AutoMatters & More: Must-have auto accessory — steering wheel food tray & desk

This is absolutely brilliant. You and everyone else who has a car, truck, RV or other road vehicle should get one of these for each vehicle. I get nothing from Amazon to tell you about this. I paid for mine. Please read on.

I recently returned from a week-long road trip from San Diego to cover the SEMA Show and the Optima Ultimate Street Car Challenge, in Las Vegas. Eventually you will be reading several of my “AutoMatters & More” columns about that excellent trip, but first I have a ton of photos to go through (on six big memory cards), and I will want to edit many of them.

On a long road trip I, probably like you, stop on the way to eat and drink — often in my car, especially lately due to COVID-19.

Typically, what I do is balance my food and drink on the rounded, padded, central armrest/storage bin cover beside me between the two front seats. If need be, I also balance other food items precariously on the dashboard or on the front passenger seat — neither of which is level.

Tray with a meal on it

(Jan Wagner)

For years I’ve longed for someone to come up with a convenient, reasonably secure and stable tray for a car, upon which I would be able to put food, a laptop computer or whatever (when I was parked, of course). A few days ago, while I was on Amazon, I discovered one. I ordered it and I tried it out when it arrived.

It is affordable and it works perfectly! I love it. I cannot believe that I did not discover the earlier or similar versions of this item long ago. My only consolation is that now, for 2021, they have introduced a significantly better model.

One side of the generously-sized tray (approximately 17 x 11.5 x 1 inches) has a recess to contain your food items, plus another recess for a beverage. You might want to tilt your steering wheel slightly, in order for the tray to sit flat. Cleanup, if necessary, should be quick and easy.

Desk side of tray

(Jan Wagner)

Flip it over and on the other side you will find a flat desk-like surface, with a recess that will hold a pen. This side of the tray is well suited to holding a book, paper or a laptop computer.

This tray easily attaches to the steering wheel but, if you have a three-spoke steering wheel like I do, make sure that you rotate the steering wheel first, to turn it upside down. There is a video on Amazon to show you how to easily install it, but you basically angle the tray down, move it as far forward as you can— so that the center of the curve sticks into the gap above the edge of the steering wheel’s rim, and then let it level itself naturally. Press down to make sure it is fully in place.

Desk side of tray with computer on it

(Jan Wagner)

Since it is flat, fairly thin and strong, I store mine in the seat pocket behind one of the front seats.

Its current price on Amazon.com is $16.99. There is also an offer to “Save 5%.”

To learn more and to order these (I plan on ordering a second one for my other car), go to Amazon.com and enter “Steering Wheel Tray with Edge Protection Multifunctional Car Table Desk for Eating Writing, Laptop Fits Most Vehicles Steering Wheels (Won’t Damage Steering Wheel)” in their search bar. That should take you to a page with a few steering wheel desks. This one will say, in blue lettering above the desk, “2021 UPGRADED DESIGN.” Order this one, not the others, because while there are a lot of other companies on Amazon offering what looks like the same product, they do not seem to have the silicone pad edge. Instead, the edge is hard plastic. This is a really important difference, compared to the $3 or so less expensive version without this. The silicone edge will protect your steering wheel from wear, and it offers extra grip that hard plastic would not provide. It is marketed on Amazon under the “ECARZO” brand, and ships in a plain white box.

Tray in seatback pocket

(Jan Wagner)

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Copyright © 2021 by Jan Wagner – AutoMatters & More #717