steering wheel re-trim/replacement wheel?

[daveknott5]

Chaps, I'm thinking of replacing the sand-leather coloured wheel in my Boxster with a black/grey alcantara finish + alcantara gear knob & gaiter. Sand leather wouldn't have been my choice if I'd have specced it from new, but I quite like the way it lightens up the interior - all except for the steering wheel - which should be black in my opinion. Has anyone had a re-trim done? If so, any recommendations on where to go + typical cost?

Also, what are opinions on re-trim v replacement wheel off ebay? I notice you can pick up a re-furb'd Alcantara wheel off ebay for between 4-500 quid.....

[MattOz]

Dave,

I use Jack at Royal Steering Wheels. He's done 5 wheels for me now and the results are always excellent. Competitive pricing too, at £110-150 for a retrim, depending on material used.

http://royalsteeringwheels.com/

[daveknott5]

Wow, that sounds good value. How long does it take? Is it a "while you wait" job? or would I have to go through all the kerfuffle of sending them my wheel and being car-less for a few days?

[MattOz]

daveknott5 said:

Wow, that sounds good value. How long does it take? Is it a "while you wait" job? or would I have to go through all the kerfuffle of sending them my wheel and being car-less for a few days?

I've only ever sent Jack a steering wheel in the post and then waited for a week or so for it to return. You could always buy a 2nd one off ebay and send that to him? Alternatively, he may have something already in stock as an exchange item. Worth getting in contact with him.

[Mad March Taffy]

Bringing an old thread back to life:

Would like some views/experiences on getting a 3-spoke 996 wheel retrimmed. Which materials work best? Current wheel is metropole blue leather and it feels too 'thin' to me - looking at getting a retrim and increasing thickness. Question is: do I just go for leather again or should I go alcantara? Anyone out there done this already?


Thanks

Mike

[e46man]

Hi, i have had leather and Alcantara wheels on few cars. Alcantara is great in my opinion, more grippy and feels nice, but need more maintenance as needs to be cleaned once in a while, but can last as long as leather and it does not crack or split like leather- Bonus Would definitely recommend having Alcantara wheel if you are after sports feel and looks.
See www.designls.co.uk where i got my wheel, they not only do retrim, but also do custom wheels including carbon,wood, flat bottom you name it! Got great advice reg choosing material for my use and ideas of designs. Already saving for my next upgrade - carbon and alcantara steering wheel and some more carbon interior parts

[Mad March Taffy]

Got a follow up question here - I have sent the wheel off to Jack at Royal Steering Wheels. He tells me that he can do the grip with no problems but he does not recolour the rear part of the wheel. He suggests painting it - has anyone out there successfully recoloured vinyl? I need to take it from a pale brown to a dark blue - not looking for an exact match to car colour (interior is Metropole Blue) but would like it be relatively inconspicuous. Image below. Any advice appreciated - many thanks

[MogulBoy]

Is that a full leather wheel c/w with leather covered airbag cover? Can he do the airbag cover??

If you need to re-colour the back, you could always paint it black if blue is harder to match but you need to know what you are doing with your airbag cover first.

I bought a brand new black OEM wheel a couple of years ago and it was lovely. I had thought to sell the old wheel to recoup the some of the cost but have kept it and may have that one recovered one day. However, I only have the vinyl airbag cover though so when the new wheel went on, the colour/patina of the OEM vinyl airbag cover wasn't a perfect match for the new OEM black wheel which looked like a very dark charcoal vs total black. However a good clean of the airbag cover reduced the shine that it had picked up over the years and now that the leather is in use, its a near perfect match once again.

Refurb/replacing a steering wheel is one of the most satisfying things to do to breath new life into an old friend!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6d8eKvegLI

Edited by MogulBoy on Thursday 25th September 11:02

[Mad March Taffy]

I am re-using the airbag from my current wheel - he is covering the grip and I will get the local indie to do the airbag and wheel swap. I want to paint/colour the rear part of the wheel as Jack can't cover this. Was hoping for some experiences before I get the spray can and masking tape out!

In terms of the project - I am changing the standard wheel on my 996T for more of a GT3 type wheel, albeit with tiptronic buttons on.

[NBTBRV8]

Any decent trimmer should be able to do it. I have heard some not so good reports from your vendor of late.

