Leather Seats

BugginKJ · **Joined:** Mon Jul 06, 2009 7:35 pm **Posts:** 4576

Leather seats, I want to know the good the bad and the ugly. I am thinking of doing my interior in leather since I have just gotten 2 whole hides in black for free and a very good buddy of mine does apholstery(sp?) work. My windows are tinted so I am not worried about the seats getting too hot in the summer or should I be? Could I please hear opinions from you folks that have leather interior. Thanks

KJ Taz · **Posted:** Sat May 22, 2010 3:20 pm

A lot depends on your location. In Colorado and NM I loved them, in NV I hate them. They get too hot and will burn your legs when you are in shorts, you will stick to them when you are sweaty. Good points is they clean easy and with kids and grand kids they are great. Mine have all been very durable. Like I say it depends on the climate your in as to whether they are nice to have or not.

HoosierJeeper · **Joined:** Sun Feb 15, 2009 8:23 am **Posts:** 1218

Love mine. Easy to clean. Would have trouble going back to cloth.

Yes, they do get hot, but not any hotter than black cloth. They cool off quicker too.

Tokyojoe · **Posted:** Sat May 22, 2010 4:43 pm

Love mine but find myself sliding around on it on hard turns, even with the seat belts on. Black leather would suck in the Summer unless you cover the windows to prevent direct sunlight on them.

JL Rockies · **Posted:** Sat May 22, 2010 7:20 pm

I put leather in mine to complete the street cred. I added seat heaters for those cold days on the trail too.

yakers · **Posted:** Sat May 22, 2010 8:42 pm

Go for what you like. I normally like cloth but in the Liberty the leather works really well. I'm getting to like the seats. My last car had leather as part of an option package and I liked them after they were not so new and slippery.

BugginKJ · **Joined:** Mon Jul 06, 2009 7:35 pm **Posts:** 4576

I have convinced myself to do it. I just spoke with my buddy today and he said I have about $800 worth of leather and it's the good stuff :pepper:

I do think it will look real nice and plus my buddy threw a few ideas my way on some other "detail" work to match the door panels with the seats :BANANA:

Now we just have to find the time to do it :banghead:

tommudd · **Posted:** Sun May 23, 2010 5:57 pm

One word

Milk crate

don't need seats for a while rip them out and "git er done"

BugginKJ · **Joined:** Mon Jul 06, 2009 7:35 pm **Posts:** 4576

tommudd wrote:

One word

Milk crate

don't need seats for a while rip them out and "git er done"

JL Rockies · **Posted:** Mon May 24, 2010 6:27 pm

$800? is it from a rare animal?

BugginKJ · **Joined:** Mon Jul 06, 2009 7:35 pm **Posts:** 4576

JL Rockies wrote:

$800? is it from a rare animal?

2 full hides. That is what my upholstery buddy told me they sell for, he showed me in the cataloge. My jaw dropped. Plus my Mother works for the company that sells them to the auto makers, so yep $800 worth of skin man if you walk into a shop to buy it.

linewarbr · **Posted:** Tue May 25, 2010 1:28 pm

JL Rockies wrote:

$800? is it from a rare animal?

From the rare Utahn wild mongoose.

HoosierJeeper · **Joined:** Sun Feb 15, 2009 8:23 am **Posts:** 1218

Not seal skin?

LibertyCRD · **Posted:** Sun May 30, 2010 10:05 am

After having two KJs, one with cloth and one with leather...there is NO way I'd get the cloth ever again. The KJ OEM cloth was HORRIBLE. Water would leave "stains" on it! Sweat, rain, etc. would make them look awful. They had no padding and it was like sitting on cardboard. AWFUL seats. It was my #1 complaint. The OEM leather seats are not perfect but they are a huge improvement. And...it's nice with the kids because I can wipe up messes.

Drawbacks? The leather is more prone to leaving child safety seat marks in the hide, and in the Summer the leather gets HOT. But I can work around that for some seats that can actually be kept looking decent for a change.

67Customs · **Posted:** Sun May 30, 2010 1:11 pm

LibertyCRD wrote:

After having two KJs, one with cloth and one with leather...there is NO way I'd get the cloth ever again. The KJ OEM cloth was HORRIBLE. Water would leave "stains" on it! Sweat, rain, etc. would make them look awful. They had no padding and it was like sitting on cardboard. AWFUL seats. It was my #1 complaint. The OEM leather seats are not perfect but they are a huge improvement. And...it's nice with the kids because I can wipe up messes.

Drawbacks? The leather is more prone to leaving child safety seat marks in the hide, and in the Summer the leather gets HOT. But I can work around that for some seats that can actually be kept looking decent for a change.

My brother's 2006 KJ has cloth. They stain easily and they are hard to clean. And I'm a detailer. I have leather in my 2005 KJ, my 2006 Town & Country and my three previous vehicles. I have only have cloth in a Durango and my Audi. Leather is SO much easier to take care of. Although, the cloth in the Audi was very nice and quite easy to clean for cloth.

I have those Prince Lionheart 2-Stage Seat Savers for use under my two car seats. They work very well in keeping the seats from leaving impressions. I have window tint and I use windshield shades, so rarely does my steering wheel and seats get so hot that it is uncomfortable.

mikey1273 · **Posted:** Sun May 30, 2010 3:47 pm

I have the heated leathers in a light slate grey in the KJ and had a tan in the Outback Limited I traded for the KJ.... also heated. I will say the the leather looks great and cleans up easy if you care for it. You must clean it a few times a year (3-4) atleast and apply leather condtioner almost as often to keep the leather soft and from drying out and cracking. As for summer yes they do get a bit warm but if its that hot you will be using the a/c and this will cool things down once you get going. I don't know what color your KJ is so I can't say it black is a good choice of color for your leather...... darker colors heat up more in the sun.... not that I am saying don't use black just be aware it will be hotter than a lighter color wil in the sun. You may find a Two tone thing with the black will look sharp. If you are were winters are cold and you add heat you will not be sorry once you feel the warmth well before the engine heats up enough to give any heat.

I would not go back to cloth unless I had too because I have found how nice leather is. I also have leather products I prefer now that I discovered on the Outback forum. Zymöl cleaner and conditioner cream have worked well for me. the products are made of natural stuff that is safe for skin contact, in fact you could almost wash with it and use the conditioner as hand cream, its got no funky stuff like silicone in it plus the cream has a nice tropical fruit smell.

I have heard many people say Leather is horrable as a seating surface in a car but all of them when asked how they cared for the seats didn't know you were supposed to do anything and let it dry out and crack. Truth is caring for leather to keep it clean and nice is way easier than using stain removers and extraction cleaning or steam on cloth and there is far less drying time too.

Leather Seats

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