re-covering the factory leather steering wheel

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AATLAS1X said:
LX The same?
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it looks the same as far as the oak goes. I have an LX in my garage that the owner wants a reskin done on it. It is in bad shape as far as the covering goes. I think he would be interested in this. He's already bought a complete interior from you.

Contact me and maybe we can get the ball rolling.
 
landtank said:
it looks the same as far as the oak goes. I have an LX in my garage that the owner wants a reskin done on it. It is in bad shape as far as the covering goes. I think he would be interested in this. He's already bought a complete interior from you.

Contact me and maybe we can get the ball rolling.
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I was looking for his email last night, I'll ping him later.
 
AATLAS1X said:
LX The same?
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The LX450 is oak only. The part number of the steering wheel is different than the Cruiser number but the color is the same.
 
Mine is not bad enough quite yet, but when it gets worse I would look to have it reskinned to match factory.

For a quality job the $3-400 range sounds close, nothing is more annoying to me than a loose/worn out cover on a steering wheel.

The last OEM I saw on ebay brought $400+ some time back.
 
I replaced my entire steering wheel and airbag after a collision activated the airbag.

I found a Lexus car, a 1991 sedan, in the junk yard. The owner of the car had an aftermarket wheel cover on it. It was basicallt in darn-near-new condition.

It only cost me 40 or 50 bucks!
 
jjdeneen918 said:
I replaced my entire steering wheel and airbag after a collision activated the airbag.

I found a Lexus car, a 1991 sedan, in the junk yard. The owner of the car had an aftermarket wheel cover on it. It was basicallt in darn-near-new condition.

It only cost me 40 or 50 bucks!
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Bolt on install or mod needed?
 
Wonder if the steering wheel from the 91 LS400 would fit a 91 LC?
Course the air bag would be non functional.
 
I would not put on a Wheelskinz cover...did on an 4-runner and it just wasn't what I was looking for. The factory leather has that thing foam under it which give the wheel a nice cushy feel.

I'd love to recover mine it I was unable to clean it up better, but I think I'd value that service at $100-$200. But who knows. Sounds like a great idea thought I'm sure there are plenty 80 owners who'd do it!
 
New Steering Wheel Leather Photos

My wife is quite handy with sewing machine. She replaced my leather last night using my old leather as a pattern. She once took a cloth corset apart and recreated it in leather, so I knew she could do a good job.

She chose a sturdy garment grade leather, one that you might find on a high end leather coat (not a stiff Harley Motorcycle jacket, but maybe a Kenneth Cole leather coat) The leather was not the original Lexus brown, but it was the same hue of black the the shift knob used, so I was very happy with the results..here are the progress photos.


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Clutchee said:
Shane I have been wanting to have this done on the wifes but I WILL NOT deal with cruiserparts....... past issues.

Honeslty I would pay 200-300 for this.

If you need a gray one..... might be able to give you the wifes for a starter.
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x2 on the $200-300, but $300 for a quality product with the right look and feel (including thickness). Apparently someone had painted the wheel on the LX I bought back in March, and it's got a bad case of that nasty funk feel to it :mad:
 
conixIT said:
My wife is quite handy with sewing machine. She replaced my leather last night using my old leather as a pattern. She once took a cloth corset apart and recreated it in leather, so I knew she could do a good job.

She chose a sturdy garment grade leather, one that you might find on a high end leather coat (not a stiff Harley Motorcycle jacket, but maybe a Kenneth Cole leather coat) The leather was not the original Lexus brown, but it was the same hue of black the the shift knob used, so I was very happy with the results..here are the progress photos.


1.jpg




2.jpg


3.jpg


4.jpg
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I read that post, I rarely read things as I am a picture kinda guy. I do have to say that it looks retentively simple but I know first hand it is NOT and she did an amazing job! Did she or you stitch it? I have done it before and my fingers and palms hurt for a week!



Was there not foam bonded to the original leather?

