Leather Install

daylower · January 1, 2011

So I got my leather katzkins leather kit in a few weeks ago, but being in the game warden academy I havent had much time to install it. But anyway, yesterday my brother and I started the process, and its coming along. We did the front seats yesterday but had to stop due to weather. Hopefully today the rain will hold off enough so I can get my backseats out. Pics and a halfway decent write up to follow.

**********************UPDATED WITH PICS/WALKTHROUGH********************************

This walk through is as thorough as I could make it. I was taking pictures when I could, but there were a few times I forgot to take pictures, or my brother was doing it and I didnt get to snap any. So sorry ahead of time for anything that may not be talked about or photographed, but if you have any semblance of mechanical ability, you should be just fine.

This install is/was relatively simple and I could very easily do it again now that I know how it all came apart. The main thing is to just pay attention to what you're doing in both the disassembly and the installation of the new covers. The leather can very easily get caught somewhere and rip/tear/scuff etc.

STEP 1 REMOVAL OF FRONT SEAT

One thing I forgot to photograph was taking the plastic sides off after removal of the seat. Theres a small screw in the very front of it, but the rest is just some pull tabs.

LUMBAR SUPPORT: This pops off as well, but personally I didnt disconnect its 100%. The cable is long enough to give you enough play with the seats and take off/put on the covers.

SEAT RECLINE: There is a small U shaped cotter pin holding the lever on. Get a small screw driver and pop it off. When you go to reassemble everything, preposition the cotter pin on the handle then just slide it on to the piece to reset the pin. Took me a sec to figure out I wasn't going to put it back on with everything installed

HEAD RESTS: Pop off the circle covers to reveal the push tabs to full remove the head rests, then just stretch the cover around it to remove.

This is about all there is to it. Just install the new covers and REMEMBER to pop the tabs back in the plastic clips. Reassemble the seats and move on the the next one.

**********REAR SEATS************

There are about 6 nuts holding the real seat to the floor. I believe they are 3/4" size. There is also some hooks on the backside of the seats that secure the rear of the seat to the truck, so you need to lift up the seat a good bit to get it all to release.

The rear seats dont have the plastic tabs like the front, there is some velcro strips running along the seams, IMO the back was 2x's easier than the front seats.

Not the best pictures, but this is the finished product. As of now I'm going to go with the more "hot rod" look with no head rests. Feel free to throw your two cents in about that as well.

Stevens03 · January 1, 2011

Congrats... they are the cats meow for leather replacement seat covers...

Did you get a two tone or single color?

daylower · January 1, 2011

Congrats... they are the cats meow for leather replacement seat covers...

Did you get a two tone or single color?

I got two tone, black with grey inserts. I thought about getting the contrast stitching, but didnt wanna be too flashy.

Leevon · January 1, 2011

I just installed leather in my '08 crew cab yesterday, what a pain. I got a deal on a set from Classic Soft Trim (Roadwire) and it is very high quality. After all that work though I'm not sure i would do it again...looking forward to hearing about your install.

mike94silverado · January 2, 2011

I did a CST (Classic Soft Trim) interior on my 2002 Ram It was a breeze other than trimming the console that was a pain

daylower · January 2, 2011

I finished up my install a few hrs ago, ill take pics tomorrow when the suns up. Only thing I have left to do is borrow a stable gun to the my seat backs back on. Ill try and get the write up done tonight and tomorrow before I go back to the academy all week. Overall though, I'd say this was way easier than I thought it was going to be. I contemplated having a shop do this, but now I'm glad I did it and saved my $$.

leverlution · January 2, 2011

I'm interested to see this as well. I'd love a leather bench, but I couldn't swing it at the time and I couldn't afford to wait for one to be built to order either. Did you install heaters in the seats as well, or are your winters not that cold?

daylower · January 2, 2011

I'm interested to see this as well. I'd love a leather bench, but I couldn't swing it at the time and I couldn't afford to wait for one to be built to order either. Did you install heaters in the seats as well, or are your winters not that cold?

No I didnt, if I was still in the military and stationed up north I would have, but they wouldnt have really been worth the money down here in south Louisiana.

GPGuy · January 2, 2011

Looking forward to the pictures as they sound really nice.

Eddie 70 · January 2, 2011

Sounds like a very doable home upgrade. My factory seat covers have some staining in them that I cannot get out. This sounds like an alternative to me. Looking forward to your pictures.

daylower · January 2, 2011

Added walk through and pictures of the finished product.

Stevens03 · January 2, 2011

Looks good, Great write up!

Hunt1 · January 2, 2011

NICE!

I like the "no headrest" look.

daylower · January 2, 2011

Thanks...its cool until you forget there's no headrest and put your head back to nothingness

66and10 · January 3, 2011

Thanks...its cool until you forget there's no hardest and pit your head back to nothingness

I highly recommend putting the headrests back in. They are there to help prevent whiplash injuries in the event you should get rear-ended. If this happens, you will wish they were there.

http://www.necksolutions.com/whiplash-neck-injury.html

I really like the look of your two-tone covers. I thought long and hard about going this route before I did mine http://www.gm-trucks.com/forums/index.php?...leather+install In the end, I went with all black, but with contrasting stitching.

I agree with your assessment - glad I chose to do this myself. I saved quite a few bucks, and spent some quality time in the garage.