Aftermaket Leather Wrap Steering Wheel

Status
Not open for further replies.
H

HTSS_TR

Joined
Apr 17, 2006
Messages
19,528
Location
Lake Forest, CA
The steering wheel covered of Honda S2000 is leather, the leather quality is very good the only problem is the rim a little thin, it is more suitable for female drivers with smaller hands.

Since the day I took delivery of the car I like to add a leather cover to increase the size of the rim, but I didn't pursue that until I saw member GiveMeAVowel posted about "Amazon Genuine Wheel Skin" in the thread "Walmart steering wheel covers". I decided to give it a try.

I bought a cheap one from a Chinese seller on Amazon Market Place for $7.xx with free shipping. Since the included thread is almost always short I bought a 20' thread from eBay for $4.xx.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KIGT...ailpage_o00_s00


I didn't finish sewing the cover yet, it is about 1/2 done. I tried to grape the section I had it done the feel of the aftermarket cover is very good(but not as good as OEM), I think the rim thickness is increased by about 1/4" which is much better fit my hand than OEM.

This picture shows the leather wrapper and OEM. OEM stitching is much better but the rim is too thin, aftermarket cover isn't as nice as OEM but the rim is much thicker.

Note: The Recaro seats are 2-tones, center is red and outer is black, the headrest is black too.


 
Last edited:
Finished sewing the cover tonight. The cover is a little big in length(about 1/2") and width(about 1/4"). I think this cover should fit 14.5"-15.0" with a little thicker rim better. I didn't do very good job at sewing the cover over the old leather wrap steering wheel. If I need to do another car I will probably do better than this time.

Positive: The rim is now thicker and fill my hands better.

Negative: Doesn't look and feel as nice as OEM leather cover. I rate my work at 4 out of ten, ten is best.

If you look careful at the steering at 7 O'clock position you will see a little pump, because the cover is a little too big, I couldn't do anything about it. But my hand is rarely at that position so it doesn't matter much.


 
Can you post/send me the link for the thread? I presume local stores (aka Joan's Fabric type stores) most likely don't carry that in stock.

By the way, it looks good. Although I wish you had positioned it so that the two joints were symmetrical along the bottom.
 
There is only 1 seam at 6 o'clock position and it lines up with OEM seam. The one at 7 o'clock position looks like second seam is actually the overlapped because the cover is too long(about 1/2" may be 3/4"), it also makes a little bump near the thread. It's hard to see from the picture but I can definitely feel it.

This is the video that makes me think I can do the sewing of the aftermarket leather cover over the OEM leather.



I bought Tandy Leather Factory Waxed Nylon Thread, 25-Yard Spool, Black from a seller on eBay, his eBay store is hawkes-leather from Alaska, his price is about $1 less than Amazon at $5.42 shipped($3.17+$2.25). A search for "Tandy Leather Thread" will show all sellers.

http://www.amazon.com/Tandy-Leather-Fact...=leather+thread

Please note: The actual length of size L cover is 1" longer than stated by Amazon seller. If your steering wheel is 13.8-14.3" in diameter you like size M, not L. Size L fits 14.5-15.0" better.

The cover is a little to large for my S2000, and I didn't do very job sewing it so it didn't look very good. I think you can do better than me.
 
Last edited:
Nice. I didn't have the patience to thread a cover on my deteriorating foam wheel on the Cavalier. I got one of those retro '70s Sport Grip covers where the cord spirals around the wheel.
 
Originally Posted By: Silverado12
Nice. I didn't have the patience to thread a cover on my deteriorating foam wheel on the Cavalier. I got one of those retro '70s Sport Grip covers where the cord spirals around the wheel.

So did I, it took me almost 12 years to plunge into buying and sewing the cover over the still very good OEM leather cover. I thought about making the rim of my S2000 thicker the day I bought the car in Nov 2003, but I was hesitance about my ability and time needed to do it.

I done this over 3 days about 1 hour, 1 hour and a half each day.

No, I can't do Sport Grip covers where the cord spirals around the wheel. It doesn't look and fell right for my S2000. Either I stuck with thin rim or do it right with real leather and thread it correctly, so that it feels like OEM(but I didn't do it good so it didn't fell like 100% OEM).
 
