Cracked leather options

[aberry1401]

Benefits of Leather

This is just an FYI to those who don't like leather upholstery because it does not last very long, relatively speaking.

Leather does not absorb odors like cloth does. For a cigarette smoker or someone who anticipates having passengers or alternate drivers who smoke, this can be especially important. Leather also does not stain or superficially rip as easily as cloth does. These factors make for a cleaner looking and smelling car with much less care or effort than cloth can provide. For many people, myself included, the benefits of leather are worth the increased price in spite of full knowledge that shade shop leather will not last forever, and may need several hundred dollars worth of repair after 10 years of use.

Just thought I would give some of the reasons that some people prefer leather upholstery in their 4Runners, even though it has a known shelf life, costs extra, and gets hot in the summer sun.

Too each his own of course, but "people with seats constantly post "cloth is better"" there might just be a valid reason for that or people would not "constantly" be saying it.

Personally between myself, my wife, several friends and family totaling some 30 or more cars over many many years I have yet to see a set of leather seats last more than 10 years before they start completely falling apart. In fact that is what this thread is talking about leather seats that fell apart and needed recovering.
My old Jeep had cloth seats and was treated like a Jeep, pretty rough, top down, rained in it several times, dirty muddy dawgs jumping in you name it. The cloth seats were 17 years old and still in great shape except for a couple of stains.
My 4 runner which is new to me but little over 9 years old has cloth seats and are basically like new still.
My wife Lexus has leather seats and we treat it like a Lexus, I clean the seats with leather cleaner, use leather conditioner on them, put a sun shade in the windshield and the damn things cracked years ago and it is only 11 years old with far less miles on it than the 4 Runner.
The parts that cracked were of course the "vinyl" so far, which all leather seats are part vinyl for the past several decades unless you are talking about a very high end vehicle.

Odds are high that the OP that just had his leather seats recovered with leather, those seats will fall apart before my already 9 year old cloth ones will.
Just the way it is, if you prefer leather then thats great, but the fact is that leather seats just don't last unless they are VERY high end.

But like you say, what ever you prefer is whatever you prefer.
I just stated what I prefer and why is all, did not mean to offend.

 

[Nunyabiz]

This is just an FYI to those who don't like leather upholstery because it does not last very long, relatively speaking.

Leather does not absorb odors like cloth does. For a cigarette smoker or someone who anticipates having passengers or alternate drivers who smoke, this can be especially important. Leather also does not stain or superficially rip as easily as cloth does. These factors make for a cleaner looking and smelling car with much less care or effort than cloth can provide. For many people, myself included, the benefits of leather are worth the increased price in spite of full knowledge that shade shop leather will not last forever, and may need several hundred dollars worth of repair after 10 years of use.

Just thought I would give some of the reasons that some people prefer leather upholstery in their 4Runners, even though it has a known shelf life, costs extra, and gets hot in the summer sun.

Thats nice and too each his own, everyone has their preferences

Yet my cloth seats are 12+ years old now, do not smell even slightly, no burn holes because nobody smokes nor will they in my truck, not a single stain, no rips no tears not even a small worn spot.
My wifes leather seats in her Lexus (14+ years old) looks like pure crap and we treat them like eggs, I keep the sun off them as much as possible, use leather cleaner and protector and probably have about 1/3rd the use of my 4Runner seats.
My old Jeep seats were literally hammered, I mean treated like a Red Headed Stepchild, top off, rained on, muddy dogs, you name it they got it and only thing wrong with them after 17+ years was a small stain on the passenger side when I sold it, and those seats could be replaced with the same exact seats for something like $150 brand new.

4Runner seats still look almost new. and they feel SOOOooooooooo much better.

 

[tj3rdgen]

New seats?

Hello, I know this is a silly question, but has anyone ever ordered brand new seats? If so, what is the cost? And if you go to an upholstery shop, do they match the leather color perfectly? I have a 2000 4Runner SR5 with oak leather interior and the drivers seat is cracked and split open and the passenger seat is showing future cracking and splitting. Just curious is all.
Thank you,
~tj

 

[DocW8494]

I just want to know how people's seats are holding up since the purchase in 2011.

 

[Sense-A]

Okay so I checked the local livestock auctions and the going price is about $910 for a 1300 pound cow. So now the question is how many seats can I leather with the hide from one cow? And how much revenue can I get from good cuts of beef steak from one cow to offset the cost?

Sources: Cattle.com Profit Per Cow, Or Per Acre? | Strategic Planning For The Ranch

Does my 4Runner have enough torque and pulling power to pull a trailer full of livestock?

It might be cheaper for us to start a toyota 4runner kickstarter campaign, throw our money in together, buy a pasture and cattle, and begin producing our own leather to refinish the interiors of our SUVs. We will have 100% premium leather, not the fake pleather! And together we can achieve economies of scale!

:hatsoff:

 

[littlehandegan]

Just an FYI. This is being made from the same machine as the other guys and much cheaper..


Toyota 4Runner Seat Cover Upholstery 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 Bottom Tan | eBay


He will do entire both front seats, lower and upper, for $525 shipped....

 

[JRZEE2000TR4LTD]

Just an FYI. This is being made from the same machine as the other guys and much cheaper..


Toyota 4Runner Seat Cover Upholstery 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 Bottom Tan | eBay


He will do entire both front seats, lower and upper, for $525 shipped....

It's not leather. It's the same material the bolsters of the OEM seats are made of that are ALWAYS cracked.

 

[MrPiBB]

Just an FYI. This is being made from the same machine as the other guys and much cheaper..


