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View Full Version : Not bad for $30 wheelskins



superstocksi
05-04-2010, 10:55 AM
My steering wheel was trashed, so I picked up a wheelskin and installed it. I didn't want to spend the type of money that even a used wheel costs and I didn't want to remove the old wheel and airbag. I think that the results look pretty good. Here are some pics. Sorry they're not the best, if anyone is really interested I can take better ones.

http://i1013.photobucket.com/albums/af260/kbrinsmaid/002.jpg

http://i1013.photobucket.com/albums/af260/kbrinsmaid/001-1.jpg

I used a baseball stitch, that looks like the oem stitch, to sew it on.
Here is a pic of the shift knob that I replaced too. It gives you an idea of how bad my wheel actually looked. Yes the seam in the pic is seperated and the shift pattern on the top was completely worn off. I think that having sweaty hands and using cleaning products that are too harsh caused all of this. My car has less than 50k miles on it.

http://i1013.photobucket.com/albums/af260/kbrinsmaid/003.jpg

kprocivic
05-04-2010, 10:58 AM
haha thats the first time i seen someone take pics with their laptop. +1 for you and it looks good.

beechstreet
05-04-2010, 11:16 AM
looks a lot better than most wheelcovers you can buy. nice job. how does it feel when driving? sorta like stock? does it move/slide on the wheel at all?

superstocksi
05-04-2010, 04:38 PM
Yeah if feels pretty much like stock, just a little thicker. It will not move at all because it is sewn on there really tightly.

johnkimble
05-04-2010, 09:01 PM
looks pretty good almost stockish but kinda reminds me of
http://www.accesshollywood.com/content/images/68/originals/68930_video-250492-on-broadway-young-frankenstein.jpg

superstocksi
05-06-2010, 09:03 PM
That Frankenstein pic is funny. I am happy with it though, even if it does look a little odd. I would rather have a new steering wheel, but this is definately cheaper and probably easier too. I don't know how to pull a steering wheel/airbag, so for all I know that could be simple.
Here are some tips for anybody that might want to try this out.
1. Here is a link to the directions that I followed. I also purchased the cover from them. http://www.dccarcare.com/tipowk/tipowk19.html
2. Use some thin zip ties to help hold the cover in place and keep the seam where you want it as you sew it up.
3. If I did it again I would start just to the left or right of the 12 o'clock position. I think that the stiches around the spokes would have been tighter if I had started here instead of between two of the spokes.
4.Note where the grips are on the steering wheel and pre stretch the leather in these spots a little bit.
5. To tighten the stitches, wrap the string around a pencil or pen 4-5 times and pull in the same direction as you are stitching, not forward or back. This will save your fingers and should make the stitches tighter.

I also managed to do this with only one of the supplied strings, but it was really close. You're probably better off using two strings, like the directions say, and cutting quite a bit of it off. It took me about two hours to do.

CorSport
05-07-2010, 08:02 AM
I think if they would have made the parts where it crosses over the wheel have black stitching it would look much better.

DRP967
05-07-2010, 10:35 AM
Not hating here but i personally think the wheelskin makes the steering wheel look to fat/thick. It looks kinda like a cheap steering wheel cover. I would have just had the steering wheel reupholstered. Now i understand doing this is probably cheaper than reupholstering so if cost was an issue then it is what it is. Anyways if you like it then thats all that matters.

CorSport
05-07-2010, 10:43 AM
I think it would be cheaper just to buy a new ring from honda in that case

superstocksi
05-07-2010, 07:36 PM
Not hating here but i personally think the wheelskin makes the steering wheel look to fat/thick. It looks kinda like a cheap steering wheel cover. I would have just had the steering wheel reupholstered. Now i understand doing this is probably cheaper than reupholstering so if cost was an issue then it is what it is. Anyways if you like it then thats all that matters.

I agree that it does look kinda fat. I'm not advocating this for any other reason than cost, and a reasonably good look/feel, compared to the condition that it was in. I would much rather have a new oem wheel or have my wheel reupholstered. I did consider both, but I have spent a lot of money on the civic lately, and have to prioritize/budget a little. In the past few weeks I've bought four new tires, got an alignment, changed the MTF, changed the brake fluid, new pads, new battery, and paid to have an audio system installed. I still have more to spend too. I still want to send out my throttle body and jrsc inlet to max bore, get the back three windows tinted, buy a few small pieces for the jrsc before install, and then I am going to need a tune. All of this is adding up, so I have to save some money where I can.


A new ring is easily $300. I get pretty close to employee pricing because I work in an automall, and I believe that $300 is my price, or close to it.

A brand new OEM wheel is seriously expensive. When I looked for one, I think that the cheapest I could find one was $381.


I think if they would have made the parts where it crosses over the wheel have black stitching it would look much better.

That would look better. The problem is that the whole wheel uses one long string to stitch it together, so that would pretty much be impossible. I kind of wish that I had just used black string on the whole wheel.

username011
05-07-2010, 09:41 PM
I dunno.. I dont have any money but I bought a lightly used ep wheel anyway.. the steering wheel is one of the main focuses on a car and if it isnt perfect it seriously detracts from the driving experience..this is just my 2 cents though.

I did do this wheel skin though but it just wasnt for me.

Oh yeah and for future reference in case you do buy a new wheel here is a link to a diy how to remove the stock steering wheel.

http://www.ephatch.com/forum/showthread.php?43643-DIY-Stock-Steering-Wheel-Removal&highlight=momo+wheel