Customer Reviews

Superior 58-0600B Superskin, Extra Genuine, Black

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

I've installed three of these and enjoy them once installed, but installation is time consuming. Some things I've learned may be helpful.
Before attempting installation:
1) Get a some extra heavy-duty needles. The needles break under the stresses required for installation.
2) Needle nose pliers help with difficult/stuck needle threadings. Have them ready.
3) The tiny holes punched in leather are insufficient for needles to easily locate and penetrate leather. Before installation, use a thin pick (with handle) or similar tool (narrow awl tip??) to prep each hole in the leather by inserting it partially into holes stretching leather holes enough to create better defined holes. This will make installation less frustrating and many fewer broken needles / needle injuries..
4) Prepare tips of pointer finger or thumb with protection needed to push needle through leather snags a hundred times. I taped my fingertips with layers of masking tape. Hey, it worked! My fingers were too big for a thimble.
5) Have a small hook with handle (small pick style hook with handle is perfect) to tighten laces after every few loops (the hook acts like your finger would hooking shoestrings and drawing tight while lacing your shoes. This tightening while lacing will prevent the final wrap from fitting loose and sloppy on the wheel.
6) If you are concerned about loose slippery fit such as fitting over a slick wheel or thin wheel consider prepping your steering wheel with a wrap of friction tape before installing leather cover.

Plan on four hours for your installation. I realize some claim less time, but frankly I doubt it. It's not terribly difficult if your are prepared, but it is a slow and tedious process - especially at the beginning where each loop requires several feet of thread be pulled. Don't give up, things speed up as you progress.

The product is well made and the leather is of good quality. The steering wheel cover fits snugly over the factory steering wheel. Because of the number of holes and the difficulty in threading the holes it takes quite a long time to lace up. It took me about 1-2 hours. My only complaint is that where the spokes contact the steering wheel there is no way to keep the cover tight around these areas, resulting in it being a bit loose. Other than these areas the steering wheel looks and feels excellent. For the price it is a good buy if you are looking for a leather steering wheel cover.

I recently purchased this item and spent 5 HOURS installing it onto my steering wheel. The package comes with instructions, giving three different stitching methods which can be used, along with the cover, the lacing and two needles. I opted for the "cross-stitch", which needs both needles to be completed.

I had gotten about 10 stitches made when one of the needles broke. I had to pull out my work up to that point and begin again with another stitching method. When I had gotten about 75% finished, one of the laces actually pulled completely through the leather cover. I had to improvise a cover-up stitch, which worked, but did nothing to enhance the look of the steering wheel cover. Then, to add insult to injury, the second needle broke with about 8 stitches remaining. Not wanting to remove the cover, I had to go to the store and purchase an additional sewing needle to finish the job.

All in all, the cover looks just "okay", in that it doesn't completely cover my steering wheel. There is a small gap between the inside edges of the leather cover.

Be warned, the needles included are NOT as strong as they need to be and there may be some weakness to the actual leather cover itself. And remember, it also took 5 hours to install! I don't think I would purchase this product again under any circumstances.

I attempted to use this product on a new-style Jetta. I was unsuccessful. I installed this item in three different ways, three different times, without satisfactory results. The entire cover has the same circumference, including the edges, so there was a lot of bunching and gathering. This may be due in part to the large spoke areas of the Jetta wheels. It may be due in part to the type of material used to manufacture this cover. Other styles that I have used left me with a close-to-professional look. This one was a horrendous mess. Your mileage may vary.

FINALLY GOT IT FINISHED. This thing took forever...literally. Supposed to have 2 needles. I only got one. Got about 1/4 of the way done when that one broke. I threw it in the corner of the garage for a couple of weeks until I found another "canvas needle" at a store. I think you should remember the word "canvas" and picture yourself sewing tough "canvas".

First, you are going to need leather garden gloves to push this needle through all of the tight holes in the leather. Even now with gloves my fingers still hurt. I'm no Rosie Greer but I've done my share of cross stitch and needle point. This was difficult.

