No kidding, Joy, those wheels are pure class. Talk about a straight-ahead sensible way to bury the problem. Everyone's advice pointed in the same direction. I telephoned big-rig accessory parts stores within a 60-mile radius of Ukiah and found a Peterbilt dealership in Santa Rosa, CA, that not only had an 18" leather wheel cover ($32.75, plus sales tax), but freighted it up the same day at no charge. The cover is made by an outfit in Berkeley, CA, called Wheelskins (2821 10th Street, Berkeley, 94710; (510) 841-2128). The covers come two-tone or monotone--brown, black, red, what have you. It laces on like Joy's cover, with the stitching on the inner rim, where wear and tear would be lower. The Wheelskin edges are folded over with adhesive and punched to take a black nylon cord for thread. So looking in trucking parts store was spot on and worked fine.
One problem is that the Wheelskin is for fatter rims than on the AD wheels. So, having checked with the local tack shop about who does leather work, I plan to take it to a shoe repair and have one of the folded and punched seams sliced off (about 1/4") and a new seam folded, glued, and punched in its place (scratch another 1/2"). That will make a tight fit, but there will still be enough leather to stretch over the rim snugly.
In case you can't shake down a truck accessory store for covers, Steve Hackett in Auburn, CA, emailed me about an online source, autoaccessory.com. They carry the skins at about $40.
On the other hand, if you're multitalented like some I might mention, you can bring down your own deer, get some thread and a needle and wrap your own.
Thanks to all.
