Katzkin Leather Upgrade

qwank · July 24, 2017

Do they sell just the fronts for regular cabs? All I see are double and crew cab sets.

67ChevyRedneck · July 24, 2017

I'd contact one of the sellers, I'm sure they do.

I got *some* of mine done. I think they came out just as good as a shop would have done.

The middle seat was an absolute pain in the ass. I did the DS seat in about an hour and a half. The middle seat took 5 hours.

67ChevyRedneck · July 24, 2017

I'm also converting my PS from power nothing to full power (base/track, seatback, and lumbar) so this is all I got done. I had to at least get this stuff back in to drive it.

Edited July 24, 2017 by 67ChevyRedneck

67ChevyRedneck · July 24, 2017

lol same thing I thought yesterday! Where did you see $600 though? Im looking on their site and its showing $2,000!

Like others said, $550-580-ish on ebay from a ton of sellers.

Katzkin does sell "upgraded" kits that are a lot more expensive. You can get two tone leather colors, different colored stitching, there's a "Rawlings" kit I saw somewhere... but the basic black with white stitching is only $550ish.

Edited July 24, 2017 by 67ChevyRedneck

jvanwinkle2 · January 25, 2018

On 7/23/2017 at 9:55 PM, 67ChevyRedneck said:

I'm also converting my PS from power nothing to full power (base/track, seatback, and lumbar) so this is all I got done. I had to at least get this stuff back in to drive it.

How did the ps swap go to power? Looking at doing the same thing. Did you just buy a new base and parts or a used seat? We're you able to use the connections under the seat? I know some make a harness for certain options to work.

jvanwinkle2 · January 25, 2018

Anyone replace the seat pads with something else? Looking to see if just a new one would be the best or if there is other brands that are more comfortable. The seats in my 14 lt cloth seem horrible compared to my 14 slt leather. Either way I want to replace them when I do leather. Just want to do it at once.

67ChevyRedneck · January 25, 2018

When you get the Katzkin covers in, they have an extra 1/4" padded foam on the seat part. As far as I know, that's the only difference and the stock leather seats use the same base foams as the cloth.

I got lucky, I found a junkyard guy selling stripped down seat frames on ebay. The motors and crap are all integrated into seat frame, so you need a power frame. Unfortunately for me, my seat frame was from an LTZ that had the heated and cooled seats as well, and they use a different control box, which also uses a different location for the airbag sensor. The GOOD news is that you can unfurl the tape around all the wires, separate out the motor wires, and swap your entire "base" seat harness over. THEN you have to drill out 2 of the pin holes and repin your connector.

See my post here for seat base:

Its a lot to explain, but I go into more detail here:

i keep going on until the next page as well.

Basically, when you gut the harness you're left with a big fat black - wire and a big fat red + wire. You actually need to drill out your seat harness connector in the two spots I show in that thread to plug the wires in. Once you get the hole in, you need to carefully make them square with a small file. Then you can push the clip in and it should hold. Make sure it's "square" and in the right direction so it doesn't get jammed when you try to plug it in.

I know that all sounds awful, but it's not, it was a good two weekend swap. Without figuring out the PS seat, it would have only been +/- 1 weekend. It was well worth the extra money, now I don't have to listen to my wife complain how my 44K( sticker) truck didn't have lumbar on her side.

I also looked back and found I paid $375 shipped for that seat frame. Expensive, yes, but complete seats were a lot more expensive.

As a side not, the katzkin have been in the truck about 7 months and literally still look brand new.

Edited January 25, 2018 by 67ChevyRedneck

67ChevyRedneck · January 25, 2018

Now, that was my experience with an LTZ heated and cooled seat. I DO NOT know if a power seat WITHOUT that extra stuff will be plug and play either. The tell tale sign will be the control box under the seat. If there is one, it won't work without gutting it like I did because those seats use a different seat airbag sensor in a different location that won't talk to your BCM and will keep your ABS light on, and if the ABS light is on NO airbags will work. Plus it's annoying.

Unfortunately you can't just add the BCM from the other truck either, because the wire harness to the seat under the carpet is pinned differently as well.

Basically if you plug the new seat in and the airbag light is on, you have to rewire it like I did.

ALSO. UNHOOK THE BATTERY BEFORE you unplug the seat. If you unplug the seat and start the truck you risk having the airbag light stay on and the dealer may have to clear it!

Edited January 25, 2018 by 67ChevyRedneck

Fall Sniper · January 26, 2018

I can vouch for katzkin awesomeness. I had the dealer install mine when i bought my truck. Much better than oem. Softer, more durable, and overall better quality materials. Mine tightened up within a few weeks

Just curious what makes the leather tighten up? Are they prestretched or conditioned to allow easy install? Thanks

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

qwank · January 26, 2018

The air bag light will go back off as soon as you plug the connector back in. GM air bag lights will only stay on if there is a current problem.

DO NOT mess with the air bag module under the console with the battery connected though. If you unbolt it and move it for any reason with power going to it the curtain airbags will blow off! Don't ask me how I know.

afireinside7444 · January 29, 2018

Are you able to leave the seats in the truck?

ChevyRoofer · January 29, 2018

15 hours ago, afireinside7444 said:

Are you able to leave the seats in the truck?

It would be a pain in the ass if you did.

Way easier to just unbolt and pull from truck. Only takes a couple minutes to remove out of truck and put back in.

Hardest part is wrapping and getting it all tucked in the right places.

Backseat took me 2 hours start to finish, front seats took about 4 hours, middle was about 2 hours. Good 8 hour day. DEF worth it.

afireinside7444 · January 30, 2018

ok thanks i have a center console so saves alot of time not having to do the jump seat. Thanks

jvanwinkle2 · February 2, 2018

Getting ready to start this weekend. A little cold here. Going to heat the garage up as much as possible. Any tips on tools needed to make it easier? Thinking a simple pry tool would help for clips/pins for electrical plugs. Then maybe a garment steamer if I can find one with a decent width head to help. Bought new bases from the seatshop and already have those done and ready to put on the frame.

ChevyRoofer · February 2, 2018

Getting ready to start this weekend. A little cold here. Going to heat the garage up as much as possible. Any tips on tools needed to make it easier? Thinking a simple pry tool would help for clips/pins for electrical plugs. Then maybe a garment steamer if I can find one with a decent width head to help. Bought new bases from the seatshop and already have those done and ready to put on the frame.

Pry tool, sockets to remove the seats from the cab, patience.

Good luck this weekend. I moved the seats inside and did them there. I’d start with backseat and move to front. Easier getting the front seats out when you already have the back out.