Steering Wheel Leather- recovery?

[ezrider440]

Hey Folks
I have a 96 Ford Explorer with a black leather bound steering wheel which served me many many miles but has now faded and suffered a few scratches. Other than buying a new steering wheel I think recovering the wheel with new leather is an option
I have seen the Wheelskins leather covers and they are awesome, on big rigs with the older steering wheels without any coverings, they look great but i have seen the way it looks on top of the orginal leather ( some guys on this site posted pictures) and it doesn't look bad but I hate the feelings of a thick steering wheel
Has anyone tried to remove the orginal leather and put the wheelskins on top? Is it a direct fit? or do you need to special order the diameter of the wheelskins? Also does the thickness of the Wheelskins leather match the orginal? So that it would sit flush with the spokes on the steering wheel.

Thanks and Best Regards

 

[CDW6212R]

A used wheel can be had for under $50 on eBay, I got mine for about $25 and tax locally. Unless you want the wheel cover, shop around for a decent used one. Mine is great, it will last the life of my work truck. Good luck,

 

[Jones43]

You can renew the black leather wheel covering with black shoe dye. No shoe polish, shoe dye. It won't help deep scratches, but you'll be suprised on how good the wheel looks after dyeing it.

After drying, it won't rub off on your hands and look great, easy to do, just be careful not to get it on the plastice parts.

Jones

 

[Facimeor]

out of the need to do my own restorations I taught myself how to replace the leather wraps on steering wheels. The problem with the wheelskins wraps is they are generic and punched the entire way around. This leaves an odd arrangment around the spokes. To be honest, even fords method of dealing with the spokes is quite bad. I prefer a wrap that includes the spokes.

Here are some some examples of my work, and I will try to post a write up of how to go about doing this yourself. Im no longer interested in doing these for payment at this time, so please dont ask, but I will be happy to try to teach people the best methods of getting these types of results.

I also have done shift knobs:

All you really need is enough leather, the right thread, a pair of scissors and a awl...and about 8-10 hours work time.