Whether it's a minivan, or just a Mini, the family hauler gets a lot of use, some of it pretty rough. What do you do to keep your sled rolling down the road? Let us know what kind of mods and bolt-ons you use to make your SUV/Crossover/minivan/sedan/Corvette your very own. And if you have any tips on how to get cheerios out of a car seat, feel free to throw those in here as well.

What would be included in your Minivan Makeover?

This weekend my minivan mod was to recover the steering wheel. Our beloved 2003 Mazda MPV is still looking pretty good for a gal of her advanced years. One unsightly wrinkle: the leather steering wheel contracted a bad case of psoriasis. It was chipping and flaking and generally looking pretty roughed up and crappy. (I blame myself for buying an arty wedding band set for my wife that has lots of ridges and edges that eat steering wheels.)

In my opinion, the slip on steering wheel covers that you find at the big-box aren't all that fetching. Although the sheepskin wheel covers were really tempting, I wanted a more finished look. After wandering around online for a while, I settled on Wheelskins leather wheel covers. $35 on Amazon.

If you order one of these kits, set aside at least an hour and a half for installation, and consider taking a class in needlepoint from the local community college. I fouled up about every third stitch (my bad), and then the waxed lacing cord snapped (their bad). The final knot I tied slipped out, prompting me to fish the needle and cord out of the garbage for a redo of about third of the wheel.

It's a good thing that I really like the look and feel of the final result because this project was a much bigger pain than I thought it would be.
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What would I want in my 2002 Trailblazer?

Amenities.

I'd like to get Sat Radio in dash so we could have radio when we go trampling through the hills of S Indiana and the back roads of almost-Northern Wisconsin. I'd like to find a way to add LATCH bars to the seats in the back so the car seats are a lot easier to deal with. I'd totally get some flame decals. And installing taps and refrigerated lines for "beverages" would be nice. The taps would go in the tailgate for Tailgating.

On the realistic side, I need to get a weight distributing hitch for towing our 5000 pound popup camper. I need just to have it detailed, inside and out. Right now it is loaded up with weeds that I'm going to put on a compost pile in our garden as soon as the rain quits and I can make the 5 mile trek to get some stip compost beds set up. I'm also thinking that a nice massage liner for the driver's seat is in order.

What do you expect from a guy who carries both a hand sickle and a scythe in the back of an SUV (Suburban Ussault Vehicle)?

From this:


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To this:
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Using leftover and used parts for about $900. The Jeep was free. So, that's a daily driver for under a grand.