Putting on seat covers

[redrider77]

Are there any tricks to putting on aftermarket seat covers? Getting ready to do one this weekend, and just want to read up on how to do it before i go diving in. Thanks.

[fzrrkid]

take old off, put new on restaple....nothing 2 it

[CrackiN]

Think about using all purpose automotive adhesive....Put the cover over on the seat with out adhesive first to find the exact center. Spray the seat and the cover with adhesive and then start from the middle and smooth the cover out to the edges from there...I used 1/4" staples and a hand held staple gun...Worked fine...It is always a good idea to have help when trying to fold the edges under....Have someone hold the cover in place while you stretch and fold the edges over to staple them....Good luck...

[125shifter]

Here’s what I’ve done:

Slip the front on first and see that it’s seam are over the foam correctly, but don’t staple yet.

Slip the rear on next and ensure that it’s seams are in line w/ the foam too. The rear probably won’t fit as snug as the front for now, but that’s fine.

Take a look at the cover and pull the sides down and see that it is test fitting properly – you know… just a general feeling that it’s aligned well.

Now I use contact cement between the cover and seat base. I apply some between the front of the cover and the front of the base, refit the front and staple. I like running staples immediately adjacent to each other to give the cover continuous contact w/ the base.

Do the same w/ the rear as you did w/ the front.

For the side, I stretch them over and do my best to align the seams (working from the middle of the cover first) with the foam (important if you have a graphics matching seat). Once I’ve settled on the stretch, I’ll apply the contact cement to the side I’m going to staple then restretch both sides for the proper alignment, let go of the non-glued side and begin stapling the glued side.

Once the front, rear & middles of the sides are done, you should be left with the center portion of the cover not touching the seat foam. No work (using glue then stapling) the open quarters (areas between the now stapled points).

I don’t know what brand of cover you are using, but the SDG covers (I think they may private lable of bunch of the other brands) are very tough covers and can stand some real tugging.

Try to get the cover tight. The tighter it is, the less chance you have of pinching loose material and potentially putting a hole in the seat.

Hope that helps. ?

[berkeman]

I did a TT search in the General forum back a year on "seat cover", and got a bzillion hits. Here's one thread FYI. ?

Gripper Seat Install

[taksx]

i "attempted" to put mine on a few weeks back but it was the bigest pain in the rear. whent out got a staple gun, staples, clamps,glue basically the hole nine yards after 20 min i felt like homer simpson doh DOH doh. ?

i just ended forking over 20 bucks to have the mexican upholstery guy do it for me and it looks bitchin' ?

[skthom2320]

i "attempted" to put mine on a few weeks back but it was the bigest pain in the rear. whent out got a staple gun, staples, clamps,glue basically the hole nine yards after 20 min i felt like homer simpson doh DOH doh. ?

i just ended forking over 20 bucks to have the mexican upholstery guy do it for me and it looks bitchin' ?

I had the exact same experience and highly recommend the upholstery guy. Mine did it in about 2 minutes while I was standing there. He didn't want anything but I gave him a $20 for beer anyway.

[125shifter]

It's strange how different folks approach things they've never done. I was very apprehensive 'bout doing my own, but when I found out that it would cost me like $60.00 + I figured I could buy a professional upholstery stapler and pay it back after only doing a few seats - I did (2) to start with.

Once I got the gun, I had no problem putting the covers on and did a much tighter job that the factories - and I are ain't no pro @ upholstery.

If anyone want's to send their stuff to me (2-way shipping included) I'll put 'em on fer free. ?

[mikejk]

I attempted a seat cover on my XT350, purchaced the cover from ebay(gripper seat cover ?) tried for hours and could not get it to sit correctly so 100 staples later I gave up ? and had a profesional do it..cost me $20 and found out the seat cover was not sized right so he had to add some material to get it to fit. That explain's whay I was having such a [@#$%&*!] of a time..but for $20 I think when I need another cover I will just let the pro's do it. I'll stick with the mechanical side of things

[RMXC51]

I put mine on over top of the stock cover using a hand stapler without any problem. Put the front on, then the rear, then stretch the sides down and tack the sides at the center of the seat, then work from there. Gripper covers stretch A LOT, make sure its tight before you staple or you'll have lots of wrinkles.

[Bosch232]

I gave 35 bucks to a local auto upholstry shop for mine. It looks like a million bucks, I'd pay it again.

[davis53]

Put the cover in the dryer for a few minutes to soften it up, then staple it on.