The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Lace-on leather steering wheel cover

I'm about finished rebuilding the steering wheel off a '49 GMC 1/2 ton. Found out that Eastwood's has about the best price on PC7, epoxy and filled in all the chasms around the hub and spoke ends. Now I'm looking at the little splits around the rim and thinking it would be nice to just wrap them in a good quality lace-on leather cover. Trouble is I can't find one big enough for the 18-inch diam. tiller on the old machine. Max is 16.5". Even tried a local trucking equipment and accessory store but no luck.
Are there leather steering wheel wraps for up to 18 inches? If not, I'll have to do the right thing (which will please some people and astonish the rest) and fix the whole wheel.

You could have your local saddlery store direct you to someone who repairs saddles and tack. I'm sure they could whip something together. You can do it yourself if you have a little patience and some leather scraps and a punch. You might even whip up something that would be the envy of the cruise night with a little imagination.
Remember to cut a little undersize on length and width to make sure it's tight. Just enough to make things snug, but not so much that you are fighting it on the wheel.

Hi, Gearhead56--

Good idea. I like the idea of a custom wrap. I'll check with the local tack shop; maybe he could make a sideline.

Ferrous W.

Sorry Vaughn,

It's Friday afternoon and my efficiency drops down to about 2%. Max.

FW

Hi, Gearhead56--

Good idea. I like the idea of a custom wrap. I'll check with the local tack shop; maybe he could make a sideline.

Ferrous W.

I bought one from JC Whitney for my 1/2
ton about 6-7 years ago. Don't know if they
still carry them or not.
They've done away with alot of the good
old stuff.

I made these for our trucks about 6 years ago and they where easy enough to do but a lot of labor and sore fingers. Cut some tanned doe hide a little smaller then the circumference of the wheel.Prepunch holes around the whole leather on both sides. Sew the ends together and fit it on the wheel. Then using the same stich that you see on a base ball... I pulled it tight with carpet thread. Later you can make the three little socks on the wheel spokes to get it a finished look. It take me about one whole day to do each one. [img]http://pstr-m01.ygpweb.aol.com/data/00F/0D/86/3E/D1/3InGD7CMUnQAZf5R-YlylIBr9ULw3aZc0180.jpg[/img] [img]http://pstr-m02.ygpweb.aol.com/data/006/69/76/42/4A/eXnESfQEj6gvN0IG3hVe3oIPZOKOZAbm0180.jpg[/img]

WOW! great job on the steering wheel! you got some more detailed pic's of the stitching???

[img]http://pstr-m01.ygpweb.aol.com/data/00D/01/D4/4E/B5/rHk+y72YMvA8PnT2+ljCWjjlphxsVbTx0180.jpg[/img]

[img]http://pstr-m05.ygpweb.aol.com/data/001/15/87/E1/58/pGNzH+0xuu7lYxFF5OQaUMVmRNVZAV2e0180.jpg[/img]

hey, lookin good Tony!

I think I'm going to get the leather and do the interior of my truck myself (with my mothers help... she quite the little seamstress! and she's got the stuff that will sew leather)

Hey Tony how much is it gonna cost me to rent Joy for a couple of days? I got 3 stovebolt steering wheels that could use Joy's custom leather work. Dude I said it once, and I'll say it again, you are one LUCKY MAN!!! Mick Inniss

[ 12-12-2001: Message edited by: mick inniss ]

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.

Joy those look great.
To the others most craft shops carry pig skin (leather) its real soft. About 12.00 for enough to do an steering wheel. You can sew it on most machines. Any fabric store sells curved needles and upholstery thread. With all that you can sew a circle and hand sew it tight. Im cheap so i learned to do it myself instead of paying 30 plus dollars. i wanted them on all my big rigs and pick ups. you can pick almost any color you want. if i can help with any other questions just ask. I do upholstery work as a side job. the fun one-- big al

Well those are very nice Joy! I have this "wimpy" answer for what I did. I went to a Big Walmart and they had in there line of covers a bigger one that was listed for RV's and big trucks to use on my 54 2-ton. Others I stretched on (or tried to) just broke or didn't go. It's just a vynil with plastic lace, but better than the "black" hands I was getting driving it. They didn't have them in the regular Walmart, had to be the big or super or whatever they call'em.

I've put the cheapo Wal- Mart specials on both my '51 and '57. Using a hair dryer (on a hot day). And just went real slow and even in pulling it around the wheel. The one on the '51's been there for 3 years now!