DIY Steering Wheel Wrap (3rd Gen)

Also interested in the gluing process.... I've had my wheel wrap for about 4 months dreading stitching it around

 

You won’t be able to glue it without taking the wheel off.

I would stitch it all up and and then glue your edges. You might be able to pull
them a little further over the edge.

 

You can glue everything without taking the wheel off. I know some people take them off. You'll still need something to hold it with while you work.
I wasn't going to rent/buy a steering wheel puller, so I just left the wheel on.
Either way you go, it's going to take time and patience.

At the very least, you will need to disassemble the wheel though in order to be able to tuck all the edges.

Regarding the glue; I used Weldwood contact cement, which you can get at any major hardware store.

 

Thanks for the info

 

Thanks again! You made this seem a lot less painful than it looks.
From your pics, it looks like you followed the video and stitched every other one. Do you see any advantages doing every stitch? It makes sense around the curved areas but I'm just thinking for consistency sake does it make sense?

 

i tried this once. got a quarter way done, then got called into work and was so pissed off i ripped it off...

how long did this end up taking you? i realized it wasnt a quick job after it was too late

 

I had no interest in this until I added leather last week. Now it looks like I won’t sleep until I do it.

Great write up and reference material!!

 

Sure!
I did the every other stitch bc of the looks and time. Either way you choose to do it will be fine...along with the glue, it's not going anywhere.
Aside from zig-zag'ing to every stitch, you could do the pattern I did, then do another offset thread to/ through the straight stitches that were not used before; which will create an x pattern. Is that clear as mud?

Here's a few more vids.
Every stitch zig-zag.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaSPbn3W4x8

Here's another couple of vids, by one of the true masters:
Every other stitch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgKyCleBgQY

Baseball Stitch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kahlJ31s2I8&list=PLoSIdv1C9uyR89bDwrd95ClwEfco6fqtg

If I remember correctly, it took my 5+ hours. This was the first one I've ever done, so I harkened back; slow is smooth, smooth is fast.
Get some good beer and enjoy the work.

Let me know if you have other questions and good luck with!

 

Long time lurker first time poster....

If you go onto loncky’s website you can place a custom order for any style steering wheel cover you would like. I ordered a perforated leather with solid leather and a red position marker at 12, 65 bucks shipped. It came from China and took roughly two weeks to arrive. My install did not come out as clean as the OP but I got really anxious and rushed through it.

 

Thanks again! I'll post pics when I get mine done. Just placed the order today.
I'm going to have to dedicate a whole day between beer breaks and my OCD kicking in!
From what I can tell from the videos, it seems that the glue around the control pieces should be done last to pull any remaining slack?

 

A Packer fan in TX! Must be rough. Give 'em hell! Go Pack!

 

its not that hard , all it takes is just some patience... the hardest part was removing the steering wheel and reinstalling it.

Glueing the edges that tuck in is a must for a supper clean look.... you don't have to but it looks better. contact cement should work. I have also heard about a contact type of cement specifically for leather.

For me every-time i drive the truck looking at it reminds me of my son and I working on it.

I think i can do it the second time in about 2hours total.... most of the time was spent on trying to figure out how to go about it.

 

Thanks for this post! I am 3/4 of the way through install. Your product and instruction links gave me the oomph to tackle it. A subtle but significant improvement.

 

Def one of my more fav mods I've done.
Post some pics when you're done!

 

Back in June I installed Katzkin leather. I went with the all black Loncky kit and I think it works well together.

 

Looks super nice! Great job!

 

Agreed

 

Thank you!

 

When you say "disassemble the wheel", can you remove or pry up just the trim pieces a bit with the steering wheel intact? I've found several places showing the instructions for full wheel removal, but if that's unnecessary, how far would one need to go to get a good tuck on the edges? I'm quite familiar with contact cement...feels like if done properly, THAT might be the longest part of the process (waiting for it to dry/gloss over properly!).

 

Yes...you'll do best to remove the everything. I would not try to pry anything.
Check out the link in my original post, under the 'Getting Started', #2. It links to another thread showing the steering wheel disassembly.

Re the cement; I found that after having thoroughly cleaned the steering wheel and working in short (2-3") sections at a time, the cement would tack in 1 - 1.5 mins. Given the time of year (early Aug.), the ambient temp might have also been a factor.
Whatever the case, I didn't want to wait the full 10-15 mins for full tack because I wanted to be able to have a little play while stitching and final positioning.

Good luck with it! Post some pics when you're done.

 

Will do. I refurbish goalie masks and Weldwood is the standard to installing/replacing padding in them. Definitely a different scenario with temp swings, sweat, humidity, etc., but not allowing the cement to tack over properly often leads to pieces of padding falling out. Hopefully the same doesn't happen with steering wheels!

 

All good points. Certainly taking more time won't hurt anything. Been over a year and mine's still holding strong.

 

I have to admit I just rented a Tacoma with leather steering wheel and I wasn't very impressed. The leather isn't soft so I don't want to be spending over $200 if it's not soft leather. Shit, my wife's Subaru Ascent leather steering wheel feels much better than this Toyota leather.

So I guess I won't be buying no OEM
I'll just have to wrap later.

 

Ha! I had the exact same experience! A friend of mine bought a new Tacoma last year with all the leather and bells/whistles. I had previously considered buying a Tacoma wheel, but I was also, not impressed with it's leather.

 

Just finished my Lonckey wrap. I hope this helps someone considering doing it...

I’ve never threaded a needle in my life. Once I figured out how to tie a knot in the string, it took me 3 hrs. I did not take the wheel off and only used contact cement where I absolutely needed it.

The hardest part...getting started. By no means is it a quick process but I was surprises how fool proof it was.

If I do it again...
- I would use every inch of the tape (as close to the stitches as possible), especially right down the middle of the cover.
- I would make sure the areas of leather that are meant to be tucked in we’re all overlapping the panels equally.
- I would make sure the lighting was better. Sometimes it was hard to see what stitch I was on.

I’m happy I did it. I think it would go quicker and look better my second time around.

 

Nice work and attention to detail!

 

I failed in wrapping it. I should have removed the steering wheels, it looks awful right now. I still have plenty of tread so, I will start over again one of these days.

 

I also want to install without removing the wheel. Was it difficult to tuck in the leather?

 

Tucking it was fairy straight forward. It was the quickest part of the entire process. I was sure to apply pressure the panels as I was tucking it under. I had to move around the wheel to get to each stitch but was all doable.
If I knew anything about anything and it was a really simple process, I’d take the wheel of but it seems a bit over my head. Therefor keeping it on was my only option. Hope that helps.

 

Guys, removing the steering wheel takes maybe 15 minutes max and it's super easy. It also makes this install super easy since you can position the wheel in a more comfortable position. 10/10 would recommend