That looks great ! There is a guy in FL Alan Gunn ( Alan Gunn Leather accessories ) that we used for Porsche wheels . Not sure if he could do Jeep stuff but he made a nice kit you could stitch yourself it was pretty cheap as well
How-To: Leather Seats with Heaters
- Thread starter RubiconMike
- Start date
OP
jeepndogs
TJ Enthusiast
The old one was pretty beat up. Looked around for a used one and they were all in about the same shape and going for $100.00. I bought this one and sold mine for $75 on eBay.
jeepndogs
TJ Enthusiast
Yeah I seen a few kits like that....I’m a lot better with a welder than I am with a needle and thread! lol!
jeepndogs
TJ Enthusiast
OP
That makes sense. I thought $200 to re-wrap your existing wheel sounded like a lot. Buying the whole wheel for $200 is more than fair. I paid $150 to get a re-wrapped Fiero wheel 20 years ago, and that was just a plain wheel with a leather rim.
801 Driver
TJ Enthusiast
98 TJ here, I had a shop recover mine in gray leather, color matched the interrior well. I am sure they did the same as you, I wish I had known how to do this and thought about heaters my self. Thanks for posting.
Does anyone else see and feel the front of the seats seem to be facing more outboard than the rear? If I look in with the door open the fronts of the seats are not square with the vehicle. I might need to look at that in a little more detail.
Does anyone else see and feel the front of the seats seem to be facing more outboard than the rear? If I look in with the door open the fronts of the seats are not square with the vehicle. I might need to look at that in a little more detail.
OP
1. It's not too late. You can pull your seats and add the seat heaters yourself. You don't even need to pull all the upholstery off. I had put the seat heaters in a year ago by loosening the upholstery at the rear, sliding the heaters in, and refastening the upholstery. Take you a nice weekend day or two at the most to do both front seats.
2. Loosen the 4 bolts that hold the seat to the floor (3 1/2" bolts, and 1 T-50 Torx). Twist the seat until it looks straight, then tighten the bolts. The seat mounting holes are larger than the bolt diameters, so there is some play in lining up the seat.
good luck!
801 Driver
TJ Enthusiast
Just a quick addition to the thread...the metal ring that hold the various wires and bars in the seat covers are called Hog Rings and are installed with Hog Ring Pliers. They are very inexpensive and its much easier to just clip the rings when you disassemble than trying to remove (and reinstall) the bars and wires through existing hog rings.
On amazon...
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FS0WFAA/?tag=wranglerorg-20
On amazon...
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FS0WFAA/?tag=wranglerorg-20
OP
Yeah, that would probably work also. The clearance is pretty tight, so it might be difficult to fit the pliers in where the hog rings go, so I didn't think of doing it that way (although I have the pliers and rings left over from a different project).
Ironically, the first job I was assigned to when I worked at the Chrysler Belvidere assembly plant years ago was attaching upholstery to seat frames with hog rings! I had to walk sideways to keep up with the moving sub-assembly line while putting about 20 hog rings in with a pneumatic gun that weighed about 5 lbs. By the end of the shift, I couldn't lift my right arm any more, I had to lay it on my right thigh and lift my leg. It was the worst job I ever had! Fortunately it was one night filling in for a sick worker, and the next night I was assigned to a different job.
Its not bad...I just recovered my seats last night. Turn the seat back covers inside out half way (to the bar) and install the cover to that point. Install your hog rings, then finish by pulling the cover down over the rest of the seat back. For the lower, you flip the outsides inside out and they will naturally fold over at the wires that get hog-ringed. Install, then fold the covers back down.
064banger
TJ Enthusiast
Thanks for your write up and link to the website. My driver's vinyl seat is starting to come apart and I was just planning to use seat covers but I will definitely do this now.
Two questions
On the rear bench seat. Is the back of it in leather too? Reason I ask is that mine is like carpet on the back while the front and sides are vinyl.
Also does the black leather match the black interior of your TJ or is it noticably lighter or darker?
Thanks!
Two questions
On the rear bench seat. Is the back of it in leather too? Reason I ask is that mine is like carpet on the back while the front and sides are vinyl.
Also does the black leather match the black interior of your TJ or is it noticably lighter or darker?
Thanks!
OP
The back of the rear seat is fabric (kind of like carpet), the same as the factory. The black leather is a great match, I have a black Rubicon, with the silver lettering, so I ordered black seats with silver thread, it looks like it came from the factory. I'm really pleased with the quality of the materials, the workmanship is pretty good (minor differences in fit that I adjusted) and it looks great. I couldn't be happier.
rraulston
TJ Enthusiast
Dang, I would love to have one of you take off factory front seat covers.....I have one with holes....????