What are the best seat covers for my Jeep Wrangler TJ?

I have the Bartacts. It hurt how much they cost. Now that I have them, I find them worth every penny. These are like new, reupohlstered seats; they fit very snug and no bunching anywhere - really like brand new seats. The molle and pouches and built in zipper storage areas are fantastic. I would want these on a factory new one immediately they are that good.
 
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Can’t wait to hear how you like them when you get them installed. Be sure to post photos too!
They have arrived! I likely won't get time to install them for a few weeks. The TJ is wife's daily driver so I've got to have a full day free to really take my time and make sure I do it right. ;)

They arrived vacuum sealed (inside out) in a surprisingly small package. Opened them up and they look really nice. Has the hole (with a "tunnel channel" on the inside) for the seat pull loop and everything looks to be in the right places.

Here are a few pics of my unpacking to peek at them:

Photo Jul 25, 9 27 07 AM.jpg Photo Jul 25, 9 29 51 AM.jpg Photo Jul 25, 9 30 00 AM.jpg Photo Jul 25, 9 33 34 AM.jpg Photo Jul 25, 9 33 42 AM.jpg Photo Jul 25, 9 36 45 AM.jpg Photo Jul 25, 9 36 54 AM.jpg
 
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They have arrived! I likely won't get time to install them for a few weeks. The TJ is wife's daily driver so I've got to have a full day free to really take my time and make sure I do it right. ;)

They arrived vacuum sealed (inside out) in a surprisingly small package. Opened them up and they look really nice. Has the hole (with a "tunnel channel" on the inside) for the seat pull loop and everything looks to be in the right places.

Here are a few pics of my unpacking to peek at them:

View attachment 48721 View attachment 48722 View attachment 48723 View attachment 48724 View attachment 48725 View attachment 48726 View attachment 48727

Looks very nice from what I can see. Can't wait to see them installed!
 
I have the Bartacts. It hurt how much they cost. Now that I have them, I find them worth every penny. These are like new, reupohlstered seats; they fit very snug and no bunching anywhere - really like brand new seats. The molle and pouches and built in zipper storage areas are fantastic. I would want these on a factory new one immediately they are that good.

I really like my Bartact covers as well. I have not seen any other cover that competes.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Looks very nice from what I can see. Can't wait to see them installed!
As promised I'm back with before/after and install pics.

First of all - this was pretty dang easy. I did the same for our Mazda 3 (first time ever attempting upholstery) and it had WAY more hog rings and nooks/crannies to deal with. The jeep seats are super straight forward and easy peazy by comparison.

The only challenging part was the little "s clip" on the wire that connects the top/bottom of the front seats. I believe this wire is what controls the "full flip forward" function of the seats (the little "hop up" extra extension forward). There's not a lot of slack on it. In hindsight I could have probably cut a zip tie or something to give a little more, but we got it done as is. My wife has small hands so she was able to finagle the thing while I held it for both the taking apart and putting back together. I tried to take some pictures of it for reference.

There were only a total of 24 hog rings (12 each front seat bottom only. NOTE* - had to move over the "wire" from the factory covers into the replacements. They came with the cloth channel for them but not the wire itself. It's basically a length of coat hanger.) The seat back and entire backseat is all Velcro).
I bought WAY too many hog rings (again after my first experience with the Mazda running out half way through). The Jeep TJ is all the heavy duty black plastic Velcro strips. I found it was best to put both hands in and hold the "bottom" of the Velcro strip (poky side) to the foam cushion while lifting the cover up from it. It holds so strong it felt like the strip itself could come unglued from the foam and that seemed like a very bad thing. Once you get the Velcro off the covers just slip off like any other seat cover.

There are two bolts on each front seat holding the top to the bottom on the "controls/lever" side. 1 torx (T45 I believe) and the wire I mentioned on the other side. The back seats had 1 bolt each side. Easy stuff.

Once you get the new covers in place you have to cut holes for a few connection points, rubber feet for rear, and the side levers for front seats.

The rear rubber feet had a big square hole cut in them on the factory covers. I opted to just poke a very small hole for the foot screw only vs. the entire mount. TIP - cut WAY smaller than you think you need - there's a lot of stretch (esp in the leather bits) and you can always go incrementally bigger).

For the front seat handles the factory covers have a large "slit" cut in them. It seems the handle is meant to stay on so you can't just make a hole for the rod. We still opted to make as small a slit as we could and pulled/stretched the leather to get the handle through. The end result came out better than the factory hole to my eyes. It's at least half the size and you can't see it at all (the handle blocks it entirely).

Anyway... you're here for pictures. Here they are. The leather still needs to relax some from being folded up in shipping etc. A few days of sunlight/heat will take care of that.

AWESOME upgrade. So nice in there now. Smells like a new Jeep!

