OEM Steering wheel and gear gaitor re-trimmed.

[j333evo]

I have received my steering wheel back from getting re-trimmed. As i said in a previous post when looking for a rough 2nd hand steering wheel I had this done at http://www.gibsontrimming.com/ which is miles away from me so everything was done by email and phone, but I'm sure that if you're closer and able to go in and discuss with them your exact requirements things could be done even better. I used them because I couldn't find many folk willing or experienced enough to re-trim a steering wheel.

I asked for the wheel to be re-trimmed in a fine grain leather to try and get close to the finish on the seats, again difficult over the phone but if you go in you could get a much better match, with red cross stitching and a red band to show TDC. I also asked for the gaitor to be trimmed to match. It wasn't cheap at £175 for the wheel, and a little more for the gaitor which many will not want, but when you consider a decent new MOMO Tuner will cost £120ish, then the boss kit at £30ish its only a little more and you keep the air-bag which pleases insurance companies as they are not ken on removing them, plus looks factory, something I really wanted to do. Or that Renault I believe charge £250 for a new wheel makes this a bargain as the standard wheel's finish is pretty poor.

Again i got whole wheel covered, but some may prefer say to get the carbon inserts that K-tec do and still have the grip sections exposed, it's all down to personal preference and for me now that I've done it may have considered that option, though the wheel feels fantastic.

I now have the wheel off my car which has covered 27K, its not bad, some wear to the outside edge around the grip section, thoug grips themselves have no damage. And for anyone interested drop me a PM as don't want this to be a for sale thread, but in interests of fellow owners wanting to do as I did, I do know Gibson would offer some discounts on future orders and my spare wheel could get it started

 

[son of solo]

yeah that's pretty sweet and thicker too...i wish the standard trophy steering wheel was a little thicker, after driving the R27 for a while now it feels very thin.

 

[nickboazracing]

I like it, looks very good. How is it around where the original grips were?

Do you mind me asking how much it was to get done?

 

[j333evo]

As you can see I got whole wheel covered including the original grips which on this wheel were falling to bit, you can make out the outlines of them under the leather, unavoidable hence why I say some people may prefer to buy the carbon inserts and fit those with the rest of wheel being re-trimmed. But the wheel feels no different here than it does elsewhere, which is excellent. I think he had to do some repair work to the dodgy grips before covering, all in he wasn't impressed with teh quality of the materials used on the wheel saying it "had some wierd covering on the fake leather" or words to that effect.

It is thicker now than before, and if anything the air-bag now lines up perfect against the wheel when before it sat slightly proud of it.

Price as I said in original post £175, but if others are looking to get it done depending on numbers he would offer money off this amount.

Though for me it's not only cheaper than a new wheel from Renault, only slightly more expensive than an aftermarket option, and you keep the air-bag and cruise control functions. So money well spent on something that for you to be able to drive you hold onto, so the most tactile part of any car and therefore very important.

 

[Berty]

Cheers for posting that, I've been trying to find re-trimmers that could sort mine, as like you say it's a lot cheaper than a new wheel, and shouldn't fall apart now.

Has he actually trimmed over the grips or removed them and just covered where they were with leather ?

 

[nickboazracing]

Sorry, just reread the original post... Must not skim read!!

 

[jack_davey]

that looks fantastic, only a shame that the airbag isnt a more black colour, kinda annoying the way renault have done the interior in blue, looks especially pish in a black car like mine! Been thinking aboout sorting my melted wheel for a while!

 

[SpaceMonkey]

The gear gator looks great, but I'm not such a fan of the finish on the wheel...sorry buddy

 

[j333evo]

I'm not expecting everyone to like it, but it feels so much better than original which it has to be said it one of the poorest quality wheels I have ever used. My old Renault 5GTT had a much higher quality steering wheel in it, excellent quality leather and lasted really well, I only sold one of my spare ones about 6 months back and it was 20years old came out of a 110K car, yet looked & felt mint. Even the steering wheel from our Seicento Abarth is better quality, it at least uses real leather, and it was a 6K car new.

Yes he has covered over the thumb grips, as no one had done it before (yes I know K-tec offered a trim service from a 2nd party, but not to same level of finish I felt from looking at it in pictures) it was a case of lets try this and see what its like, I always knew in back of my mind if I wasn't sure I'd easily get my money back by selling the wheel as is for what I paid to get it covered and return to my original wheel. Or even do the 2nd wheel differently from what was learnt from first time, like fitting the carbon inserts from K-tec, but then that may have been too much, it's hard to say without trying.

He did say he can actually recover airbags, he has special leather that has tiny perforations so that the leather bursts when air-bag goes off, but my thinking was the wheel being black outside, sort of grey in middle mirrored the finish of the seats and if it was all one colour could have been too gig an area and look a bit bland, but each to there own.

But if anything it now offers people another option for there steering wheels if/when they start to deteriorate.

 

[Cue]

plus the oem wheel matches the dashboard - so where's the limit...?

good idea and food for thought.