Second, I spent 4 hours on the first day and only got half way. On the second day i decided to use every other hole to get it done. Another 2 hours on second day. 6 hours total not counting the first botched attempt weeks ago. Other reviews are correct in that it looks loose and bunched up around spokes.

This isn't like the other cover I had years ago which just had strapping wrapped outside the wheel. This involves a stitch into the hole on the backside and then another stitch thru the front hole for the single pass. Then back to the rear again for another 2 stitch pass. Finding the holes on the backside often became difficult even when I was rotating the material around the wheel to see better.

The only thing that got me thru was looking forward to this review.

p.s. I'm not normally a complainer, this is the first negative review I have written on anything of the 100s of things i've bought online.

I've installed a number of these on several cars, here are my tips. The double needle, cross stitch looks and works best. Of course, it is the most time consuming, but it makes the spoke openings much more secure and you have a thread for each edge of the cover there which helps with puckering. The best method I've found is to lace the wheel in sections, leaving the largest for last. I cut the thread in half and start both threads at the 'six o'clock' position working one each direction. Lace each section loosely first, then in a couple of stages tighten it up. That way you can eliminate bulges and puckers. Leaving the biggest section till last gives you the largest area to smooth out the final wrinkles, bulges and puckers. Take your time and it'll look factory original.

Do not try the cross stitch that requires two needles! After an hour and 15 minutes I was only 1/3 of the way done. At that point I was at the first "spoke". I could not make it look right and gave up. If your steering wheel has wide spokes I don't think the average adult male has a chance. I used to use this product years (25?) ago and was generally satified with the results, but I sure could not make it work with a modern steering wheel.

Because the pattern is the same width throughout, there is significant bunching of the leather around the spokes. In addition, the diameter of the cover is a little too large for the Yaris' steering wheel, so there is a 4 inch or so area of bunching at the bottom of the wheel at my start/end point. I used the cross stich pattern, which is more time intensive and took about 3.5 hours of steady hard work with a thimble to assist me. The end result looks quite poor. I have successfully used this product on an older car with a thin steering wheel that was uniform in thickness around the entire wheel. I would not buy this again for a modern car.

I've purchased this type of leather wrap before and yes they are time consuming, but they are well worth the trouble. You just need to take the time and do the cross stitch type to make it look more like factory. One of the nicest things about this is that it doesn't make the steering wheel feel thicker.

I just finished installing this cover on 09 Accord using cross-stitch method described in the instruction paper. It took 2 days (approximately 5 hrs) mainly because my fingers were hurting. I don't recommend this product if you are impatient/don't have time to kill and do not wish to have sore fingers. If you are still planning to get it, here are some tips from personal experience: 1. Take something like the needles but with a nice grip and make all the holes little bigger before installation. 2. Don't just pull the leather to fit the circumference; you also need to make sure the leather is evenly stretched around the diameter. If you don't do it correctly, you will notice ¾ of the leather is nicely stretched and the remaining ¼ looks a little saggy. 3. Place a piece of cloth but prefer pillow on your lap to hold the needles. Also to protect your legs. 4. Adjust to comfort position by spinning the wheel. 5. Have some entrainment in the background (laptop, cell phone, music, etc.). Yes, you will be sitting there for a while.

So yeah, came with a box with the steering wheel cover, 2 needles and 2 long thread. I was able to install it using just 1 thread and still have about 5 inches left on both end (cross-stitch). No broken needles. No sign of ripping on the leather either, even when I pulled it really hard. It only made the holes slightly bigger.

I give it 3 stars because 1. Amazon lied about the size. It's for 14 ½ - 15 1/2 diameter and 3 5/8 - 3 7/8. And no, it does not fit the 09 Accord wheel, and yes, I heated it before I installed it. 2. Amazon shipped an used one because there are premature stitch holes that are out of place. Well, too late to return it. 3. Leather quality is not "super." Overall, I still give it a 3 because it looks ok, definitely will look better if it were stitched on a car with smaller wheels. PS: It comes in size A, B and C.