Before Front.jpg

Front Before
After Front.jpg

Front After
Before Rear.jpg

Rear Before
After Rear.jpg

Rear After
Photo Aug 11, 2 40 29 PM.jpg Photo Aug 11, 2 40 24 PM.jpg

Front Control side bolts holding top/bottom together
Photo Aug 11, 2 44 16 PM.jpg

Front other side torx
Photo Aug 11, 3 02 33 PM.jpg

Front hog rings under seat (3 each seat)
Photo Aug 11, 3 06 01 PM.jpg

Front hog rings in cushion itself ( 3 sets like this for 9 total each seat)
Photo Aug 11, 1 42 32 PM.jpg

Rear seat holes to be cut in new ones (originals pictured - made our holes smaller - not pictured)
Photo Aug 11, 2 47 15 PM.jpg

The evil "S hook" - the worst part of the hole project. Still pretty painless.
Photo Aug 11, 2 54 40 PM.jpg

Another view of the "S hook"
Rear Bumper Before.jpg

Factory rear rubber feet holes
Rear Bumper After.jpg

Our version of the rubber feet holes - only a small hole to thread foot through


That's it! Hope you found it helpful. Happy to be part of the forum! Loving our new to us 1999 TJ.
 
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Sorry for the ugly "IMG" things. I tired using imgur to host the pictures before I figured out the uploading direct to the forum. When I try to edit I don't see them or any way to remove. At least the pics work! :)
 
Sorry for the ugly "IMG" things. I tired using imgur to host the pictures before I figured out the uploading direct to the forum. When I try to edit I don't see them or any way to remove. At least the pics work! :)

I fixed it for you! They look great!
 
@deadrubberboy Seat cover and install look real nice, great job and Thanks for the step-by-step on the install!

I just scored my first TJ today and am grinning ear to ear. My seats are in pretty much the same shape. . Do you have a link for your purchase ? Sorry if I missed it earlier in the thread. New to the forum!


As promised I'm back with before/after and install pics.

First of all - this was pretty dang easy. I did the same for our Mazda 3 (first time ever attempting upholstery) and it had WAY more hog rings and nooks/crannies to deal with. The jeep seats are super straight forward and easy peazy by comparison.

The only challenging part was the little "s clip" on the wire that connects the top/bottom of the front seats. I believe this wire is what controls the "full flip forward" function of the seats (the little "hop up" extra extension forward). There's not a lot of slack on it. In hindsight I could have probably cut a zip tie or something to give a little more, but we got it done as is. My wife has small hands so she was able to finagle the thing while I held it for both the taking apart and putting back together. I tried to take some pictures of it for reference.

There were only a total of 24 hog rings (12 each front seat bottom only. NOTE* - had to move over the "wire" from the factory covers into the replacements. They came with the cloth channel for them but not the wire itself. It's basically a length of coat hanger.) The seat back and entire backseat is all Velcro).
I bought WAY too many hog rings (again after my first experience with the Mazda running out half way through). The Jeep TJ is all the heavy duty black plastic Velcro strips. I found it was best to put both hands in and hold the "bottom" of the Velcro strip (poky side) to the foam cushion while lifting the cover up from it. It holds so strong it felt like the strip itself could come unglued from the foam and that seemed like a very bad thing. Once you get the Velcro off the covers just slip off like any other seat cover.

There are two bolts on each front seat holding the top to the bottom on the "controls/lever" side. 1 torx (T45 I believe) and the wire I mentioned on the other side. The back seats had 1 bolt each side. Easy stuff.

Once you get the new covers in place you have to cut holes for a few connection points, rubber feet for rear, and the side levers for front seats.

The rear rubber feet had a big square hole cut in them on the factory covers. I opted to just poke a very small hole for the foot screw only vs. the entire mount. TIP - cut WAY smaller than you think you need - there's a lot of stretch (esp in the leather bits) and you can always go incrementally bigger).

For the front seat handles the factory covers have a large "slit" cut in them. It seems the handle is meant to stay on so you can't just make a hole for the rod. We still opted to make as small a slit as we could and pulled/stretched the leather to get the handle through. The end result came out better than the factory hole to my eyes. It's at least half the size and you can't see it at all (the handle blocks it entirely).

Anyway... you're here for pictures. Here they are. The leather still needs to relax some from being folded up in shipping etc. A few days of sunlight/heat will take care of that.

AWESOME upgrade. So nice in there now. Smells like a new Jeep!