Toyota 4Runner Seat Cover Upholstery 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 Bottom Tan | eBay


He will do entire both front seats, lower and upper, for $525 shipped....

Has anyone installed from this guy and are the seats holding up?


Also looks like eBay seller 4runnerfriend is not selling seats anymore? Could not find a listing from him? Just " upholsteryguys" looks to have them for 800. Does anyone know if this is the same seller or quality seat?

Thanks

 

[MrPiBB]

Has anyone installed from this guy and are the seats holding up?


Also looks like eBay seller 4runnerfriend is not selling seats anymore? Could not find a listing from him? Just " upholsteryguys" looks to have them for 800. Does anyone know if this is the same seller or quality seat?

Thanks

Still hopping for some answers before I buy. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Kbuch1]

Have you tried swapping seat bottoms?
Had the driver side torn seats issue with my 00 Limited.
Recently pulled seats from a 01 Limited out of a salvage yard.
Remove my driver seat bottom and replaced it with the passenger side bottom of the salvage seat. Results are amazing. I have the driver seat which is in good condition with no tears, for sale. Would have sold it already but shipping is pretty high. Still working on that.
However, for someone with a driver seat in poor condition it would be ideal for them to do a passenger to driver swap. This would give them a much better condition seat in the driver location and a decent condition seat on the passenger side.
Swapping the bottoms is 4 simple bolts. Very easy DIY. 2 beers max.

 

[MrPiBB]

Both passanger and driver seats are in need of replacement tears on both sides however I feel the passanger pad is in better shape then the driver side so I could do the swap when I try to replace all covers. Just trying to find the best leather covers for best price. I have been looking at junk yard but seems all seats are rip as well. Have you or have you seen anyone switch out the manual seats for power. My seats are manual but I was thinking switching them out to power all at the same time as covers. Might even add heat too. =0)

 

[Kbuch1]

Both passanger and driver seats are in need of replacement tears on both sides however I feel the passanger pad is in better shape then the driver side so I could do the swap when I try to replace all covers. Just trying to find the best leather covers for best price. I have been looking at junk yard but seems all seats are rip as well. Have you or have you seen anyone switch out the manual seats for power. My seats are manual but I was thinking switching them out to power all at the same time as covers. Might even add heat too. =0)

The bolt pattern won't be a problem switching manual seats with power. If you want to go this route, be sure and get the complete wiring harness along with the power seats if you pull them from a salvage vehicle. My 00 Limited did not have heated option but the 01 seats I sourced did. Wiring connections were different between the two. Since I only swapped the seat bottom, I just tucked the heater wire up under out of sight. If you pull the harness, it should be fairly simple to tie in for power. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

 

[gtjackets3]

Have you tried swapping seat bottoms?
Had the driver side torn seats issue with my 00 Limited.
Recently pulled seats from a 01 Limited out of a salvage yard.
Remove my driver seat bottom and replaced it with the passenger side bottom of the salvage seat. Results are amazing. I have the driver seat which is in good condition with no tears, for sale. Would have sold it already but shipping is pretty high. Still working on that.
However, for someone with a driver seat in poor condition it would be ideal for them to do a passenger to driver swap. This would give them a much better condition seat in the driver location and a decent condition seat on the passenger side.
Swapping the bottoms is 4 simple bolts. Very easy DIY. 2 beers max.

Do you still have your old seat for sale?

 

[stever1000]

My seats are cracked too - not surprising after 180,000 miles of butt action

 

[Falonious]

Up to $675 plus shipping now for the set.
Toyota 4Runner Leather Front Seat Upholstery 1996-1997-1998-1999-2000-2001

 

[Bohemian1963]

Great thread. All of the eBay links are now dead tho. Went to the Precision Upholstery site. No prices listed, would have to call, but the last post states that he was up to $675! Is that just for the front seats? Wow! Anyone have any currently affordable prices for replacing the leather upholstery in a 97 4Runner Limited, oak leather, front seats top and bottom?

 

[shadow247]

Great thread. All of the eBay links are now dead tho. Went to the Precision Upholstery site. No prices listed, would have to call, but the last post states that he was up to $675! Is that just for the front seats? Wow! Anyone have any currently affordable prices for replacing the leather upholstery in a 97 4Runner Limited, oak leather, front seats top and bottom?

These start at 299 a set! They have pretty good reviews on IH8mud.

1995-2002 Toyota 4Runner Custom Real Leather Seat Covers (Front) - Lseat.com

 

[brillo_76]

These start at 299 a set! They have pretty good reviews on IH8mud.



1995-2002 Toyota 4Runner Custom Real Leather Seat Covers (Front) - Lseat.com

Nice. How about the replacement foam rubber. I need to do I few and I will add seat heaters to them as well.

Sent from my SM-J337V using Tapatalk

 

[CLeeJ]

I'm looking for replacement leather options for the fronts seats on my 2000 4Runner Limited. I have seen various skins on ebay, and wondered about the quality.

I used Lseats in our Land Cruiser, and our LX470. The ones in our LX470 were put in around January 2018, and have held up great. I'm starting to see a crease that might turn into a crack in the next couple of years, but overall VERY pleased! I put the ones in our LC last year, and they still look new. Here is a link to some of the lseat discussion on ih8mud (there were some mixed reviews lseat's shipping/communication, but I was happy, you can see my pics under user name Leej):
Lseats - What's the Deal?? Very Disappointing. | Page 5 | IH8MUD Forum

I paid to have mine installed on our LC and LX (and the installer said he added some foam), but I might try to do our 4Runner myself. I have seen new seat cushions on ebay for about $110 each; that certainly adds to the price.

Would be nice to add seat heaters at the same time...

Lee