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I was hoping someone could suggest a company to use for new seat covers. I have a 96F250 with a regular cab. The style seat is listed as a High molded bench seat w/center arm.
Does anyone know of a place that sells good fitting seat covers for this style? Thanks for any advice you can give.
Thanks for the reply. If it's good quality material and will have a snug fit, I'd be willing to spend a few hundred
or so. I'm not sure what going through an upholsterer would run but I'm sure it's a lot more. I've looked
on SeatCoversUnlimited and they have what seem to be nice seat covers for under 300. The reviews are
mixed though so I'm not sure what to believe.
Take a look at marathonseatcovers.com. I put them in my '97 F350 RC about 12 years ago...they're very durable, fit real tight, don't sag, look great. They're not cheap...but they're GOOD. Cost me about $250 then...which I didn't think was unreasonable. And now, after 12 years, I can say that they're well worth the $ and look as good as the day I put them on.
Fellow at work did vinyl, on 80 model chevy, $585 lo-back bench, havent seen many that had tight fit, we use the hog rings in strategic places, just wasnt spending that on seat covers, son picked them out at wally world, still havent figured out how to get the center front seat/console covered because it opens?, except, buy another bucket seat and start cutting.
Just today I installed my new seat cover in my 93 standard cab with bench seat.
I bought it from seatcoversunlimited.com.
It was about $250.
Ordered online 01/27/22 and it was a breeze.
They gave me an anticipated shipping date of Feb 04 through 14th 2022.
It was at my door on Feb 02, 2022.
VERY NICE QUALITY!! - but remember you must take your time and tend to the details to get it as nice as can be.
The cover is very nice fit. It could ALMOST pass for an original seat cover. But like anything, you must take your time and go the extra mile to make the premium product be all it can be.
I got the Scottsdale cover and the material is substantial. Much thicker than the OEM upholstery.
My guess is many of the bad reviews are from people that have no patience or lack the ability to work with their hands.
Also, it is much easier to install in a professional manner if you take the seat out of the truck and set it on a workbench. Then take the OEM cover off and inspect everything. Repair broken parts and use some E6000 on any foam that is splitting.
It is also likely that you will find damage to your seat frame that you can fix if you remove it from the truck.
On mine, the bottom foam was just starting to push through the seat springs and I had one broken seat spring. You never would have known it by sitting in it because it seemed too be in perfect condition from up above.
I added some outdoor carpeting between the seat springs and the foam to keep the foam from pushing through.
Also, the seat back had several broken uprights that I had to re-weld into position and in a few areas I added some thin foam strips and used some adhesive on an area of the foam that was starting to split.
Then I reinstalled the OEM cover, which helps the foam retain its shape.
The new cover fits like a snug glove. You actually have to smack the cover with your hand while stretching it over the seat to remove wrinkles and it fit beautifully.
My truck has a solid panel fastened to the back of the seat which didn't need to be reused because the new seat cover actually finishes off the back side of the seat back too.
Give me a few days and I will post some pictures of mine before and after.
Thanks for the reply! This is exactly the answer I was hoping to get. Out of all the sites I could find SeatCoversUnlimited had the best looking selection but
the reviews made me a little nervous. I'm glad you had a positive experience with them and that it was a recent purchase.
When I read reviews about poor fit I always wonder about the effort put into the installation too. My seat is currently out of the truck so it will be
easier to work with.
My seat really isn't in bad shape presently (some small tears in the driver's side) but I repainted the interior trim and went with a darker grey. Now, there
will be too much of a contrast bc the seat is a light grey. I started to paint the trim with the color grey I researched to match but it just looked lighter
to me and more like a primer grey color. Anyway, I went with a darker color and now I'm going down the slippery slope of changing things I didn't originally plan
to. It'll be worth it though when all is done. I'll post some pics of before and after as well.
Thanks again for your response! Much appreciated.
The colors are what will get you confused.
My 93 has the Granite (dark gray) interior so I ordered the Dark Charcoal seat cover. It is slightly darker than my OEM Granite color, almost a light black. Very similar color, just slightly darker and it suits me fine.
