So, my son has a 2007 or so Hyundai Santa Fe and the steering wheel is a bit worn. It doesn’t feel good, kind of deteriorated and almost a bit tacky right where your hands normally go. Was like this from previous owner. Has anyone used a product like This to put a new cover on a modernish steering wheel?
What other option do you have?
Momo
I wish I could remember who did it now, but I had a custom cover not only made for my Disco, but they applied it. It looks very stock except for the parts where I specified alcantara instead of leather. I will try to find the name of the company. The price was right and they did great work
The Wheelskins are... um... yeah. They are actually good covers, but it is a complete recipe for "nailed it." If you don't know what that is, google it. They look beautiful on the website with pro installers and photoshop, then you get one and try to install it yourself and it's like this:
You're probably better off just getting a used steering wheel and installing it.
I recently looked at a Miata with one of these on the steering wheel. It looked very... Umm... DIY. I'd try to find a decent factory wheel, if I could.
To source a used wheel, try the junkyard listings on car-part.com
Budget about $40-$100
My wife just installed a wheelskin on our '00 Silverado and we had one on our old miata that was there when we bought it.
My wife is very detailed and loves toiling away. Also she is a horse vet and is used to stitching things up for a few hours at a time.
And it did take hours to sew up. It looks great and feels great.
Edit: she wanted to add "and if your fingers dont hurt when you are done, you didnt do it right.
If you want it to look factory/OEM buy an OEM/junkyard wheel. Or get a high quality replacement leather cover and be prepared to take your time and re-do it a couple times to get it right. The stitch on covers require time to lace on.
As a cheap acceptable alternative, there are cheap (about $10) lace on covers on Amazon. They are PE Leather (which is plastic over cheap low quality leather. They feel as good to me a basic OE leather wheel (to me) and it is firmly attached to the wheel. It’s much better than the plastic wheels or a sticky worn cover.
this is similar to the one I got. There are also cheaper ones and I’m sure you can find them really cheap on eBay.
Henzxi Universal Car Steering Wheel Cover Genuine Leather Stitch On Wrap Hand Sewing Breathable Design https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07SS36819/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_dW2HDbEJJV77N
I've used several of these from Amazon. In fact I just did one last week. It takes some care to get right, but I'm really happy with the end result on all the cars I've done.
Bought an old car a while back with inexplicably sticky wheel. I just buy the cheap microfiber covers from the dollar store and replace them every couple months as they wear out. The grip is so-so compared to leather, but decent enough and the price is right. A used wheel swap makes sense for a no-nonsense fix unless the sticky wheel is a known model issue.
Thanks for the thoughts/ideas/recommendations everyone.
Replacing the wheel, is not something I'm interested in at this point. A bit more involved for the benefit. Besides, the car is 12 years old. A used wheel seems likely to also be a bit long in the tooth at this point. I guess I could've stated that in the original post.
I'll point him toward some of the cheaper options mentioned and let him decide.
T.J. said:Replacing the wheel, is not something I'm interested in at this point. A bit more involved for the benefit. Besides, the car is 12 years old. A used wheel seems likely to also be a bit long in the tooth at this point. I guess I could've stated that in the original post.
I'll point him toward some of the cheaper options mentioned and let him decide.
If you reconsider the used wheel, here is a video of Hyundai steering wheel removal in 2 minutes which is only slightly quicker than it really takes.
Just remember to disconnect the battery and to start with the wheel really straight so that when you put the wheel back on you can also get it really straight.
When Mazda slips you a Jeffrey,
Stroke the furry wheel.
In a former life I had a shift boot made from these guys: https://www.redlinegoods.com/. Quality was incredible. Looks like they now do steering wheel covers as well. They don't have your car listed, but that means you can probably get it for free if you provide detailed instructions and pictures of your install.
Not a canoe, despite my canoe like links.
I've used Wheelskins before - you can get great results but it takes a LOT of time. I'm going to try an Amazon cheapie on my current daily driver to see how it compares.
I've bought something like this from different eBay sellers for my last 2 E36's: link
For regular driving, I think these work well. The extra foam underneath makes the covers very comfortable, and they don't move when installed. My last install, I went ahead and added fabric tape so there was no chance the cover would move.
Like everybody else said, it takes a few hours to do. I think mine took a little over 2 hours. I also wouldn't recommend this anymore for people that track their cars. My current cover ended up separating between the foam padding and perforated vinyl. Slightly annoying but it isn't peeling. One of the covers linked above that is just one layer would solve this issue, but I'm now looking at getting a smalled diameter wheel.
02Pilot said:I've used several of these from Amazon. In fact I just did one last week. It takes some care to get right, but I'm really happy with the end result on all the cars I've done.
In reply to 02Pilot :
Ding ding ding. These are the answer. I generally recommend getting heavy-duty thread from a fabric storeand doubling up, because it never seems like they include enough.
Personally, I perfer the version of these with the perf holes. They look a lot better, IMO.
I’ve used Wheelskins on several cars. I take my time and the results are good. Not as good as a restored steering wheel for $500 but for the time and money, really good. Your results do get better with practice and some wheels will look better than others given their original design. The thinner the spokes, the better it looks.
02Pilot said:I've used several of these from Amazon. In fact I just did one last week. It takes some care to get right, but I'm really happy with the end result on all the cars I've done.
I was just to post this one. it will take you about an hour but it is CHEAP and feels good and looks good.
Another vote for the Wheelskin. This was my first try and it came out quite nice! Got it on sale around Thanksgiving. This is a custom size.
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