[MogulBoy]

Mad March Taffy said:

I am re-using the airbag from my current wheel - he is covering the grip and I will get the local indie to do the airbag and wheel swap.

Just keep in mind that the leather or vinyl cover on the airbag module is glued on and I don't know how easy it would be to replace that leather. Of course you might be able to paint/dye it to match but the quality of the finish would be much more noticiable than any paint/dye job that you could live with on the back side.

Plan B would be to find a replacement airbag module in black but you will find that they aren't cheap and the leather covered ones often cost more than the steering wheel!

[Pickled Piper]

NBTBRV8 said:

I have heard some not so good reports from your vendor of late.

Care to elaborate? I was thinking of getting my wheel recovered.

[DAB964RS]

Had my GT3 wheel refurbished by Royal earlier this year. New kid leather including the air bag cover and contrast stitching on the rim. Excellent job - can not fault the workmanship.

I know some BMW owners have experienced poor quality from Royal in the last month or so. Check out the posts on the CSL register forum if you need more info.

[Magna]

Mad March Taffy said:

Got a follow up question here - I have sent the wheel off to Jack at Royal Steering Wheels. He tells me that he can do the grip with no problems but he does not recolour the rear part of the wheel. He suggests painting it - has anyone out there successfully recoloured vinyl? I need to take it from a pale brown to a dark blue - not looking for an exact match to car colour (interior is Metropole Blue) but would like it be relatively inconspicuous. Image below. Any advice appreciated - many thanks

The back of the wheel you have pictured is leather and would be very easy to retrim. Can jack not retrim that part?
Any good trimmer should be able to do it but you want to dye it then buy a leather colour any kit from furniture clinic. They will match to any colour if you give them A sample but they do have a large range of colours in stock anyway.

Interested to hear how you get on as I have a wheel I was going to seen to Jack for recovering grip as well as back. If he can't do it I'll send to someone who can.

Edited by Magna on Thursday 25th September 22:21

[Mad March Taffy]

Will do - have to say that the recent posts are making a bit nervous!

[NBTBRV8]

Pickled Piper said:

NBTBRV8 said:

I have heard some not so good reports from your vendor of late.

Care to elaborate? I was thinking of getting my wheel recovered.

http://www.cslregister.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12366

[Pickled Piper]

NBTBRV8 said:

Pickled Piper said:

NBTBRV8 said:

I have heard some not so good reports from your vendor of late.

Care to elaborate? I was thinking of getting my wheel recovered.

http://www.cslregister.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12366

Interesting reading. He used to get some excellent reviews. Sounds like another good business that has been overwhelmed with business and let standards slip.

[r4_rick]

Pickled Piper said:

NBTBRV8 said:

Pickled Piper said:

NBTBRV8 said:

I have heard some not so good reports from your vendor of late.

Care to elaborate? I was thinking of getting my wheel recovered.

http://www.cslregister.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12366

Interesting reading. He used to get some excellent reviews. Sounds like another good business that has been overwhelmed with business and let standards slip.

I had a range rover sport wheel done there ,I had the stitching done in cream not black and I'm not sure they use the right grade of cotton, I think it should be waxed, and the gaps between the stitches aren't all regular. It's ok but I wouldn't rave about it.

[NBTBRV8]

r4_rick said:

Pickled Piper said:

NBTBRV8 said:

Pickled Piper said:

NBTBRV8 said:

I have heard some not so good reports from your vendor of late.

Care to elaborate? I was thinking of getting my wheel recovered.

http://www.cslregister.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12366

Interesting reading. He used to get some excellent reviews. Sounds like another good business that has been overwhelmed with business and let standards slip.

I had a range rover sport wheel done there ,I had the stitching done in cream not black and I'm not sure they use the right grade of cotton, I think it should be waxed, and the gaps between the stitches aren't all regular. It's ok but I wouldn't rave about it.

The problem by and large is there aren't many (if any) that can recover a steering wheel and have a machine to do the stitching, basically they are all done by hand. I had a 997 MKII GT3 redone by Dallas Custom Steering Wheel in the US based on recommendations, and it was atrocious.

[r4_rick]

Yep I appreciate it's done by hand, I've had a go at restitching a wheel myself, using the existing holes, it wasn't difficult, once my mum had shown me the right way to do it !

The frustrating thing with royal is that they look to be very capable, as they show some really nice wheels with the three colour m stitching on a bmw steering wheel.