Should I seat swap or get my front seats re-built?

[ledger35]

I’m surprised nobody has recommended eBay. Not only can you find covers in both leather and vinyl, you can also find the cushions reasonably priced. I had my local upholstery shop do my driver seat which really wasn’t that bad but I am a bit OCD and he also rebuilt the foam and reinforced my lumbar as I too have a bad back. Good Luck!

 

[raincoyote]

There's nothing maddening about it, just takes a little time. This time of year is perfect because everything will be nice and pliable. I went ahead and sprang for the $10 hog ring set on amazon, but plenty of people these days simply zip tie everything back. I can see quite a few advantages to that way, just use high quality heavier ties.

If you go that way, you'll just need some end snips to remove the old rings, and from there it's just the ol' "installation is the reverse" kinda deal. You have the advantage that your old cover is already plenty stretched out, so I'd bet it will slip right on.

The trick is to turn it inside out, install the first few ties, and then just roll it down the framework. Underneath, you'll be surprised how archaic the construction is. The cover just kind of wraps around the bottom of the frame and then you ring/tie everything back in place.

Remember to take a few pics of where all your ties are/were.

OK I got my foam in yesterday and am wanting to throw it in before I go on a roadtrip this weekend. How did you get started with taking the seat apart? I don't want to go just unscrewing things. Was there a guide on here that got you started?

 

[Simmer]

There's nothing maddening about it, just takes a little time. This time of year is perfect because everything will be nice and pliable. I went ahead and sprang for the $10 hog ring set on amazon, but plenty of people these days simply zip tie everything back. I can see quite a few advantages to that way, just use high quality heavier ties.

If you go that way, you'll just need some end snips to remove the old rings, and from there it's just the ol' "installation is the reverse" kinda deal. You have the advantage that your old cover is already plenty stretched out, so I'd bet it will slip right on.

The trick is to turn it inside out, install the first few ties, and then just roll it down the framework. Underneath, you'll be surprised how archaic the construction is. The cover just kind of wraps around the bottom of the frame and then you ring/tie everything back in place.

Remember to take a few pics of where all your ties are/were.

Will you link the specific hog rings you used? I looked but there's several sizes. I'm definitely rebuilding my seats now because of this thread. Excited to do it, haven't found a good solution yet until now.

 

[TheSaturnV]

It's been a little while, but I think I can point out the main hurdles.

Take the seat out and place it face down on some carpet or cardboard. Take a few pics before you start. You'll see pretty quickly that the material is just wrapped up into the bottom of the seat and secured with "hog rings."

1 - Start by cutting all of those and make sure you don't lose any metal hunks into your seat rail/motor mechanism.

2 - Few phillips head screws should release the plastic covers on the sides, definitely get those out of the way

3 - Turn it inside out to roll it up off the seat frame. The last holdouts will be a few hog rings that secure the part of the leather that is right under where you sit. You have to push the material out of your way with some decent force to get tools down in there. This is the toughest part of the job.

4 - Once you get the cover out, you'll see that it was hog ringed to some bizarre twisted fiber or twine looking stuff. It's really archaic looking, like you would have thought they would have abandoned that method in the 60's. But it seems to work, mine were in good condition.

Install is reverse, again the toughest part will be getting those rings put back in, especially with the new stiff foam. This is where using the actual hog rings and pliers is better than zip ties. The pliers give you the extension to get down inside the foam.

 

[TheSaturnV]

Will you link the specific hog rings you used? I looked but there's several sizes. I'm definitely rebuilding my seats now because of this thread. Excited to do it, haven't found a good solution yet until now.

SUPERYO Hog Ring Pliers Angled & 300 Galvanized Hog Rings, Professional Upholstery Installation Kit - - Amazon.com

Here ya go. The angled nose was helpful for me.

 

[TheSaturnV]

I’m surprised nobody has recommended eBay. Not only can you find covers in both leather and vinyl, you can also find the cushions reasonably priced. I had my local upholstery shop do my driver seat which really wasn’t that bad but I am a bit OCD and he also rebuilt the foam and reinforced my lumbar as I too have a bad back. Good Luck!

That's actually how I found US Auto, but I needed a special order and I got a better deal buying directly from their website.

 

[TheSaturnV]

Here was one of the YT vids I watched to do mine.

