Review of Grant 1004 "Classic Nostalgia" series "Tuff" Wheel

I've been wanting a Tuff steering wheel for my project Duster for some time now. I keep a regular search going for an affordable original but little has turned up on my radar screen. Out of fustration I decided to give the Grant 1004 a try mainly because I didn't find any negative comments about it in my web searches. With a MSRP of $349.66 the $195.97 price through Summit looked pretty good so one was ordered up. This quote is cut and pasted directly off the Grant website listing for the 1004: "The Nostalgia Wheels are designs patterned after some of the most popular classic designs of the 60's & 70's muscle car era. This wheel is very close to the old Tuff Wheel style. Its all around beefy classic styling is the perfect match for your ride."

I have to admit I was pretty stoked when it arrived and the excitement built as I opened up the box. That feeling lasted a total of about 3 seconds once I had it in my hands. I'm going to try to make this review as fair and unbiased as I can. In as few words as I can state it: This is where the term "Chinese POS" was coined. Really Grant???? A MSRP of $350 bucks! I think Summit miss~placed the decimal point in their add. $19.59 would be over paying for this steaming cow pie. Yeah, I'm that pissed. To add insult to injury I had to pay return shipping to get this thing out of my sight. Before you all write me off as a crackpot here is what I laid two C notes out for.

Pic 1: 1st clue was the leather "wrap" around the spoke/wheel junctions. This is to cover were the base material is exposed because the leather is cut as a straight strip vs how the original's leather is cut, formed and stitched around this area in one piece. Horrid workmanship. Two of the three "wraps" were not glued sufficiently and the edges were already peeling up.