Just an update on this - I finally swung by the dealer and showed the service writer my steering wheel - He said no problem and fixed it under warranty. Only thing is, they replaced it with the spokes with the same rubberized coating; I wanted to pay the diff for the titanium finish spokes but for whatever reason that seemed to be a problem. Not complaining, I'm glad I got new ones - if it happens after the warranty is over I'll just get the other ones.

 

FWIW I checked and according to my service dept, you have to remove the airbag to remove the spoke covers.

 

Finally got this project done. Peeling was getting pretty bad.
Hardest part by far is popping out the airbag - took a lot of finesse. The rest is just unscrewing. I ordered the parts from GMpartsdirect.com. Ordered the 2010 covers as they were cheaper (same fit). Here are the part #s.
*25824700
*25824698
With shipping it was $88.

Make sure you disconnect negative terminal on battery and let sit for at least 10 minutes.
To pop the airbag out, I used a long 3/32 alan wrench (the hardest part). There are two holes on the side of the wheel. You have to go pretty deep and when you pop it hit the clip, you feel a slight tension...no big pop or anything. This took me a good hour to try and get right. I did the right side first, pulled the right side out slightly, then did the same on the left. It finally came out after a ton of frustration.
I also need a T27 and T15 Torx bit/screwdriver to remove the old cover and some of the horn terminals. A few pictureds attached. Hope this helps someone.

 

joshpbrown5 Nice write up, and always good to have pictures..did the replacement parts come with any instructions?

 

No, the parts did not come with instructions. That said, as soon as you get the airbag out, the rest is pretty self explanatory. Really looks a lot nicer than my original black ones.

 

very good - I assume those match the other trim around the air vents? I wanted to confirm what part to get because I thought I read there was a brushed look and a more smooth look finish available...

 

yes, the part numbers i listed there match the silver trim around the vents exactly...definitely a brushed look.

 

I have to add that on my '07 Suburban, it was annoying to constantly look at the original spoke covers peeling, etc. I found this thread, and got a pair of brushed metal covers from www.autowoods.com. Victor set me up nicely with a new set of brushed metal finish covers, and I had my new covers installed in 3 days from when I placed the order. It took me about 30 min start to finish to complete the replacement.

I highly recommend it if your originial black covers are flaking, peeling, etc. I followed the instructions on the autowoods website for the airbag removal, the rest was straightforward...just take your time.

Very nice upgrade, they look awesome!