1996-2002 Toyota 4 Runner Seat cover installation part two - YouTube

 

[raincoyote]

[MENTION=485285]TheSaturnV[/MENTION] these are all awesome, thank you man

 

[PrinceValorum]

My covers and seat bottom foam came in, and everything looks great. The stitching looks like a different color, but I haven't compared them yet.

I did send an email asking if they planned on carrying the seat back foam and this was the response:

Good morning,

At the moment this item is not in demand for us to carry in our inventory.
Please keep updated with our website for any future new products.
Feel free to contact us with any further questions, thank you.

It sounds like if enough people ask them, they will start carrying them. But the OEM foam is approx $150 from online dealers (plus shipping), so I'm not sure how much better US Auto could do, considering their seat bottom foam is already $100.

 

[rayjay]

Thanks for the links! I'll def be doing this...maybe one seat at a time, but the prices do seem fair.

 

[CLeeJ]

I replaced the drivers lower seat foam using the US Auto Seat foam mentioned above (I bought mine from ebay $118). I didn't do the passenger side (it was good), and I didn't do the seat backs (they were also good). The new drivers side foam is GREAT (its been in about 7 months). I almost wish I had done both sides.

I also bought new leather "skins" from lseat.com (about $350 plus shipping for both front seats). The lseat leather was a near perfect color match, but the texture is not the same as OEM (OEM is really smooth, lseat has some texture to it). Overall, I was very happy with lseat (I bought skins from them for our Landcruiser and our LX470, as well as 4Runner). My rear seats where in good shape so I didn't do them (lseat also sells rear covers), but you can see the difference in the leather texture from the lseat leather and the original rear seats (but no one notices unless I tell them).

I also added seat heaters while I was in there (I think I paid about $60 Amazon). If you are going to open up your seats, add the seat heaters!!!! I put the round control buttons in the lower part of the center console just below the gear shift.

Taking the old leather off and putting the new leather skins on is a chore (probably took a day for each seat), but not too difficult (just takes time). I used hog rings but others have used zip ties. Watching the install video posted earlier was a big help, but I still had to improvise a few things (but not hard). The lseat leather for the seat back didn't seem to attach to anything at the bottom. I inserted a straightened coat hanger rod inside the inner seams, and then zip tied the hanger rods together so it held it tight and snug. Sounds complicated, but was actually really easy and worked great.

Overall, I was very pleased with the lseat skins and the US auto foam! I can add pictures of my seats if anyone wants to see them, but just imagine new seats (and warm seats in the winter)...

Lee

 

[PrinceValorum]

I'll post some pics when the stuff for my seat shows up and I swap it out.

A little late, but here are some pics. I was surprised with how easy this project was (I did it as procrastination from replacing the motor mounts, which was a nightmare, so it's all relative, lol). I was pretty anxious prior to starting, since a lot of people seemed to be making a big deal out of the job. If you've never worked on your vehicle before, it would be a big project. Again, it's relative.

I went with the US Auto covers for the driver's side only. I got the seat bottom foam from them, the seat back foam from the dealer, and Dorman seat heaters from Summit Racing (installed, but not wired up yet). The Dorman kit fits surprisingly well for being a universal kit, I would get it again from a fitment standpoint.

I'm thrilled with how it turned out for never having done anything upholstery related before. It's not perfect, but it's so much better than it was before. The comfort is a huge improvement as well. I did this prior to a 5k mile road trip, and only 2-3 times on the trip did my butt start to go numb, whereas it was unavoidable before, even on much shorter trips. There were several 10-12+ hour days, and I was really glad to have a new seat.

Large pics for detail:

Stock headrest with new seat back leather. I scrubbed the headrest pretty well, and the color matches pretty much dead on as far as I can tell, but it's shinier than the brand new leather obviously.

New seat bottom next to the original seat skin. I think the original one had gotten darker from use and lack of care. One of the mistakes I made was pulling a bit too much while crimping the hog ring on the seam in the middle of the seat. It's a little off, and you can tell a bit. I didn't notice it at the time, and at this point it doesn't bother me enough to tear it all apart again. Now I know for next time!

New OEM seat back foam with the seat heater installed.

 

[Princessestoyota]

Hi if you haven't figured out your seats yet I have a set of 2019 black leather TRD red stitch I can sell you.