Seat Upholstery

jcollinsia · Feb 25, 2009

I just bought my '05 KJ about a week ago and this past weekend I was driving some buddies home from the bar when one of them lit up a cig and dropped the cherry on the seat burning a nice little hole. I looked into seat covers (don't really like 'em) and I've contact junk yards to see if they happened to have seats with my fabric pattern (no luck there). So I resorted to calling the stealership who informed me that I can buy the precut/sewn fabric cover for the seat so it looks like OE. This may be old news to you guys but I never realized that was a possibility! Have any of you ever ordered/installed this before?

I'll admit that I'm new to KJ's & this forum so feel free to move/delete this thread as you see fit.

Luke · Feb 25, 2009

I did hear of that ... but to this date have never heard of a price ... how many million $$$ do they want for the cover?

Cheers and Sorry bout your luck!

jnaut · Feb 25, 2009

jcollinsia said:
this past weekend I was driving some buddies home from the bar

There was your first mistake. (blarg)

when one of them lit up a cig and dropped the cherry on the seat burning a nice little hole. I looked into seat covers (don't really like 'em) and I've contact junk yards to see if they happened to have seats with my fabric pattern (no luck there).

It sounds like you're willing to spend some time and presumably money, may I suggest leather? Once you've had leather, you never go back. I know some people here probably think I'm a broken record on this subject but I went the extra $$$ and bought the leather (first time ever had it in a car) and will never go back to cloth seats.

My leather looks nearly as new as the day it was installed and they have taken abuse that no cloth seat would ever stand up to. Depending on the shop, (including the dealer) you should be able to get leather put in front and back for anywhere between $1,100 - $1,500. The dealer charged me $1,500 for mine, and I'm now convinced I paid a little too much. But that's tempered by the fact that it will last way longer than cloth would have in my circumstances.

sleeve · Feb 25, 2009

Leather is definently the way to go... Cleans so easy and is comfortable.

offrovering · Feb 25, 2009

I don't even want to know what a dealer would charge for the seat covers.

Actually I do, will you post the prices?

I have plenty of said burns in my seats from my brothers friends.

ephantmon · Feb 25, 2009

Another option if you want leather is to search your local junkyards for KJs with leather seats that have been junked. Yank the whole seat and install in yours.

jnaut · Feb 25, 2009

Man, I love my leather. Everything has been spilled on those things, and I mean EVERYTHING. Seats look like the day they were installed. People think that leather should only go in luxury street vehicles. Nay nay, it's the opposite. leather should ESPECIALLY go in offroad vehicles where mud and moisture are a likely occurrence.

AMPlibby06 · Feb 25, 2009

Kinda similar, anyone know a good way to fix a half-inch slit in the back of a leather seat? or just make it less noticable?

Ry' N Jen · Feb 25, 2009

We are lucky here in BC, If that happens to one of my seats I can claim on my insurance and just pay the deductible and the insurance company replaces the portion of the seat that is damaged at the least.

tjkj2002 · Feb 25, 2009

Leather and offroading don't mix wheel,at least for rock crawling since you slide around to much.I use the MOPAR wet suit type seat covers,the work great and spills don't penetrate.Plus leather is terrible in the summer and worse in the winter,my cloth seats are never to hot or to cold and don't make you sweat.

Buying just the OEM fabric is very common.I worked in a dealership bodyshop and replaced many,many,and many more seat covers.99% where leather,but then again GM uses crappy leather along with Chrysler,now Ford uses some real good leather.You should see the King Ranch versions leather,very nice

.

jnaut · Feb 25, 2009

tjkj2002 said:
Leather and offroading don't mix wheel,at least for rock crawling since you slide around to much.I use the MOPAR wet suit type seat covers,the work great and spills don't penetrate.Plus leather is terrible in the summer and worse in the winter,my cloth seats are never to hot or to cold and don't make you sweat.

I grew up in southern new mexico in the 70's and the 80's and we had VINYL seats and those make you sweat, and freeze in the winter. Leather matches body temperature very quickly. It also breathes where vinyl won't. That's why it's such a desirable material. Plus you can order the perfed leather which I actually avoid because I've seen things get caught in the little holes and then damage the seats. I admit I live in a cooler climate now (and I have air conditioning) but a car sitting in the 80 degree heat in direct sunlight will still get 120+ inside. Leather doesn't cause me much discomfort.

