Re-upholstering a 2007 4R

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walterlaughlin

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Hey all, the factory cloth seats in my ‘07 Sport Edition 4R have seen better days. Considering upgrading to leather. What’s the best option - local upholstery shop, Toyota dealership, DIY with mail-order fabric? I’m in Sacramento area. Thx!
 
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walterlaughlin said:
Hey all, the factory cloth seats in my ‘07 Sport Edition 4R have seen better days. Considering upgrading to leather. What’s the best option - local upholstery shop, Toyota dealership, DIY with mail-order fabric? I’m in Sacramento area. Thx!
Click to expand...

Any pics of your cloth seats? I have an '07 sport myself and the seats are nearly brand new as if it just left the factory. Had it for two years now

Support your small businesses! Do research on local upholstery shops and see what pans out
 
Well... someone left the door open and now the 3rd gen people to come in and comment... :)
If you like to treasure hunt.... Car-Part.com--Used Auto Parts Market Put in what you want, Watch for Pics, sort by distance. Then go have an adventure. Typically its a fun experience. Just replaced the leather lower rear seats on the 3rd gen for $50 for both rear seats.

Just saying.
 
John Huey at Affordable Auto Leather offers leather Katzkins for about $850-$950 delivered in leather front and rear. If you are handy you can install yourself.

Lots of pics of Tacomas and a few other vehicles in this very long thread. Pricing on first post is accurate.

I used for replacing interior on my FJ Cruiser. The Katzkin covers remove the OEM seat covers and replaces with leather seating. The Clazzio go over the existing OEM upholstery.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/katzkin-leather-for-your-tacoma.313544/


p.s. no affiliation or interest in this company....just used it for replacing FJ interior.
 
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i second Katzkins. Just finished my 07 Civic with them. WHOA! It's like having a new car. Anyway, Clazzios seem to be great quality, BUT, I want to say they are just "covers", unlike the Katzkins which are a REPLACEMENT to your factory cloth covers.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

Covers: placed over the existing cloth/leather. No special tools needed.

Replacement: removal of existing cloth/leather, tools such as hog ring/pliers needs to install them (just like an upholstery shop. Like someone said, if you are handy (and have patience), you can do it yourself. Just be prepared to curse in German repeatedly).

link:
https://katzkin.com/katzkin-vs-seat-covers/
 
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CookieRoe said:
i second Katzkins. Just finished my 07 Civic with them. WHOA! It's like having a new car. Anyway, Clazzios seem to be great quality, BUT, I want to say they are just "covers", unlike the Katzkins which are a REPLACEMENT to your factory cloth covers.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

Covers: placed over the existing cloth/leather. No special tools needed.

Replacement: removal of existing cloth/leather, tools such as hog ring/pliers needs to install them (just like an upholstery shop. Like someone said, if you are handy (and have patience), you can do it yourself. Just be prepared to curse in German repeatedly).

link:
https://katzkin.com/katzkin-vs-seat-covers/
Click to expand...

you are not wrong. Katzkins replace the factory upholstery and you install with hog rings using hog ring pliers. Bit of a learning curve, but you can figure it out quickly.

Havent done Clazzios but their literature states that they are covers over existing upholstory and I have watched several install videos. They are very nice covers and their fastening system is pretty good, but not like the hog rings that are used for factory upholstery.
 
CookieRoe said:
i second Katzkins. Just finished my 07 Civic with them. WHOA! It's like having a new car. Anyway, Clazzios seem to be great quality, BUT, I want to say they are just "covers", unlike the Katzkins which are a REPLACEMENT to your factory cloth covers.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

Covers: placed over the existing cloth/leather. No special tools needed.

Replacement: removal of existing cloth/leather, tools such as hog ring/pliers needs to install them (just like an upholstery shop. Like someone said, if you are handy (and have patience), you can do it yourself. Just be prepared to curse in German repeatedly).

link:
https://katzkin.com/katzkin-vs-seat-covers/
Click to expand...

SilvFx said:
you are not wrong. Katzkins replace the factory upholstery and you install with hog rings using hog ring pliers. Bit of a learning curve, but you can figure it out quickly.

