I recently bought a Lexus-style wood replacement steering wheel for my ‘01 LC from the ebay seller in Taiwan. The wheel is awesome except for one thing. Something about the angle of the way it mounts is ever so slightly different than stock, and the back plastic trim doesn’t quite snug up to the wheel the way it does with OEM. So when you turn the wheel the plastic trim rubs up against the trim on the column.
I’ve corresponded with another eBay buyer of the same wheel who had the same issue and went about solving it by trimming the plastic. He confirmed for me that all he accomplished was hacking up good trim. It still rubs for him. So I’m not even thinking along that route.
I’m thinking of using a washer or two as spacers between the wheel and the column in order to bump it out a bit. I’m not looking to get any real height going. Just enough space to stop the rub. I’m hoping one of these does the job, but I got four just in case I need to start stacking them.
Use them a la how they’re stacked on the old wheel:
Anyone see any harm in doing this? It’s a simple enough concept to figure it’ll stop the rubbing, but I’m not sure if I could potentially be causing a problem that’s a whole lot worse? I figure 37 foot pounds of torque is going to hold the spacers good and tight. But I revert to the experts here!
I’ve corresponded with another eBay buyer of the same wheel who had the same issue and went about solving it by trimming the plastic. He confirmed for me that all he accomplished was hacking up good trim. It still rubs for him. So I’m not even thinking along that route.
I’m thinking of using a washer or two as spacers between the wheel and the column in order to bump it out a bit. I’m not looking to get any real height going. Just enough space to stop the rub. I’m hoping one of these does the job, but I got four just in case I need to start stacking them.
Use them a la how they’re stacked on the old wheel:
Anyone see any harm in doing this? It’s a simple enough concept to figure it’ll stop the rubbing, but I’m not sure if I could potentially be causing a problem that’s a whole lot worse? I figure 37 foot pounds of torque is going to hold the spacers good and tight. But I revert to the experts here!