sticky steering wheel

[jerry moss]

today i decided to move my 73/80 K20 that had been sitting for several months and my hands stuck to the steering wheel. i know its a common problem with these trucks but i've never figured out any way to clean off that sticky crap, anyone have a solution to get it off without ruining the wheel ?????

[franken]

What does 73/80 mean?

[72malibu]

No problem.

My dad's 75 steering wheel was a gooey mess. It was probably one of the worst out there.

I cleaned it with blue Dawn dish soap and warm/hot water several times to remove most of the goo. There were literal gobs of goo on the backside in the recessed areas, and I scrubbed that off with a plastic bristle brush.

I then let the wheel soak in blue Dawn for a couple days, washed it again, soaked it again for a couple of days, and washed it once more.

By this time, some areas of the wheel (e.g., any areas with old scratches) had a slight gray look, i.e., dried out. Not a problem. A heat gun on warm will bring it right back.

Or, better yet, spray the whole wheel with SEM Tac Free. In theory it will seal the wheel and prevent goo from returning. It's clear but will also bring the black color back to areas that turned grayish from cleaning. The last photo below was taken before I sprayed the whole wheel with Tac Free. I did not spray the plastic horn button, so you can see the SEM Tac Free does not affect the sheen of the wheel. Everything matches perfectly.

Because the wheel is too thin to our liking, I wrapped it. The wrap will also prevent the goo from returning.

[Dead Parrot]

Originally Posted by franken

What does 73/80 mean?

Guessing from the sig which also mentions chevy/gmc, a re-manufactured vehicle using a variety of parts from many sources.

OP - My 75 did the same thing. Tried many of the solutions mentioned on this forum. None worked. Ended up replacing wheel with one off an 80s Blazer. Others have reported success on banishing the sticky. Might search for variations on 'sticky steering wheel'. Good luck.

Edit - or try the steps above. Looks nice.

[Getter-Done]

Jerry
This stuff works.

Link: https://www.amazon.com/3M-General-Pu...2461260&sr=8-3

Like everything else its kind of high price now.

[ron350]

Where i live every time it rains and there is a temperature change the steering wheel gets sticky.

Any brand of 91% Isopropyl Alcohol will remove the sticky stuff without spending much money.

[jerry moss]

thanks for all the replies, i'll give them a shot

[Willie Makeit]

I have had a good results using denatured alcohol and a CLEAN cloth. Flipping/folding the clothe to always have a clean surface for the "goo" to transfer to is the secret.

[Bandit130]

I have used 99% alcohol with good results. Will need to apply several times for best results.

[Factory Guy]

My 73 is a little sticky. I haven't tried this yet but I have read and seen where the Oxi-clean the crystals applied to the plastic/rubber neutralizes the plastics from becoming sticky again.

[tucsonjwt]

I cleaned my steering wheel with orange hand cleaner, followed by lots of wiping with wet cloths. I then covered it with two padded wrapped steering wheel covers as shown in the first pic above. Since I live in the hot SW AZ desert, I then covered that with a thick fabric style slip over cover so I can still touch the steering wheel in 115 degree heat.

[Axle]

I've used windex and a very rough rag to scrub the wheel, lasts the driving season.

[57taskforce]

I’ve got a sticky square body wheel that came on my ‘69 K10 when I bought it. It had sat for close to 20 years in the NM sun. I’m pretty sure I’m just gonna throw it away because it’s so nasty. Maybe I’ll give some of these ideas a shot. I put a 69-72 wheel in the K10 so the square body wheel is just sitting on the floor of the truck at the moment. It’s like the wheel just oozes oil from the plastic or something.

[72malibu]

You'd be surprised. My dad's was as bad as yours from the sounds of it. No guarantee how long the goo will stay away, of course.

[Harleys 4 You]

Brake cleaner works good.

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by franken

What does 73/80 mean?

Most likely it's a reference to the specific 73-80 sheet-metal years of the C10/20/30 trucks aka the 'Round Eye' years (the common headlight shape).


I always clean my sticky wheels w/some Simple Green or Purple Power type of cleaner w/a lint free cloth. I've used wax & grease remover as well for really bad units.