View attachment 51417

Front Before
View attachment 51418

Front After
View attachment 51419

Rear Before
View attachment 51420

Rear After
View attachment 51421 View attachment 51423

Front Control side bolts holding top/bottom together
View attachment 51422

Front other side torx
View attachment 51424

Front hog rings under seat (3 each seat)
View attachment 51425

Front hog rings in cushion itself ( 3 sets like this for 9 total each seat)
View attachment 51426

Rear seat holes to be cut in new ones (originals pictured - made our holes smaller - not pictured)
View attachment 51427

The evil "S hook" - the worst part of the hole project. Still pretty painless.
View attachment 51428

Another view of the "S hook"
View attachment 51429

Factory rear rubber feet holes
View attachment 51430

Our version of the rubber feet holes - only a small hole to thread foot through


That's it! Hope you found it helpful. Happy to be part of the forum! Loving our new to us 1999 TJ.
They have arrived! I likely won't get time to install them for a few weeks. The TJ is wife's daily driver so I've got to have a full day free to really take my time and make sure I do it right. ;)

They arrived vacuum sealed (inside out) in a surprisingly small package. Opened them up and they look really nice. Has the hole (with a "tunnel channel" on the inside) for the seat pull loop and everything looks to be in the right places.

Here are a few pics of my unpacking to peek at them:

View attachment 48721 View attachment 48722 View attachment 48723 View attachment 48724 View attachment 48725 View attachment 48726 View attachment 48727
 
@deadrubberboy Seat cover and install look real nice, great job and Thanks for the step-by-step on the install!

I just scored my first TJ today and am grinning ear to ear. My seats are in pretty much the same shape. . Do you have a link for your purchase ? Sorry if I missed it earlier in the thread. New to the forum!

I'm new to the forum as well. Not sure about the rules on links (I have zero affiliation - I'm just a customer). I first saw them on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LP393I6/?tag=wranglerorg-20

I then found the back seats on their website https://www.lseat.com. I ordered through the site vs. Amazon because I wrote them asking for a discount and they sent me a coupon code. 10% off if I remember correctly. I recommend you try the same!
 
Brilliant! Yes most definitely will, nice call on getting the 10% discount, not a move you see too often. Appreciate the tips!

I'm new to the forum as well. Not sure about the rules on links (I have zero affiliation - I'm just a customer). I first saw them on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LP393I6/?tag=wranglerorg-20

I then found the back seats on their website https://www.lseat.com. I ordered through the site vs. Amazon because I wrote them asking for a discount and they sent me a coupon code. 10% off if I remember correctly. I recommend you try the same!
 
Hope this isn't a dumb question, but looking to order the Bartact seat covers and all I see are ones for seats with the head rest. My Son's TJ has the high back seats, am I not looking in the correct location. Thanks Jamie
 
As long as @Chris is going to stand by his Goodyear Duratracs, I'm going to stand by my Bartact (née TrekArmor) seat covers. American made, waterproof, and fit like a glove.


That is what I am going with. Ballistic cloth offers ruggedness as well as breathing for hot summer days. Love the MOLLE straps; offers variable storage options.
 
I am absolutely torn between Iggee and the Bartact seat covers. Looking at the photos that you guys have supplied, both installs look terrific! I'm unsure about the "tactical" look of Bartact versus the simulated leather (vinyl) of Iggee (hot in Dallas summer) but then again my JLUR has leather and we tolerate it.

I want/need to recover both the front seats and the rear seat. I've already purchased new carpeting (black) and I am thinking of a two-tone seat cover (black with red insert).

I have a friend who bough seat covers for his F-150 and I personally don't like the look. They are ill fitting (to my eye) and slide around a bit. They remind me of the old vinyl covers my grandma had on her sofa.....ugh. I am trying to avoid that in my choices and want the cover to look as close to factory as possible.

Any additional thoughts will be appreciated.
 
I am absolutely torn between Iggee and the Bartact seat covers.

Any additional thoughts will be appreciated.

Whichever one floats your boat. Ive seen both firsthand and its hard to tell they are even a cover. If it was my rig I'd lean towards bartact just because I am not the biggest fan of leather or its look.
 
Based on all the information on this forum and other research, I don't think you could go wrong either way. My decision came down to the same two choices and I went with the Bartact. Here's why:

1. I live in the Phoenix area, so hot weather is a major factor. We have leather seats in our other 2 vehicles and put
towels down on the seats in the summer to prevent our legs from sweating.

2. From my personal experience, while neither leather nor vinyl/simulated leather is great in hot weather, to me,
leather does seem to absorb or adapt better in that scenario than the artificial materials.

3. I like the look of leather, but for some reason, knowing it's not is always in the back of my mind.

4. While I could take or leave the tactical look - although, in my opinion, these aren't over the top by any means - I do
like the Molle system and pouches for storage. I don't have a center console and didn't want to spend hundreds of
$ for one. I attached the small pouches to the inside of the lower cushions (next to the emergency break) and
that's worked out great, not to mention the larger pouch on the back seat and plenty of space and options for
more.

In the end, the Bartact turned out to be the better option for what we wanted. Given the apparent quality of both, it all boils down to personal preference and intended use.
 
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