Hi all,

My truck is an 05 with 34,000 miles. Just this summer my wheel started to deteriorate. The grain is light from 10-2 and chunks are coming off at the high noon position.

I'm out of warranty and went to my dealer to get it replaced. Here's the story from there. It only took about 5 minutes for the service manager to tell me they have problems with the steering wheels. He then explained they are reacting to the PH of our skin and in some cases the PH of hand soap that we use. In my opinion it is totally unexceptable to design a steering wheel thats not compatible with our skin...SKIN IS THE ONLY THING THAT TOUCHES IT!

The dealer was nice and told me it would cost $368 to replace the wheel and due to some change in the wheel design a clock spring would also be needed but it was included in the price. He also said he would contact Dodge and see if they would consider a replacement. He then called me and said no they would not but the dealer offered to do the job at a discount for $228.

I appreciate the consideration but come on... they know they have problems and won't stand behind their product. And why spend $200 to only have the new wheel do the same thing in another 2 years or so.

I then contacted Chrysler Customer Assistance Center. After I got through the guy named Abdulabamaheedee (but you can call me Frank) he said and spoke with a lady named Aubrey...they basically told me to pound salt and that my steering problem was normal wear and tear. I have provided contact infomation below. This is what they sent back when I originally contacted them online. I would suggest that all of us who have this problem continue to persistenly call and email them about our disatisfaction.

You would think since the America truck market is totally in the toliet they would support their customers. Please pass this on to others you know with this problem and keep this steering wheel thread alive!


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Good luck, Chrysler has known about exploding LSD's, blend doors that break in EVERY model they sell and a host of other issues. They've not issued a recall or done anything for anyone out of warranty yet, so I doubt they will do anything about the steering wheels either...

 

Is it possible your nails are digging into the leather? Some people stress/get bored while driving and do it subconsciously..

 

A men to 1930u. Ya about the normal wear and tear. My truck only has 19000mi. I could see maybe if a grizzly bear was driving my truck then I might say ok its prob. wear and tear. but I know Im no animal and I treat my truck like gold. I hate to say this but at work I drive a ford van and guess what it has a leather steering wheel and it has just over 200k mi. and without any wear and trear on the steering wheel. so I guess that crosses out the possibility that I have a toxic hand. I would like to take my steering wheel off and beat the CEO of chrysler in the face with it. Then I would agree thats wear and tear.

 

Yea, they know they have a problem, because my neighbor's '06 has a completely different type of leather on the steering wheel. But like I said, you'd never get them to acknowledge it, just like the dashes that crack and fall apart. I was in the dealership taking my mother's minivan in for it's 1st oil change (don't call me lazy - they are free for the first 3 years or 36k) and the service mgr. was telling a dude with an '03 whose dash literally caved in, that he'd never seen or heard of a Dodge truck dash doing that before.
I'm not picking on Chrysler, they are all just as bad, I've got a slew of buddies up in Ga. with trucks by GM & Ford and they all spew the same stories, just the parts with a "black eye" change...

 

Yea i'm worried about the dash falling apart thing...i've been putting UV protectant on the dash since I read about the problems on here. I also bought a windshield/sun blocker thing the other day...seems to keep the temps down when it's parked.

 

I routinely use a vinyl cleaner/protector of some type about once a month when the truck get it's bath, wax, vacuuming (Florida sand sucks), and so forth. Plus I've had the fold up window deals since day one, keep the windows cracked when I park in the sun (I've got those in-channel vent visors) and after almost four and a half years it still is in perfect shape (knock on wook)...

 

I have not heard about this dash cracking problem, is it an issue in the 07's or is it only in the earlier models. The 07's have a plastic dash so I did not think it would be a problem...

 

Do a search here, on any forum or even Google it. Big issue although I rarely have seen anyone post about it with 04+ trucks, a lot of mid 90's through about '03s though.
I've even seen petitions online where they were trying to get enough for a class action suite as it's potentially dangerous if it happens while driving. But, like all the other issues that plague these vehicles, Chrysler denies it's a problem, citing only a rare few instances...

 

Mine did the same thing, put a $14 cover on it from Target, problem solved.