I have a question for anybody with the king ranch trucks. my front seats have started to fade from the nice dark brown to a lighter brown and i want to put them back to the original dark stage. does anybody know of any saddle leather conditioners that would be good for doing this? right now i use the Lexon regular conditioner. theres no die or anything in it.

 

I just use the Ford Conditioner every couple of weeks and mine look new.

 

yea mine probably would look new if the guy before me took care of his truck. i dont think he ever conditioned the seats so they are all cracked and what not. im trying to bring them back up to speed so i condition them every week or 2. its helping some but i still want them to be a few shades darker.

 

The KingRanch Conditioner works like a charm. It's expensive, but it's the best. It will bring them back to new.

 

My front seat bottoms were nearly gray from the sun-damage and the fact that the previous owner never took care of them. At least he tinted the side, back and part of the front windows! Anyway, I only use the Lexon-type leather conditioner. When I first got the truck, I oiled them heavily about every 3 days for two weeks. Once the material gets saturated thoroughly and used enough (long trips in the seat and lots of in & out) the dark color and a sheen will come back. The steering wheel was also completely faded from it being parked alot and the color came back to it through lots of Lexon and my wife's hand lotion. I got the lotion idea after I noticed that two or three parts of the steering wheel were almost back to the original color or darker after a few weeks of use...it was where she rests her hands when she drives. Lotion seemed to darken up the grab handles as well and now everything only gets oiled about once every 6-8 weeks.

 

awesome. well i ordered some king ranch leather conditioner. only 9 bucks so what the heck. i used lexol before that so im jsut going to compare the two now. they do look a little better than when i got the truck. i guess it just takes a lot of conditioner and time!

 

Has anyone tried some Udder Balm, the real stuff, something you would have to purchase at a tractor supply or like store? I'm seriously looking at purchasing a King Ranch but the task of keeping the seats in good shape has me concerned since I've seen many, WAY TOO MANY, seats that have been abused. Either they are faded or pitch black. Thanks y'all

 

LogHome...It's not that big of a deal. Mostly a lot of whinning. I'm on my second KR and the first one's seats were about 90 percent as new when I got rid of it. I ONLY use the KingRanch conditioner. I had my salesman throw in 3 bottles of the 16oz with the purchase. The worst things for the KR seats are BlueJeans. They wear the hell out of the seats and suck all the oils out. You need to stay away from most of the Saddle Soaps and things of that sort. Udder Balm from what I use is Hand lotion not anything for seats.

The KR seats change day to day and develope their own character. I would use the KR conditioner every month to stay on top especially if you are in a very dry climate. I would use Coniseurr's Choice by LiquidGlass as a second choice and Lexol as a third. The majority of the leather products available at auto stores are not really for full grain leather, but more for the dyed/painted leathers like in the XLT's, GM's and such.
Most of these contain more cleaner than protectant-conditioner. Tinted windows also help with the Sun as well as a winshield shade.

Since my truck is always pristine because I'm a Velvet-*** and don't use my truck as hard as many others they are in great shape when I trade up.

Lastly the Connelly's(spelling?) is some really awesome stuff, but is ridiculously priced. It's what we use in our new Augusta Corporate heli for the seats. The front pilot seats are occupied by myself and my copilot every day and show nearly no signs of wear after 8 months of heavy flying. We wear Nomex flightsuits and it's pretty rough on seats. The seats in the heli have got to be made by King Ranch because of the feel and style. They were only a $19K upgrade over the originals...and I bitched about paying $1500 more for King Ranch interior(grin)...

 

Lveillon,

Sounds like I need to head your way next time you are in the upgrade mode and take your old ride off your hands. Thanks for the advice. There wouldn't be a problem for us to keep up with the seat maintenance as you described and maintain the "like new" look so this knocks off one fear we have of changing to the KR. Thanks for your input.

 

Loghome... Everytime you sit in your truck you will be so glad that you bought the KingRanch. I love the look, but it was the comfort that sold me. I thought the GM seats were comfortable, but they are nothing compared to the King Ranch.

 

Olive Oil and a paint brush ( or cloth if you prefer ) will soften your KR leather and give it a rich warm color. We have used straight olive oil on our saddles and bridles , my purses and our belts for years...works like a charm...no sticky residue, no staining of clothes, soaks in and drys quickly. I brush it on heavily the night before and let it soak in...my trucks leather looks good as the day I bought it. Early on I felt I had to spend the bucks on some fancy leather cream....didn't notice any real improvement...more like a top coating.
For you equine buffs...I should add that we do add 1-2 parts neatsfoot oil to the olive oil ONLY on the parts of the tack that touch sweaty animal skin ( like stirrup leathers ) due to its water proofing qualities. But never put that where your hands touch ( reins ) or sit , as it will stain your clothes and be sticky to touch . Olive oil with do neither. It's wonderful....and a bargain.