She did the most amazing job I have seen any one do in a long time.

Shane
 
conixIT said:
My wife is quite handy with sewing machine. She replaced my leather last night using my old leather as a pattern. She once took a cloth corset apart and recreated it in leather, so I knew she could do a good job.

She chose a sturdy garment grade leather, one that you might find on a high end leather coat (not a stiff Harley Motorcycle jacket, but maybe a Kenneth Cole leather coat) The leather was not the original Lexus brown, but it was the same hue of black the the shift knob used, so I was very happy with the results..here are the progress photos.










4.jpg
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WOW!! That looks awesome!

I'm sure you will get many asking if you and your wife plan to recreate this for others, any possiblility? If so how much for a piece ready to stitch to the wheel? If not selling the leather then how about for the plans?
 
the process...

The old leather was laid out onto the new leather and "flattened" with hand pressure as much as possible. She took a white marking pen and traced. She has a razor roller cutter that made quick work of the cutting. With the old leather's holes as a pattern, she used a leather awl to punch all of the stitch holes. She sewed the four pieces together. (just the butted ends) to form a circle. For stitching, she used Singer upholstery thread. With the holes pre-punched, there were no sore palms. Oddly enough, we thought we would have to glue around the four "spoke" areas, because the old leather had a tad bit of glue there. However as the leather was being cinched like a woman's girdle, the extra leather just "fell" behind the airbag. I was quite beautiful. My wife "retired" to be a stay at home mom (2 year old and a 4 year old) in January of this year. She may consider doing this for others. I suppose after a few, she could get the labor down to a science.
 
conixIT said:
The old leather was laid out onto the new leather and "flattened" with hand pressure as much as possible. She took a white marking pen and traced. She has a razor roller cutter that made quick work of the cutting. With the old leather's holes as a pattern, she used a leather awl to punch all of the stitch holes. She sewed the four pieces together. (just the butted ends) to form a circle. For stitching, she used Singer upholstery thread. With the holes pre-punched, there were no sore palms. Oddly enough, we thought we would have to glue around the four "spoke" areas, because the old leather had a tad bit of glue there. However as the leather was being cinched like a woman's girdle, the extra leather just "fell" behind the airbag. I was quite beautiful. My wife "retired" to be a stay at home mom (2 year old and a 4 year old) in January of this year. She may consider doing this for others. I suppose after a few, she could get the labor down to a science.
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That doesn't sound TOO hard, though I know it still requires skill. I only wish I had the old leather for a template, PO already replaced mine with a tacky "realtree camo" cover:hillbilly:
 
When I read this early today, I about spit my coffee out - $400 for a steering wheel wrap on a 14-yr old vehicle? I suppose if someone were doing a restoration it may make sense, but otherwise that is insane. IMHO of course, YMMV, and all that.

I'd much rather do the $40 wrap (several times) and use the other coupla hundred towards another mod, maintenance, beer, whatever.
 
I was searching in the wheelsking website today .. and almost 50 bucks now .. when I bought was around 30 or so bucks ..
 
little_joe said:
When I read this early today, I about spit my coffee out - $400 for a steering wheel wrap on a 14-yr old vehicle? I suppose if someone were doing a restoration it may make sense, but otherwise that is insane. IMHO of course, YMMV, and all that.

I'd much rather do the $40 wrap (several times) and use the other coupla hundred towards another mod, maintenance, beer, whatever.
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Tapage said:
I was searching in the wheelsking website today .. and almost 50 bucks now .. when I bought was around 30 or so bucks ..
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I agree, over 100 is too much. The wheel skinz looks pretty good and I like the two tone option. The perforated might look good on a sports car but not for the cruiser.

I'm guessing the "OAK" is the match for our interior?
 
Actually I was very impresed with the wheelskin product .. back when I do .. ( maybe 3 years agoo ) and I will do it again ( and need to be soon ) for the money it's a good product .. if function for me this time
 
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