Unlike the warranty that covers your engine and drivetrain, your truck's seat upholstery isn't covered against normal wear and tear. So when the seats start to show their age, you're on your own to decide how to repair or replace them.
| The '06 Dodge Ram 2500 that belongs to 8-Lug contributor Tony Becker was pulled out of the garage just for this installation. Tony has put plenty of miles on his ride, and the original seat fabric was worn and discolored. But the truck had years of life left, and an interior upgrade made a lot of sense.
Specifically, if the seat upholstery (leather, cloth, or vinyl) needs a small repair, one of the most common fixes is to use a patching kit. These kits work on small tears or holes. However, patches won't totally hide the flaw-no matter how careful you are when applying them.
If the seat material is in bad shape, another solution is to go to your local auto parts store and buy an inexpensive set of covers, which slip over the factory seats and attach with buttons, ties, or hooks. They come in a variety of styles, and color choices. But they are sometimes ill-fitting universal slipcovers, and the results aren't always desirable. On the upside, you won't have to remove your seats to install them.
If you have deeper pockets, you can turn to a professional auto upholstery shop that can custom tailor new seat upholstery to your exact specifications. But the process can be labor-intensive, it takes days or even weeks to complete the job, and you're without a ride for just as long. So what's a good alternative?
One source we discovered was leatherseats.com. The company offers factory replacement interior upholstery kits with the do-it-yourselfer in mind. In fact, it has 2,400 different interior and seat cover patterns in 75 colors for most popular cars and trucks, so the odds are in your favor that you'll find what you're looking for. The most popular kit is the leather/vinyl combination and, like all the kits, these are vehicle-specific-not a one-size-fits-all product.
| Ordering the kit took just a few minutes online. We placed our order from a pull-down menu and waited for the delivery.
The company's kits are made to replace the factory seat cover material at the correct mounting points, so you get as close to the original look as possible. It also offers steering wheel wraps, shift and emergency brake boots, and even an assortment of upholstery tools should you need them.
The upholstery kits are manufactured from automotive-grade, vat-dyed, top-grain leather and come with a full warranty against defects. Leatherseats.com can make just about anything in 100 percent leather or vinyl if you choose, or even custom design something for you. It also has suede inserts and perforated forms if you want to get fancy.
| Jumping ahead, here's a look at the underside of the driver's original fabric seat cover. It had seen better days.
If this is what you are looking for, you'll have to remove all the seats from your vehicle to install them properly. A typical leather/vinyl combination interior kit sells for $575 to $925, depending on the application.
If you own an early model vehicle, be sure to find a supplier for the seat frame foam before you place an order. You will want to be sure your frame foam is still strong and pliable and not deteriorating too badly. The driver seat gets the most wear, so carefully check it out before you begin.
| Once the seat covers arrived, we did a quick inventory check to see if everything was there. Satisfied all was accounted for, we laid the new leather seat covers in the sun to relax the leather for an easier installation over the factory frames.
Raw foam suitable for truck seats can usually be found online, or through the phone book. You can even order it from the factory in some cases. We were fortunate that the factory foam, beneath our well-worn cloth seat fabric, was still in good condition, so we lost no time with the installation on an '06 Dodge Ram.
We ordered a set of charcoal gray seat covers in the leather/vinyl combo online, and in a few days, our kit arrived. Leatherseats.com also has a retail outlet in Oklahoma City if you're ever in the area.
Placing the order online took just a few minutes, and the cost to redo the front and rear as well as the center console was less than $900, including shipping.
True, that was a lot more money than a cheap set of over-the-counter seat covers, but the quality and fitment reflected the price. We're told that Leatherseats.com regularly ships its product to new truck and car dealerships across the country when a customer wants leather instead of cloth seating.
| We tackled the rear seats first, using an air impact wrench to remove the factory bolts on the floor. Typically, the brackets have four bolts per seat. We disconnected the electronics before lifting the seats out of the vehicle.
The complete installation took us about 8 hours. The most difficult aspect was re-skinning the center console of the truck. If there was a downside, Leatherseats.com doesn't include instruction booklets, so we had to really plan ahead. However, the folks at Leatherseats.com were available by phone when we had any questions. The company also has a general installation guide online if you get stuck.
Unlike some trucks, the Dodge Ram seats didn't require upholstery hog rings to hold the material on the seat frames, so for the most part, we were dealing with zippers, plastic clips, and J-hooks. Not using hog rings made the job a lot less intimidating, but it still required lots of patience and some muscle to pull the material tight around the seat frame.
| The headrests on the '06 Dodge were very easy to re-skin.
If we can offer any advice, we'd recommend you get a friend to help. It can be done alone, but there are instances that require more than two hands. The following photography illustrates the process on the Dodge. While your installation may vary greatly, this overview will at least give you an idea of what's involved on a fullsize rig.
The new seat covers from Leatherseats.com really made a difference on the road. The leather gave the truck that new-car smell and feel. Not to mention, it bumped up the resale value tremendously.
