Replacing a Seat Cover

Replacing a Seat Cover
Paradise Garage

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Looks like that gremlin goo.

Just like an old nag can be easily spotted by the curvature of the back, the age of a work truck can often be determined by the condition of its seats. Col. Mosby, our 1974 Dodge pickup, came equipped with one of the most hideous seat covers known to man. If this was considered an improvement by the previous owner, what could be waiting underneath?

Anticipating the need for a new seat cover, we picked up a Saddleman truck bench saddle blanket (#02252-14) with grey tones to match the grey color found covering most of the rest of the truck. It's made out of olefin. We don't know what an ole is, but we hope it wasn't necessary to kill too many of them for their fins.

Gaa! What were they thinking?? More taste can be found in a box of rice cakes.

Yii! Is it a seat or a rolling outdoor remnant sale? We'd be worried about something living in there, except NOTHING could survive the deer-head seat cover.

Whew! Good sense prevails. A nice, neutral seat cover doesn't make any statements other than "you don't wanna look underneath."

First, remove the old seat cover. Seat covers apparently can be designed several different ways, so you're on your own with this one. In our case, we mainly had to cut through a bunch of strings and snip some hog-rings. Be sure to not cut anything important.

With the old cover off and safely burned (well, ok, just chuck it in the can if you want to take your chances), stare at the horror beneath. Odds are the original seat is in pretty sorry shape -- seat covers are used to hide damage, not prevent it.

Try to lay the original seat as close to its proper configuration as possible. In our case, it sorta worked; the vinyl strips were reluctant to bend back to a natural position so in some cases we just left it. After all, we had another seat cover.

Lay the new cover over the seat. There's only one way it'll work, but it might take some adjusting to get it right (hint: the black reinforcing bits should not be seen). The cover wraps around the top and sides, so it should be fairly snug when you find the right orientation.

Pull the seatbelts through their designated holes.

The cover has four strings which hold the crack of the cover to the crack of the seat (okay, you in the back, stop giggling). Pull these four strings through the gap under the backrest, then pull them upward and tie them to their corresponding black loops at the top of the backrest. Make the ties nice and snug, both to hold the crack and the backrest.

Each side of the cover has one string and two loops. Run the string to a backrest spring, then the first loop, then back to the spring, and tie off at the second loop. Keep these tight as well.

There are four strings along the bottom of the cover: two on either side, and two on the front. Each string has a corresponding loop. Run the string to a seat spring and back to its loop, where it should be tied off. Make all strings tight so the cover won't slide around.

Have a seat!

This seat cover is pretty easy to install, which was part of the appeal. It beats the heck out of irritating hog rings. It's also reasonably comfortable and reasonably attractive. Best of all, it's reasonably inexpensive -- half the price of the cheapest seat cover in the JC Whitney catalog, and theirs is vinyl! On a truck where any service can conceivably exceed its value, cheap is important.