5SIZ

I want to wash the seat covers in my car and also add some more foam in the bolster area of my front seats for added comfort, but first I need to figure out how to take them off. What do you need to get the covers off of the seats?


Any info would be appreciated.

Daishi

For the rear seats, the backing has a zipper at the bottom, The bottoms of the rear seats have staples. The front seats have the same setup with the zippers/staples. I cleaned mine up today, I didn't pull the cloth off tho, Looks like its gonna be impossible/damn hard to get the cloth back on again.

My $0.02

Maverick H1L

iTrader: (8)

Yeah, the zippers on the rear upper seats don't do beans... they have those hog rings like halfway up the back to hold the cloth onto the metal support and through the foam inside. I know, I've tried to do that to replace my torn seat covers with something better or maybe duplicate the cloth to make some a different color. Believe me, mine are really beat to hell and if removing the covers on the seats was as simple as unzipping them and pulling the covers off I'd be done a long time ago...

Red90IROC

Before you do, get about 50-100 hog rings and a pair of hog ring pliers from an upholstery shop. Should only cost $10-20, judging from the ones I got with my seat covers from Hawks (Hmm maybe Hawks sells them too).

I use ChannelLocks to remove old hog rings, just twist very hard and they come off. On seat bottoms I've found I can save a little time on some of the numerous hog rings by just cutting them in half with my die grinder/cutting wheel, just be careful not to rip up the foam. There are some retaining rods inside the seat, watch carefully as you take it apart for how the rods go back in.

kerryismygirl89

There are also hog ring removers which are like tin snips that can get in there and cut the rings off. Sometimes it's tricky to get in the inner part of the seat because the upholstery is made to fit.

LT1guy

iTrader: (1)

A good set of diagonal cutters will cut through the hog rings pretty easily; twisting them off could damage the rods in the seat bottoms. As much work as is involved in removing a set of seat covers and reinstalling them, you might want to consider a set of new covers unless yours are excellent but dirty. Hawks sells them.

5SIZ

My int. is in excellent shape, there just dirty, I can steam clean the seats without having to take off the seat covers and it would look just as good, but I wanted to take off the cloth so I can add more foam to the bolster srea in the front seats, I have seen it done in a friends car and it felt much more supported on the sides.



is it any different putting the covers back on as it is to put on the hawks covers, or is it the same? What i'm trying to say is it anyeasier to put on the hawks seat covers or would it be just as much of a P.I.T.A. as the origionals?

LT1guy

iTrader: (1)

If anything, it would be easier to put on the stock covers (assuming you werent beefing up the foam), since they have already streteched and conformed to the seats. With new covers, you might want to throw them in the drier inside out for a couple minutes to soften them and let them stretch more. Since you're adding foam, its going to be about the same either way.

Having steam cleaned seats before (rat infested PMDs!), I'd definitely take the covers off. Its a real PITA to get all that soapy water out of the seat foams.