Drivers side seat leather is wearing out, options?

[King$nake]

Ok, so I have leather seats and my front driver/passenger seats are starting to wear out. The driver seat has a huge seam tear in it, and the leather is looking kinda...old.

So, what options do I have? I was thinking about getting them re-upholstered, but not sure where to take it to have it done, or how much it will cost. Will they put fresh foam in the seats as well?

Or would it be easier to order brand new OEM seats from Ford, especially considering the drivers-side motor is starting to get loud and slow haha. Im sure that would be very expensive though.

Thoughts? Opinions?

 

[Delta Dog]

Try www.car-parts.com and try to find some used ones. Should save a ton of money over new.

$50 - $100 for tan leather power drivers seat for my 2000 eddie bauer (I searched 1998-2001)..........and the best part is there are like 25 of them at a place 8 miles form my work. I am gonna go look on my lunch break.......mine have a few minor tears and your post might just have inspired me and if they are in great shape for $100.......yehhaaaa!!

Check out the link and see what is available in your area then go look at them.

 

[my98nnj]

I had mine redone at an auto upholstry place. Google one to locate a shop near you or ask a performance or body shop for a reccomendation. I paid 350 to have the drivers seat (thanks to a dog) and arm rest redone. Matched the perforated leather perfectly and added some nice foam to the seat as well. Felt like I was sitting in a new truck!

 

[chefduane]

Try www.car-parts.com and try to find some used ones. Should save a ton of money over new.

$50 - $100 for tan leather power drivers seat for my 2000 eddie bauer (I searched 1998-2001)..........and the best part is there are like 25 of them at a place 8 miles form my work. I am gonna go look on my lunch break.......mine have a few minor tears and your post might just have inspired me and if they are in great shape for $100.......yehhaaaa!!

Check out the link and see what is available in your area then go look at them.

Hey for that price and seeing as they're so close, I'd pay you shipping and a nice profit to get me a tan leather high back bucket w/ power lumbar for my '98 xlt!!
Duane
Plano, TX.

 

[bobflood]

Check the date - that post is 3.5 years old!!!

 

[wilto01]

I found a perforated, grey leather seat for my 98 Explorer XLT at car-parts.com. It is a passenger seat and all I need is the bottom for the DRIVER's side. Do ya'll know if it would work? No reason the bottoms couldn't go on either side? This is also for a powered track. Thanks in advance.

 

[koda2000]

Depending on your budget, you can get a quality, brand new replacement leather or all-vinyl replacement seat bottom from theseatshop.com.

I just installed a new all-vinyl seat bottom on my daughter's 2000 Mountaineer about 2 weeks ago. I've also installed a leather & vinyl (identical to OE) seat bottom on my 2001 Explorer Eddie Bauer. The leather cover was a perfect match to my torn OE cover. The all-vinyl cover was good enough (color was a bit off) for my daughter's Mountaineer (265,000+ miles). Both covers install the same way, just like the OE cover. I'd never done anything like reupholstering a seat before, but it was not too difficult.

All vinyl seat bottom cover $129 (plus $4 for a bag of hog rings)

Leather & Vinyl seat bottom cover $199 (plus hog rings)

I think theseatshop is running a 20% off sale right now (not sure).

 

[sehaare]

Depending on your budget, you can get a quality, brand new replacement leather or all-vinyl replacement seat bottom from theseatshop.com.

I just installed a new all-vinyl seat bottom on my daughter's 2000 Mountaineer about 2 weeks ago. I've also installed a leather & vinyl (identical to OE) seat bottom on my 2001 Explorer Eddie Bauer. The leather cover was a perfect match to my torn OE cover. The all-vinyl cover was good enough (color was a bit off) for my daughter's Mountaineer (265,000+ miles). Both covers install the same way, just like the OE cover. I'd never done anything like reupholstering a seat before, but it was not too difficult.

All vinyl seat bottom cover $129 (plus $4 for a bag of hog rings)

Leather & Vinyl seat bottom cover $199 (plus hog rings)

I think theseatshop is running a 20% off sale right now (not sure).

If you go this route you can easily add seat warmers while you have them apart. I had my daughters seats apart to switch the bottom cushions from the drivers side to the passenger side (they compress to the side you get in on) and while I had them apart I installed a seat heater on the drivers seat. This was the first time that I had tried doing that and it was pretty easy.

 

[koda2000]

If you go this route you can easily add seat warmers while you have them apart. I had my daughters seats apart to switch the bottom cushions from the drivers side to the passenger side (they compress to the side you get in on) and while I had them apart I installed a seat heater on the drivers seat. This was the first time that I had tried doing that and it was pretty easy.

theseatshop.com also sells new seat foam, but it's not cheap at around $100. The hardest part of replacing the cover is removing the seat from the truck and removing the seat back, neither of those things is hard to do. When I did my daughter's seat in took me around 3 hours start to finish, and would have taken less time if I had a decent hog ring tool (I just used needle nose pliers) and didn't have to fool with unhooked/broken springs.