DIY - Suede/Alcantara steering wheel wrap

tomrdy · Post by **tomrdy** » Wed Jul 11, 2018 3:09 am

Hey guys,

Ordered a steering wheel wrap a while back and it arrived yesterday so I spent an evening doing a thing!

The one I got is suede, and from the looks of it, it's an actual leather hide. Pleasantly surprised at the result though I would've liked it to be a bit more fuzzy.

Installation was surprisingly ... painful. My fingers feel like they're on fire from pulling the thread (you gotta pull it TIGHT). And also having to contort my body around to try and reach the stitching on the back really drained me.

I'm sure that if you took your steering wheel + trim off, it would be infinitely easier and take 1/4 of the time I spent. If I had to do it again, wheel is definitely being removed.

With the trim pieces though (if you were to do it in situ like me), I ended up undoing all the torx screws on the back and popping them up (not OFF) to slip the material behind. Definitely do this BEFORE you start. The rear side ones do come out but you have to be quite careful as there are little nub guide things that can break - though they dont seem to do anything besides guide.

I'd suggest you do this in day time as well because LIGHT is your friend especially when trying to thread needles between stitches

Close-up of the material. Bit too smooth for what I exactly wanted but feels pretty nice regardless

Original steering wheel's condition:

"I should be about to knock this out in an hour" - said me before the 4 hour session.

Pic from this morning after first drive.

bz4kev · Post by **bz4kev** » Wed Jul 11, 2018 5:32 am

AveZ4coop · Post by **AveZ4coop** » Wed Jul 11, 2018 7:10 am

Good work!

Monaco84 · Post by **Monaco84** » Wed Jul 11, 2018 8:08 am

impressive skills!!!

kis · Post by **kis** » Wed Jul 11, 2018 12:46 pm

Where did you buy this from out of interest?

Dave 2 dogs · Post by **Dave 2 dogs** » Wed Jul 11, 2018 7:04 pm

Nice work , as kis said where did you get it ? I’d like one of those

Zoomer · Post by **Zoomer** » Wed Jul 11, 2018 7:58 pm

Can’t fault you it looks fabulous

tomrdy · Post by **tomrdy** » Thu Jul 12, 2018 2:41 am

Thanks guys

Driving the car feels really different... in a good way though! Now I need to sort out the hobo gear knob....

Dave 2 dogs wrote: ↑Wed Jul 11, 2018 7:04 pm Nice work , as kis said where did you get it ? I’d like one of those

Hey Dave, I ordered it from Aliexpress. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Black-S ... autifyAB=0

My first time buying anything from there but seems alright (like a chinese eBay). Took a while to arrive though (nearly a month).

Dave 2 dogs · Post by **Dave 2 dogs** » Thu Jul 12, 2018 9:50 am

Thanks tomrdy
I’ll check it out ... great job
On the lighter side .... when I tell my missus I’ve been chatting to Tomrdy she’s gonna be well happy

Marlon · Post by **Marlon** » Thu Jul 12, 2018 10:27 am

Looks like a right old faff to do - but worth all the effort, looks great

tomrdy · Post by **tomrdy** » Thu Jul 12, 2018 11:33 am

Dave 2 dogs wrote: ↑Thu Jul 12, 2018 9:50 am Thanks tomrdy
I’ll check it out ... great job
On the lighter side .... when I tell my missus I’ve been chatting to Tomrdy she’s gonna be well happy

Hahaha i never thought about it like that

greg81 · Post by **greg81** » Thu Jul 12, 2018 1:15 pm

Nice work.

There's a whole thread about these kits someone around here. My advice to anyone thinking about buying one if to take the steering wheel off the car and do it in the comfort of your living room. I did it both ways and this was infinitely easier

greg81 · Post by **greg81** » Thu Jul 12, 2018 1:17 pm

Found it: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=101464&hilit=mewant

tomrdy · Post by **tomrdy** » Thu Jul 12, 2018 2:18 pm

greg81 wrote: ↑Thu Jul 12, 2018 1:15 pm My advice to anyone thinking about buying one if to take the steering wheel off the car and do it in the comfort of your living room. I did it both ways and this was infinitely easier

I couldn't agree more!

Dave 2 dogs · Post by **Dave 2 dogs** » Thu Jul 12, 2018 8:03 pm

Tom , did you disconnect the battery ? Or was it ok undoing those torx screws with the battery still on ???

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