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I have a new to me 2011 F-150 5.0 STX and the steering wheel is gnarly at the top. For both appearance and comfort I wanted to cover it and stumbled on to WheelSkins.
I ordered directly from them because you just enter the car/truck and it knows what size to send you. In my case it was 15 3/4 by 3 7/8. (This size ended up being wrong.)
It took me an hour to 90 minutes to install and I made the mistake of doing it in the heat. The thread has a wax coating and I highly suggest installing it in cooler temps because half my time was spent unsticking the thread from myself, it's self and parts of the truck.
Before:
After:
From a far it looks good, but up close you can see that the 2 edges wouldn't meet in the middle thus leaving a small gap all the way around. I assumed it was my error, that despite pulling so tight on the string it cut through my skin, I just didn't pull tight enough.
I e-mailed the company and just asked if I could buy more string later on down the road, that maybe after time the material would loosen and I could string it closed.
I got a quick response and the lady admitted they've had problems with Ford wheels in the past not being the standard size of 15 3/4 by 3 7/8 and had me measure mine.
I like to be precise and used a sewers measuring tape (the soft kind) and the wheel measured 15 7/8 by 4 5/16.
I got the new one, free of charge and they used 15 7/8 by 4 3/8 and the install was going smoothly until I neared the end. This happened:
Something I wasn't aware of is as you start to tighten the skin, it becomes looser around the whole wheel. So while the 15 3/4 skin took 5 minutes to simply install over the wheel, smaller width wise is better than exact fit width wise.
I've sent an e-mail back to WheelSkin and am hopeful we can try one final time to get this right. They've been great thus far to work with. I do feel bad that my exact measurements didn't work completely, but at the same time I did tell them that the original 15 3/4 did go over the wheel, it just took some effort and I wasn't sure if that was normal. I'm here to say, it is normal. The easier it is to slip on, the more bunching you'll have at the end.
I think 15 3/4 by 4 1/4 is going to be the magic measurements.
Not sure how much they are but you can get a new leather steering wheel that will bolt right up on eBay for a couple hundred. It took me 15 mins to swap and is perfect.
Not sure how much they are but you can get a new leather steering wheel that will bolt right up on eBay for a couple hundred. It took me 15 mins to swap and is perfect.
WheelSkins range is price from $50 to $70. Did the steering wheel controls swap over too? Or were on the new wheel?
WheelSkins range is price from $50 to $70. Did the steering wheel controls swap over too? Or were on the new wheel?
They were new, the only thing I swapped over was the airbag module. There are plenty of YouTube vids showing how to swap it. I was shocked at how easy it was. The hardest part was getting all three clips to pop airbag off.
Once wheel is off just put new one on and plug in plugs, put airbag on and you're done.
It's a bit more expensive then but it's a stock look and has nice leather.
They were new, the only thing I swapped over was the airbag module. There are plenty of YouTube vids showing how to swap it. I was shocked at how easy it was. The hardest part was getting all three clips to pop airbag off.
Once wheel is off just put new one on and plug in plugs, put airbag on and you're done.
It's a bit more expensive then but it's a stock look and has nice leather.
I like easy DIY projects. Sounds like a good one. These wheelskins are real leather and should last a lifetime; we shall see.
While I can't see this one doing it because it's sewn on, I'll keep an eye out and keep this thing posted. I've installed 2 now and the first one that took 5 minutes just to slip on would NOT budge. I was trying to even out the seams and it was a no go. I also tried rotate it as I went to keep the seem evenly inside and it's darn near impossible so that's promising if I can't move it when I want to that it won't move when I don't want it to.
I got a response today about the WheelSkin, bless the company, but we are going to try 1 final time using the 15 3/4 and 4 1/4 measurements. I think it's going to be a perfect fit! (Assuming it's made to those specs, but I have no doubts!)
This company has been amazing. Though I could tell toward the end they were losing their minds a bit. I've been trying to find out if and where I can send back the original 2 we tried, thinking they could more than likely reuse the material, but alas, they don't comment on it when they respond.
If they don't end up wanting them back I have 2 extras with different measurements if anyone is interested. I've installed 3 in the last couple of weeks so I feel a bit like a pro and based off your measurements could tell you if it will fit or not. It's the exact same as you see in the photo; perforated top and bottom, solid sides all black.
Only thing I don't like about covers like these is the tend to start to twist around the wheel over time.
That's because the cover is attached to the outer skin of the stock wheel, that skin does loosen over time and becomes a twisty. Anything you cover over it with will also twist and that can be a dangerous situation in an emergency.
I've tried using all of them over the years and every single one no matter how good they looked, still looked cheap and I wanted the OEM look. If I keep my truck long enough to the point it needs a cover I'll replace the entire wheel. Just my $0.02
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04-30-2016, 12:17 PM
WheelSkin Steering Wheel Cover