I know you feel compelled to keep the factory air bag functional, but that car just BEGS for an great aftermarket, thick rimmed, suede/alcantara covered steering wheel (Momo, Sparco, OMP, Personnal, etc.)!!
19.gif
 
I know how you feel about the S2000 steering wheel. Mine is the same way. I don't like the small diameter at all. Nor do I like the thumb bumps. I'd rather it be fat all the way around, like God intended.

You did a nice job, and I'll bet it feels a whole bunch better.

I may try the same.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: dailydriver
I know you feel compelled to keep the factory air bag functional, but that car just BEGS for an great aftermarket, thick rimmed, suede/alcantara covered steering wheel (Momo, Sparco, OMP, Personnal, etc.)!!
19.gif


The chance that I may get into an accident that front air bags deployed is less than 0.01%, but still more than zero. I would rather have an air bag to keep me alive in that rare instance.

I did look at those MOmo, Sparco ... steering wheels. They are very nice and the rim diameter are just right size. But I couldn't take chance.


Originally Posted By: Cujet
I know how you feel about the S2000 steering wheel. Mine is the same way. I don't like the small diameter at all. Nor do I like the thumb bumps. I'd rather it be fat all the way around, like God intended.

You did a nice job, and I'll bet it feels a whole bunch better.

I may try the same.

Thanks for your compliment, I personally think that I did a poor job of sewing it together, it was the first time and the best I could do, may be next time it will be better.

Yes, the rim fits my hand much better. I will buy a smaller cover(size M) from the same seller and probably will swap out this one for that one in a near future. I'm a little tired of sewing 1/4" at one time on a 44" steering circumference. It is an tedious job.
 
Originally Posted By: Cujet
Can you provide the "brand" of steering wheel cover you purchased? I'd like to do the same.

Sorry for being late to answer your question, I didn't see your post until today.

I bought the first MACO cover from Amazon seller Chslycxc for $7.54 shipped from China. This cover is a little big for 14-14.5" wheel, the diameter of S2000 wheel is 14.2".

The same seller Chslycxc just had a new leather cover in size M, the new brand name is AUDEW. If it has the same quality as MACO then it is very good buy for $7.xx.

I just ordered 1 AUDEW and 1 MACO for other cars. I will probably receive it in 2-3 weeks, if you can wait I will post my impression with AUDEW cover when I received it.

I intend to remove the cover on my S2000 and install the smaller AUDEW cover. Install the old and new MACO covers on the steering wheels of E430 and Accord, they are 15" wheels so MACO size L will fit better.


Originally Posted By: Blkstanger
http://www.s2ki.com/s2000/gallery/page__module__images__section__img_ctrl__img__150303__file__med

This wheel was custom wrapped by a company called Rick's

This cover looks very nice, the work is really professional, much much better than what I could do for my steering wheel cover.

I bet the cost is probably few hundreds, while my cost is less than $10 plus my free labor.
 
You shouldn't just leave the cover on the wheel like that, it may slip when you turn your wheel in an emergency maneuver.

Stitching may take several hours but it's time well spent to make it right.
 
About couple of hours of stiching and here are the results. I had purchased the wrap from Amazon, the seller's name was lemon something.

Few lessons:- I was using the double thread and using 1-skip pattern. Single thread and no skip might be better idea but stitching single thread would be difficult because the thread would try to come out of the needle.

For less than $10 shipped, I am very happy with the results.


DSCF0757 by sontakke, on Flickr
DSCF0755 by sontakke, on Flickr
 
Last edited:
The wrap fits like a glove. As a matter of fact, I really had to stretch it hard to get it on the wheel. I drove like that for couple of days i.e. before stitching. It was not slipping at all. Also the width of the wrap is exactly matches the thickness of the steering wheel.

This was my present to the van on her sweet sixteen birthday :)
 
Should get some red thread. I agree with you that it looks so so. I would try going over it with a heat gun and shrink it. Google it, lots of info.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

OVERKILL
Tesla steering wheels
2 3
Replies
45
Views
1K
demarpaint
CarbonSteel
2001 Jeep Cherokee Sport (Father/Son Project)
3 4 5
Replies
84
Views
5K
LouC
N
Better Power Steering performace at Cold Start (weather)
2
Replies
20
Views
907
Plawan
Hermann
One year/10,600 mile review of my 2022 Ford Maverick Hybrid
2
Replies
22
Views
6K
supton
J
  • Locked
1999 Sierra 1500 crooked steering wheel please help
Replies
18
Views
1K
M56959
Back
Top