I just bought this steering wheel off of ebay and I noticed the casting has lines or cracks in it. I realize that castings don't come out cleanly but those of you have seen a steering wheel stripped of it's airbag, does it look like this?

I just want to be make sure it is safe. Thanks for any help you can give

 

Just to give you my 2 cents, I just looked at the my spare (Navigator) steering wheel, and there are NO cracks or any type of distress shown on the aluminum plate. Mine looks like it is a smooth even casting.

Is your new strg wheel even all around, or are there any types of bends, angles that don't seem right? I'm wondering if this is just casting problems or if the truck was in an accident prior to you getting the sw. Could the air bag of gone off and the wheel not bent? This could cause this type of cracking, if the bag was set off. Are there cracks on the back side of the aluminum? You only show the frontal area, so if the back is cracked like the front, I wouldn't use it. JMO, of course.

 

I've seen some that looked like that and I've seen some that are smooth as silk.

 

It was probably in an accident. I wouldn't be afraid to use it if the cracks aren't all the way through and if there are no bends, like mentioned, I would check it closely for bends.

 

^^^ Same here...

what does the other side look like?

 

its probably just flashing. Hard to tell.

you can clean it up with wire brush wheel, and do a dye penetrant test

 

Those ain't cracks. Yea , they can look like that sometimes, freaks yuh out don't it... Absolutely nothing wrong with it, some castings cool smooth , others don't and flash a little on top. Your good

 

About 2 years ago I found a brand spankin' new steering wheel at a swap meet, and it must have been one of the lucky smooth castings, lol. Unfortunately, as excited as I was to find a new wheel, I failed to notice it had no provisions for cruise control.... so I ebay'd it off.

 

Agreed.

 

Thank you to all of you for your responses.

My first worry was that it was in an accident and yes Jbrew, it did freak me out

The wheel is not bent anywhere. All the wiring is in place and does not have any kind of discoloration. The cracks do not go all the way trough akdoggie, that I can see. I like the idea of taking a wire wheel and performing a dye penetrate test, so thank you for that mbb.

Much appreciate all you knowledgeable gents and your help