Havent done Clazzios but their literature states that they are covers over existing upholstory and I have watched several install videos. They are very nice covers and their fastening system is pretty good, but not like the hog rings that are used for factory upholstery.
Click to expand...

Not sure from what you both have said in these post, but are either of you saying that you installed the Katskin yourself, if so from what I've read on their website they don't sell directly to the public and the only way to get Katskins is to order them and also have them installed by an authorized dealer?
 
AuSeeker said:
Not sure from what you both have said in these post, but are either of you saying that you installed the Katskin yourself, if so from what I've read on their website they don't sell directly to the public and the only way to get Katskins is to order them and also have them installed by an authorized dealer?
Click to expand...

Yes, I've done Katzkins on my 07 Civic myself. Only the front seats I had a professional do b/c I got stuck on something. Anyway, it's not terribly difficult. I got hog rings and pliers and got to work. I like the idea of a total replacement. With hog rings, they are in place FOREVER.

Katzkins only available through dealers? That might be, however I've found kits on fleabay floating around from time to time. The katzkins I found for my Honda was through ebay. Some dealer/installer had them in stock in FL. He finally got sick of having them and threw them on to sell. I paid something like $250-300 shipped. I was "watching them" for like a year before I finally bit the bullet and bought them. Good thing too, since then, I can't find a kit like the one I got.

Great deal if you ask me.
 
BriAntic said:
I was quoted $1600 for black Katzkin, installed, in my '06. It's what most of my local dealers use.

https://katzkin.com/
Click to expand...

Yeah, I agree that this is the way to go for sure.

I remember years ago someone on the forum posted a full set of OEM seat skins for a Sport Edition for a great price. That would be another option if you can find a set at less than dealer retail price.
 
I did mine one my own. It's a tedious job but if you have time to spare it's pretty straight forward. There are some very challenging spots when installing and your hands will hurt.
I bought my leather off of ebay, didn't use Clazzio or Katzkins, the quality was very good though and has held up great, looked and felt OEM. Can't remember who it was from but can find out. I think I pad around 100 for the front, middle and 3rd row seats.
I took each seat out one at a time and worked on it in my living room.
I did not use hog ties or a hog tie puller, crimper tool. I cut the existing hog ties with some metal cutting pliers and used zip ties to fasten down the seats to the cushions, I recommend this route. Just when you cut the zip tie make sure the cut part is facing down into the crevice so you never feel it.
It's a job that anyone can do but it can be frustrating and tedious at times.

I'll show some pics later.
 
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AuSeeker said:
Not sure from what you both have said in these post, but are either of you saying that you installed the Katskin yourself, if so from what I've read on their website they don't sell directly to the public and the only way to get Katskins is to order them and also have them installed by an authorized dealer?
Click to expand...

I am saying exactly that. I installed the Katzkins myself. Look at my post #9 where I referred you to the group buy at Tacoma World that is by John Huey of Affordable Leather Interiors. There is a link in my post. The pricing is on the very first post over there. You can have it installed by a Katzkin installer that you find locally or you can do it yourself. John will sell them and ship them to individuals. You DONT need to go through a dealer.

You can look through 60 some odd pages of the Katzkin group buy thread and you can see lots and lots of Katzkins installed in Tacomas. 90% of them have been installed by amateurs on the forums. If you are handy, it can be done.
 
Teqeeler said:
I did mine one my own. It's a tedious job but if you have time to spare it's pretty straight forward. There are some very challenging spots when installing and your hands will hurt.
I bought my leather off of ebay, didn't use Clazzio or Katzkins, the quality was very good though and has held up great, looked and felt OEM. Can't remember who it was from but can find out. I think I pad around 100 for the front, middle and 3rd row seats.
I took each seat out one at a time and worked on it in my living room.
I did not use hog ties or a hog tie puller, crimper tool. I cut the existing hog ties with some metal cutting pliers and used zip ties to fasten down the seats to the cushions, I recommend this route. Just when you cut the zip tie make sure the cut part is facing down into the crevice so you never feel it.
It's a job that anyone can do but it can be frustrating and tedious at times.

I'll show some pics later.
Click to expand...
All seats for $100:or each? Either way, sounds like a deal. Curious of the Ebay source too.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
 
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