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It's not unusual for the soft grip of a steering wheel to separate from its metal core. This can come about simply through age and wear and/or the effects of steering wheel thumb rests. These innocent looking tabs can give enough leverage to break the hardened glue inside the grip when the driver (for whatever reason) pushes on them. Then, once the bond has broken in one area, everyday use will see the grip continue to separate around the wheel's circumference. It gets to the stage where all steering inputs feel rubbery and imprecise - which can be quite unnerving. The solution is to either replace the entire wheel or fix your existing one.
When the grip separated on our Holden VL Calais steering wheel, we initially looked around for a good second-hand replacement. The cheapest available wheel was $140. However, a phone call to Adelaide's TrimFix head office unveiled a much cheaper and interesting alternative. They would split open the existing grip, re-bond it to the metal core and seal it up with an invisible finish.
All for $77.
Here's how they do it...
After muscling the steering wheel from the car (paying attention to the position of the wheel on the steering spline), the soft grip is sliced open with a razor knife all the way around. A bit like filleting a fish.
The cut is usually made on the wheel's inner diameter to minimise the chance of a visible repair once the job's completed. Centre spokes - or a single spoke in the case of our VL Calais wheel - are left untouched.
With the grip now able to be peeled away from the metal core, it's important to remove the factory glue that was used to adhere the grip to the core. Cleaning out the hollow of the grip and the metal core gives the yet-to-be-added catalyst and PVC compound improved adhesion. TrimFix also inserts their own neutraliser chemical at this stage, which is said to double as a primer.
Fully cleaned, the inside of the grip is then sprayed with an in-house catalyst. This catalyst will be triggered with the addition of the PVC compound to form the new bond. Depending on ambient temperature, the wheel may be heated (usually by high-power lighting) to dry the catalyst so that it doesn't run. Around 10-15 minutes of standing time is usually enough.
Following this, TrimFix's PVC compound is poured into the hollow of the grip. It's important to ensure total coverage. Note that Holden originally manufactured the Calais wheel by injecting glue into small holes at four locations around the wheel.
Once there's a generous helping of PVC compound, the grip is then hand-squeezed back into its original position (ie wrapped around the metal core). At the same time, the PVC compound is hand-worked through the inside of the grip to ensure maximum bond strength. A pair of multi-grips may be required to close the grip where the high-density polyurethane sponge has gone hard. This usually applies only to older steering wheels.
With the core adhered back into position, the next task is to tidy up the scarring of the razor incision. All gaps are filled with a combination of vinyl filler and "super soft" filler. The super soft filler goes on top of the vinyl filler. Any excess dags are then removed by lightly rubbing the area with 400-600 grade wet and dry paper. This doesn't overly affect the external grain of the grip. Note that certain leather-bound steering wheels may need to be recovered (at extra cost).
The final step in the process is to recolour the entire wheel to hide any sign of repair. TrimFix uses secret colour matching technology, and their final paint mix is lightly spayed over the wheel. Once dried (or, at least, semi-dried), the wheel can be refitted to the vehicle and it's ready for action. The whole job takes around 3 hours from start to finish. TrimFix does, however, suggest that their PVC compound's full bonding strength is achieved in around 24 hours. Before this time, you should be gentle with the grip.
TrimFix offers a 3-month warranty on all steering wheel grip re-bonds. We're told that less than 1% of these jobs have a problem further down the track - perhaps only a small area of separation where there has not been enough PVC compound.
Indeed - at $77 - a steering wheel grip re-bond can save you a fair amount of cash if you're looking to fix a rubbery steering feel.
Contact:
TrimFix (Adelaide Office)
+61 8 8269 3711
trimenq@senet.com.au
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