STOCK 67-72 Steering Wheels

[Chevyland]

I tend to like these trucks, original.
And my hands fit just right on the stock steering wheels.
So I always leave them in my trucks.

Really nice ones are out there
But as we know they are all prone to cracking

My belief is that 67-68 held up better, but not sure.
Also it seems 69-72 black held up the best?
Every blue interior truck I ever had the wheel was pretty bad.

Post up your OEM not (re pops )
Let's see what is out there.


I will start. Obviously with my best

[bhemingson]

Mine is blue one major split at 12 o'clock and a thin one a 6 o'clock.

[RodnRudy]

Here's my 68 wheel. It's only taken 49 years to get this comfortable grip.

[LongBox]

Here's my original 69 GMC wheel. Unrestored, and still lookin' good.

[dfwright]

Originally Posted by LongBox

Here's my original 69 GMC wheel. Unrestored, and still lookin' good.

What you have there is the "Unicorn" of steering wheels... wow! I've never seen a sandalwood steering wheel in that good condition. Sandalwood seems to be the worst for cracking and falling apart.

SO.... you obviously need to get you a good Saddle steering wheel in there to match the rest of your Interior, and I'm first in line for that beautiful sandalwood wheel when you sell it.

[hayhauler71]

I paid $25.00 for this one.

[hamjet]

Originally Posted by hayhauler71

I paid $25.00 for this one.

I'll give ya $30.00 for it...LOL

[slikside]

Here's mine...Original '72.

Biggest crack is at about 12:30, and one nearly equal at the lower left corner of the horn button, plus several other hairline fractures that I have noticed just showed up over the last couple years. Not bad considering this truck has been outside for all but about 6-7 years of its life. That's probably the biggest factor in the condition of these wheels...time sheltered, or not.

[Orange67]

67 CST. Minor cracks on all 3 spokes to wheel connections. Not too bad for a truck outside its entire 50 years. OP, I guessed you are in AZ before I looked at your Sig! Man the sun is harsh on these trucks.

[Andy4639]

My Ramp Rat truck had this one when I bought it. I took it out and put a corvette wheel in it for now but have a 2 spoke Impala wheel I'm restoring to go in it.

[special-K]

The sandalwood and blue wheels held up the worst. I think Black did hold up best, but also vans used the black wheel 73-78, so a bit newer ones are out there, more chance for black n.o.s., and many vans were cargo vans (only front glass), or RVs with large overhangs. Here in Maryland they crack up as bad as ones I see from the SW

[Canuckvetter]

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/a...1&d=1487988826

Just did a refurbish on my 67 steering wheel last year.

[FirstOwner69]

Here are pictures of the original from my '69. Just small cracks. I covered it about 1972 (20,000 miles?) with a lace-on leather cover because it felt greasy when it was hot. I removed the cover in 2010 (118,000 miles) and retired it in favor of a leather wheel from a 1994 S10 Blazer LT because I like the smaller size and fatter rim. The truck was outside its first 3 years southern California and usually outside in relatively cool Wisconsin until about 1990 when I stored it in a garage.

[Chevyland]

I'll take it

[FirstOwner69]

Originally Posted by Chevyland

I'll take it

It's permanently stored in a hermetically sealed package in my safe!

[Already Gone]

Originally Posted by FirstOwner69

Here are pictures of the original from my '69. Just small cracks. I covered it about 1972 (20,000 miles?) with a lace-on leather cover because it felt greasy when it was hot. I removed the cover in 2010 (118,000 miles) and retired it in favor of a leather wheel from a 1994 S10 Blazer LT because I like the smaller size and fatter rim. The truck was outside its first 3 years southern California and usually outside in relatively cool Wisconsin until about 1990 when I stored it in a garage.

You got me thinking now. I removed the one from my truck in 2015 ( bought the truck in 2014 ) and like yours has the lace wrap around it and was that way when I bought the truck. When I removed it I left the lace on and stuck it up on a shelf in my garage. You have me intrigued as to its condition under the lace so I think I'll bring it in the house remove the lace and see what I have.

[HO455]

My Burban had a 80's/90's steering column and wheel in it when I bought it. (Yes the 2nd photo is of the column I removed, nice upgrade!) That was one first things to go. I found a wheel listed on C/L with a bunch of other odd stuff. It took three weeks to actually talk with the people who listed it. When I finally got to meet up with them I found out the wheel had been hanging on the wall of her art gallery since 1977 along with a bunch of 50's Ford chrome bits and other stuff. She had painted it a Hunter green and under that it looks to be the correct color for my 503 green truck. We tried to get the dark green off but it didn't want to come off. It ended up black when my buddy who was helping with the rest of the steering column replacement painted it when he painted the column, so now I have two layers of paint to remove.
Has anyone successfully stripped paint off a wheel without damaging it? If so how did you do it?

[FirstOwner69]

Originally Posted by Already Gone

You got me thinking now. I removed the one from my truck in 2015 ( bought the truck in 2014 ) and like yours has the lace wrap around it and was that way when I bought the truck. When I removed it I left the lace on and stuck it up on a shelf in my garage. You have me intrigued as to its condition under the lace so I think I'll bring it in the house remove the lace and see what I have.

Let us know what you find.

As a side note the '94 leather Blazer wheel I mentioned in my post also had a cover on it when I found it in the junkyard. When I removed it, the wheel looked like it had never been used.

[El Dorado Jim]

Originally Posted by special-K

The sandalwood and blue wheels held up the worst. I think Black did hold up best, but also vans used the black wheel 73-78, so a bit newer ones are out there, more chance for black n.o.s., and many vans were cargo vans (only front glass), or RVs with large overhangs. Here in Maryland they crack up as bad as ones I see from the SW

I got a black one from a van about 15 years ago for my 72, it was perfect, then it cracked in a couple of places, I just installed a wood wheel with the 3 chrome spokes with holes in them , it is a Grant wheel,like the old superior wheel I had in my 72 step side in high school..in the mid seventies..

[71CHEVYSHORTBED402]

What's the story on the top rim of the steering wheels? Some have grain, others are smooth.

[FirstOwner69]

Originally Posted by 71CHEVYSHORTBED402

What's the story on the top rim of the steering wheels? Some have grain, others are smooth.

They all had grain originally. Those that are smooth have had the grain gradually worn off through use. It also appears there were two different grain patterns on the rim. I have always believed those with the finer grain, such as mine, were the truck wheels and those with the larger grain pattern were from the 70s vans. It's also possible the larger grain is just one stage of the wear process that mine never got to. I believe the reproduction wheels also have the smaller grain pattern, but the grain is much "sharper" than I recall the originals ever being. However, that may only be my imagination.

The wheels that are not painted can be buffed to a high gloss.

[cericd]

Originally Posted by FirstOwner69

The wheels that are not painted can be buffed to a high gloss.

Hey FirstOwner69, same question. What can be safely used to polish up the in painted wheels?

[djeCST]

Mine was cracked in about every place imaginable. Every joint between the spokes and the hub or rim were separated.





It took a bit of work, but now it looks like new.

[Chevyland]

^Wow djecst, that turned out nice^

Here is a perfect example of the grain wearing off
155,000 miles of comfort grip
Smooth everywhere except where the hands don't touch it
You can see how more is worn off on your left hand
Probably because it is so comfortable to drive these with your elbow out the window. Gripping the wheel right in that spot

[OregonNed]

Originally Posted by djeCST

Mine was cracked in about every place imaginable. Every joint between the spokes and the hub or rim were separated.





It took a bit of work, but now it looks like new.

That looks nice!