I can see the sliding around issue... kind of. I don't do rock crawling but I've been in some situations where we get tossed around a lot, and it didn't seem to be a show stopper. I mean, I guess I never shouted out "Damn these leather seats!"

GM uses crappy leather along with Chrysler,now Ford uses some real good leather.You should see the King Ranch versions leather,very nice.

This is a good point. Different people and shops will use different quality of leather. I think the quality of the leather in my Libby is OK, not fantastic, but I didn't necessarily need the finest italian leather hand-tooled by Franciscan monks. That's for the lexus crowd. I just wanted something that wouldn't stain, wouldn't absorb spills or moisture-- including saltwater from wetsuits-- and wouldn't wear out around the edges like every cloth seat car I've ever owned. Nothing worse than that damned foam flaking out from under the holes in the fabric. Ghetto as hell.

However, to give a final hat-tip to tj's post, if I DIDN'T have leather, I would definitely have the neoprene seat covers. I think they look good and they'll do a good job of protecting your cloth seats.

jcollinsia · Feb 26, 2009

Hey guys! I checked around at most of the larger junk yards within a few hour drive of me and I had some luck finding KJ's but no luck finding seats that match (the ones I did find were stained pretty bad). At least I know I'll be able to find other parts if I need 'em though!

I thought about the leather/vinyl route but after having leather in my ZJ and living in Iowa where it gets crazy hot in the summer and crazy cold in I decided that I don't want to put myself through that again

The whole process of replacing the upholstery seems pretty easy. Take out the seat, take off the seat back, and pull off/replace. It seems that the KJ uses plastic channels to attach the upholstery to the seat frame instead of hog-rings. The piece of upholstery ran me $130 and it should be here in 3-4 days. Once it arrives, I'll post some photos of the swap out for ya.

jnaut · Feb 26, 2009

jcollinsia said:
I thought about the leather/vinyl route but after having leather in my ZJ and living in Iowa where it gets crazy hot in the summer and crazy cold in I decided that I don't want to put myself through that again

You definitely don't want vinyl. 1. it cracks. 2. You'll burn your little tushie in the summer time.

The piece of upholstery ran me $130 and it should be here in 3-4 days. Once it arrives, I'll post some photos of the swap out for ya.[/QUOTE]

That's actually not bad. Good luck on the replacement. And quit driving your friends home from the bar.

Renegade Flex · Feb 27, 2009

I have leather in my '05 Renny, and my drivers seats has a huge crack in it. I want to get it fixed...one of these days.

HoosierJeeper · Feb 27, 2009

tjkj2002 said:
but then again GM uses crappy leather along with Chrysler,now Ford uses some real good leather.You should see the King Ranch versions leather,very nice.

Have you ever noticed at auto shows how the GM leather looks worn after a day of showing???? At least Chrysler leather doesn't wear like that. Not trying to bash GM, but something could be done. Can't comment on Ford leather, last time I was in a Ford was......You can tell it's been a while

.

jnaut · Feb 27, 2009

Renegade Flex said:
I have leather in my '05 Renny, and my drivers seats has a huge crack in it. I want to get it fixed...one of these days.

Where's that crack? If you got factory leather (as I did) it's "leather trimmed". The bottoms of the front seats are vinyl. Mine's cracked too. On the vinyl part.

kenv · Feb 27, 2009

Hmm, I have leather in my Mustang,`Vette & our `06 Milan. They are cold in winter (except the Milan---heated seats

), & hot in the summer. I prefer cloth. I just ordered the neoprene front seat covers for my `02 Liberty from autosport for $169 shipped (you can search for discount coupons for this place on the net). I had the neoprenes before, & they were great.

jcollinsia · Mar 2, 2009

Well, I just got the call letting me know that the new seat fabric is in. I'll be swapping it out tonight hopefully and I'll post some pics tomorrow.

Dave · Mar 2, 2009

You should make "your buddy" that burnt it pay for it.

Dave

jcollinsia · Mar 3, 2009

That sucked! My advice to anybody looking to do this...make sure you have time & patience (2 things I lack). This is technically a "pull the old off & put the new on" kinda gig but it is a PITA.

The burn...I know it's small but I wanted to repair it before the fabric started tearing.