Your 96 will have the Opal (light gray) from factory, so depending on how much of the original interior you change out, you might be better suited with the Graphite or Silver color seat cover.
I will try to snap some pics when I get home from work tonight.
Very confusing. I went with Opal grey at first but it was even lighter than the original color to my eyes. It looked like a primer grey to me and
I just couldn't make myself be okay with it. I had only started with the dash so it only cost me one can of paint.
I went with the next shade darker and I painted everything (dash, doors, trim, visors etc.). It looks
good but the seat will be too much of a contrast which is why I'm looking to recover it.
I'm going to post some pics later today of where it's at currently. I'm happy with it so far but it was a little more work than originally
planned. But, I'd rather put a little extra time and effort in along with a reasonable extra cost (which these seats seem to be) and have
everything look good. I really appreciate your help and advice!
Picture dump time
I am terrible at taking pictures while I am doing something, but did manage a few, although not of the best quality.
Before:
I started with a pretty decent seat. There was only one minor tear in the lower seat at driver's position. I recommend peeling back the OEM seat cloth and taking a look to see what else is wrong. Very likely you will find something. I had a broken spring, the foam was pushing through the springs and the lower foam directly under the tear in the OEM fabric was starting to split open (likely because the fabric tear was allowing movement that damaged the foam).
It would have only gotten worse over time and there is no better time than now to fix it. I also had two metal supports inside the drivers side back rest broken. You never would have known by the mostly good exterior condition of the seat.
After:
I haven't had a chance to install back into the truck yet.
I am still waiting for the new head rest sleeves from Ford to get here, so the headrests haven't been installed yet either.
This is the dark charcoal color and it is slightly darker than the original 1992/1993 Granite (dark gray) interior.
Also note that some colors on seatcoversunlimited.com website come with the option of "fleck" or "no-fleck". Not sure what that means so you may want to call them to ask.
If you notice that the seat cover in the pictures in the linked thread above ^^^ almost look to have a diagonal pattern to it where mine looks like it has a pixelized pattern in the color.
Maybe that is what "fleck" is???
That came out nice! Looks like a really good, tight fit. The color and pattern is really nice too.
I contacted SeatCoversUnlimited yesterday and ended up ordering the leatherette seat covers.
They gave an estimate of about 2-3 weeks on delivery, which is fine with me. I'll just keep my seat out
until it arrives and install it then. I had to go with the leatherette bc when my dogs ride in the truck, pet
hair is a pain to get out of the seats for me.
My seat is in pretty good shape as well. Only has a few tears on the edge of the driver's side. I'll definitely
for any bad springs and such while it's out. Anyway, I appreciate all the info you've been giving and I'll
definitely post some before and after shots so you can see. Thanks again!
My seat covers came in earlier this week and I was able to put them on yesterday. I ordered from Seat Covers Unlimited and had a good experience with them. It took about 2
weeks for the order to come in and that was in line with what they stated at the time of purchase. As you can see in the pics, the fit is pretty decent overall. There are some wrinkles
in spots but I'm okay with it. I'll work on it over time and see if some of them can't be worked out as the material stretches a bit.
Having the seat out of the truck makes a world of difference. I couldn't imagine trying to put these on while it's still bolted in the cab. Maybe those who gave negative reviews on the
companies website were trying to install them that way. I had to drill holes in the seat frame to tie some of the straps down (for the bottom cover only). If I had used existing holes the cover would have pulled in odd directions in spots and not looked right. The sides on the bottom cover were a little big so I had to crease it and tack it with some needle and thread. I was a little disappointed with that but I tried adjusting it several other ways and I couldn't get it to line up any tighter. It could just be my inexperience but nothing else seemed to work any better.
I do wish it covered the area around the center arm rest a little better though. When the arm rest is down you can see the fabric from the original seat (not much but still). Overall, I like the way it turned out and think it's a huge improvement compared to the original.
Thanks again for your advice and the pics of your seat. It really helped when making a decision on who to go with.
