Hi guys
Been awhile since I have been here. Where are we buying OEM leather or replacement leather seat upholstery now ? Is there a dealer we should use? an aftermarket place ?

Thanks!

 

Theseatshop.com

Great quality, tons of us here have used them with great results.

 

Thanks! They look good but isn't OEM still available?

 

Not that I know of, but you will be happy seat shop...

 

Not unless you find some stashed away someplace.

The story as I know it goes something like this,

In 2000 Ford spun off Visteon the subsidiary of ford that make the seats amoung many other ford parts
In 2005 Visteon spun off a bunch of money losing business units including the seat plant into a company called Automotive Components
In 2009 that mfg shut down as it was sold to private owners and moved to Mexico

 

They had a long discussion on leather over at the H.A.M.B. that you could probably dig up that was interesting. Some folks were scouting out discarded leather couches. Hm.

OEM "leather" isn't even really leather! Most leather sold is not top grain, it's basically suede that has been textured to look like it. A lot of folks were saying the vinyls available today are very good and a better choice than crappy leather. Quality leather is damnably expensive.

 

what is H.A.M.B. ?

not to be to nitbicky but to be accurate most OEM seats do not use 100% coverage with real leather, typically only the seating surface that your body touches is leather and the rest of the ( backs and sides ) are constructed from vinyl.

Suede on the other hand is a type of leather that is typically more expensive then top grain. Suede is made from the under side of the skin and has a nappy texture. it is soft and supple but not as durable as top grain.

yes vinyls are very good imposters, "leather" interiors are mostly vinyl and yet few people even notice. but leather has more desirable qualities then vinyl such as durability, suppleness and breathability, cost is the down side so vinyl gets used where leather isn't required for its traits.

 

What I mean by that, top grain is the good stuff, but is very expensive, so the lower layers are also split into hides and then textured and processed to look like top grain leather. It doesn't have durability for one thing, not even close. Supposedly the leather seats in our trucks are just reprocessed stuff on a vinyl backing, something like that.

 

I was wondering too...made me go and Google it.

The H.A.M.B.

Stewart

 

Thanks for doing the leg work for us Went and checked it out, not to bad... not FTE though

 

Double Ditto!!

 

The 4 Grades of Leather » Maverick Leather Company

4 Grades of Leather
1. Full Grain

Full Grain leather is the highest quality grade you can buy. This is the MacDaddy of leather!

Because it comes from the top layer of the hide it has the most grain (hence the name, “full grain). One thing people love about full grain is that the more it is used, the better it tends to look! It tends to have the most natural feel and look.

Because of the cost, many leather products are not made with full grain leather. Instead, many manufacturers opt for top grain leather. As Dave from Saddleback Leather pointed out, many sellers will state that their products are “made with full grain leather.” This doesn’t mean that the entire product is made with full grain leather, however. Make sure you do your research before purchasing!

2. Top Grain

Top grain leather is second best. For the most part, top grain leather is very strong and durable. For some products it is a perfectly fine choice. However, top grain does not usually age well. Because of the lower quality, it deteriorates more rapidly than full grain and looses its desired look quickly.

3. Genuine Leather

Genuine leather products are what you see in most malls and department stores. It sounds great, doesn’t it? If you are buying a belt made with “genuine leather” it seems like you should be getting a quality product, right? Unfortunately, that is not the case.

Genuine leather is made from the last layer of hide (after the full and top grain leather is sliced away). Most manufacturers spray paint or heavily alter the look and appearance of genuine leather. If they did not, nobody would buy it!

Although at first glance genuine leather may look nice, that look is temporary. Genuine leather deteriorates very quickly and looks cheap.

4. Bonded Leather

Bonded leather is the absolute worse grade leather you can buy. In fact, it doesn’t even come from the hide. Instead, bonded leather comes from the leftover scraps that are bonded and glued together.

A product that gets heavy use will not last long if it is made with bonded leather.

In short, avoid bonded leather.

Check your Bible (if you have one) 9/10 it is listed as "Bonded Leather".

 

Full grain! That's the stuff. Who knew there was something higher up the cow hide than the top.

 

It's part of the Ford Barn (I think), between the two there is a lot of good information archived anyway.

 

@Oldguyfl you have done so much to your rig and the seats look awesome, now let's talk about that steering wheel...