I am on my first King Ranch and I am on the fence with the Leather. It scratches very easily and I have many white spots in the back and on the passenger side. No one has ridden in the back and nothing has been put on the seats that would cause damage. As for a passenger, I can count the number of passengers I have had on 1 hand. I have conditioned them with the King Ranch conditioner twice and I am about to do it again now. I haven't been to the dealer yet for them to look as I am concerned if I do, they will give me the "thats normal" song and dance. These seats feel great, look amazing and are far superior to the Lariot's leather, I just wish someone could give me a way to remove the white spots. Whenever I use the conditioner, the white spots get very dark and then come back to the normal color. I have used sun shades from day 1, have double limo tint on every window and I have owned this truck for 2.5 months and driven 6500 miles.
This thread is great and I was about to start up my own one before stumbling on this own. Oh and let me add that my center console lid has many scratches that will not buff out while using the conditioner. Any suggestions would be great.
__________________ 05 F250 Dark Copper/Arizona Beige Fully Loaded King Ranch, 6.0 PSD, Torqueshift, 4x4 and 1500 watts for your listening pleasure
The only white areas i see on mine are right were like the back of your legs go on the driver side at the edge of the seat. I guess from getting in and out so much but it comes out with the cleaner.. I know you said yours was in the back so the only think i can think of is i know when i use to much cleaner it can make a spot if i dont get it all off.. that and if you use your windows at all you know that if you use them in the morning and there is condesation out and you stop the water comes in the window. especially all over the controls on the door in the front. well maybe some water is getting in the back when the window is open..I dont know just trying to give some ideas..I cant see a white spot just showing up something had to cause it..
ryan
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2004 F-350 King Ranch 4x4 6.0 SRW SWB CC.
2.5in Leaf Spring Lift in Front.5in blocks in rear. Moto Metal 20x10's 305 55R20's. Fabtech Traction Bars. Fumoto Valve. SCT Tunner. Train Horns. Upgraded Compressors and big tank to run air tools. CB Radio. Rancho 9ks. Amsoil Oil ByPass System
Well the white sopts started to show about 3 weeks after I got it. I thought the leather was drying out so I conditioned them with the KR conditioner. I have properly conditioned them making sure that the white film was removed after it dried. Other than the scratches and white spots the leather is great. I just got finished conditioning them again with the same outcome. White spots turn black and then will eventually dry and turn back white. I will be contacting King Ranch direct before Ford.
__________________ 05 F250 Dark Copper/Arizona Beige Fully Loaded King Ranch, 6.0 PSD, Torqueshift, 4x4 and 1500 watts for your listening pleasure
Original poster asked: "Does the Castano Leather in the King Ranch hold up well to abuse or is it just "fluff?"
I think they hold up better than any other leather interior I ever had and that is over a long time in many different brands.
The real point of the King Ranch leather is how they gain "character" over time, and eventually get "broke in" softer texture, and richer in color. They change color like a saddle, but stretch and wrinkle like a expensive leather coat.
If you pay this much for the Castrano leather you should read the recommended care instructions.
I do not reccommend seat covers as you will tend to forget about the leather and not treat it with conditioner and they will dry out and get hard.
Evey time my kids, or dog made the seat wet and discolored we wiped down the whole area with warm watter, let it dry, hit it with saddle soap and buffed it out and accepted the new "character" the seat gained.
The leather is much heavier than Fords typical leather, but not anywhere near full grain 3/16 thick heavy saddle leather. Not designed to take the abuse of workers climbing aboard with tape measure and wire pliers in back pockets.
I have deer hunted and climbed in bloddy, muddy, and wet. Being properly conditioned and protected they cleaned back up a week later.
So yes they are more durable and not just Fluff.... They will hold up better than the standard leather or cloth to abuse, but will gain discoloration and scrapes and "character".
What he said!!
Done no hunting, but have gotten in muddy and wet.
I have my first King Ranch, but I've owned BMW's for years, and am used to caring for nice leather seats. I HIGHLY recommend Connolly's Hide Food, and their cleaner for the seats. GREAT products. Originally developed for Rolls Royce, it's perhaps the best leather conditioner available. The company has been sold, so I have no idea how the product line will be with the new owners, but I am hoping it will continue to be top of the line.
