing that would all mate up pretty nicely assume the splines are the same. I was just looking at a 1998 100 series airbag on google and the horn wiring looks to be the same as my 80. Not sure if this continued throughout the life of the 100s. My recommendation would be the earlier in the generation the better. You also won’t have to deal with factory radio controls either. Good luck!
 
"I snagged a clean steering wheel in oak from my local pull a part here for about $10. It came from a 1998 Lexus ES300 (if I’m not mistaken) and the same rear fascia. Because I didn’t want a Lexus logo on my Toyota, I found a clean airbag from a 1997-1999 Camry off of eBay (fingers crossed it doesn’t happen to randomly go off on me while driving)."

Why not use the original airbag--or one from a junked Cruiser?
 
I have JDM black early 90s Steering wheels for the 80 series, and also grey and tan steering wheels for the 1995-1998 80 Series (with and without cruise)...

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Also have three of these black JDM wheels... they're not like the usual grey stock ones seen in the USDM variant...

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