I have 07 KR and have set MS Outlook to remind me when (every 6 mos) to condition the Castano leather. Now's that time and I want to know from experienced owners what are good recommendations for leather conditioner. Note taken from Lure Rat about non-silcone products. Any other specific suggestions are welcome. For the record, my F-150 King Ranch has exceeded all expectations. I continue to be perfectly satisfied with this truck, especially the unique and ruggedly rich leather. I am looking forward to its aging with time and just want to keep it supple.
I have a 3 and 5 year old and with all thier mess in the back i havent had any problems at all, i ordered the king ranch leather conditioner and actually give it a good rub down every oil change and they look great, i actually like my seats now more with some wear on them.
I have a 2005 king ranch and with going to all the shows and showing the truck my seats also faded but cleaning them with saddle soap and then after they dry I used a
leather conditioner with out any oil in it and myseats look great. they have 49,000mi
on them and alot of sun. but they do need care and they will last a long time
I know they always recommend their leather conditioner as the "only one that does the job", but any neatsfoot oil conditioner will do the job and this comes from a person that has 4 saddles(3 of which are king ranch made(it helps knowing the master saddlemaker on a personal basis, he went to grade school with my grandmother)) and I have used either lexol and/or just generic neatsfoot oil that you can get at any saddle shop or farmer's store and it does the job. Now doing it once a month with generous applications would definately keep it from fading and it will help with alot of the scratches and the staines will eventually fade away quicker the more you apply the conditioner. Yes these seats do require more effort on the owner's part for the upkeep, such as any luxury good will require(this leather is more of a luxury good then what you can normally get on the lariat package).
no no no as stated by king ranch products do not use any oil on their products it will turn them very dark. just as a piont of fact I tried it on a small back part of my seat and as they said it turned almost black. it took alot of work to bring the color back.
I will never do that again. note I used the non darkining type and it was a mess
please check with king ranch products before you use anything.
It depends on what you like. After cleaning a badly worn (and filthy) King Ranch console lid with Lexol cleaner and then using their non-darkening conditioner, I'm a believer. It almost looks factory new. If you don't like the faded look of the seats, consider trying neatsfoot oil on a small hidden spot; it might be what you need to darken the seats to your liking. I like the King Ranch seats because they gain character as they age, but part of character is darkening or fading or spotting.
no no no as stated by king ranch products do not use any oil on their products it will turn them very dark. just as a piont of fact I tried it on a small back part of my seat and as they said it turned almost black. it took alot of work to bring the color back.
I will never do that again. note I used the non darkining type and it was a mess
please check with king ranch products before you use anything.
That is propaganda to get you to use their products. I have been using neatsfoot based conditioners for a little over 20 yrs over half that time on king ranch saddles and the last two yrs on my king ranch truck. Yes it does turn it darker, but it does not turn it pitch unless you really really really applied a generous portion. I am really dubious that the non-darkening did that because the 1st six months that I had the truck I used the non-darkening lexol(they don't have a generic on for that) and it didn't change the color at all the only reason I changed is that it didn't stay supple as long and it took twice as much to last the same time as the darkening. The chemical that they take out for the non-darkening also helps with deep penetrating which I didn't think about that at the time, that was the first experiance thta I had with the non-darkening. Plus let me reiterate I learned this from the King Ranch master saddlemaker, I think he is more of a correct appeal to authority then just going to the King Ranch Saddle Shop.
I never used lexol so I do not know what it will do but the product I was talking about was neatsfoot and it did make a mess of the small part I tested that is why I contacted
king ranch. I do not use their conditioner I use another brand but what I use has no oil
see my gallery pic of front seat.
Just to add a few points to the excellent ones already. Obvioulsy leather is not farmed. Only perfect hides free of scars and parsite nicks and then matched tone are used in the King Ranch. Other leather has scars and impectionsthen it is dyed and then painted. The cracks develop along side the scar tissue. The King Ranch leather requires maintenance and the fading will reduce with saddle soap or leather conditioner. But if you know you will get grease or water on the leather than I wouldnt recommend a KR. Katzkin makes a simular leather in their Tuscany line, color is Amarillo. Costs about $1500 to re do a crew cab.
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