How To Install Custom Seat Covers

DIY Seat Cover Installation to Bandbox upwards Your Machine

Make your car'south interior await fresh and new with some seat covers

FH14OCT_SETCVR_01-2 Family Handyman

Are your auto seats hopelessly stained or torn—or merely plain ugly? Learn how to club and install replacement seat covers for both back and forepart seats.

Seat cover options

Whether you fill your vehicle with structure materials, haul kids and grandkids around or only spill lots of coffee, yous know how easy it is for factory seat covers to get grungy. If they're across rescuing with an upholstery cleaner and y'all desire to spruce up your vehicle's interior, you lot have only three options: Pay a professional automotive upholsterer to reupholster your seats (well over $one,000), purchase used seats from a junkyard, or buy and install seat covers yourself.

Aftermarket seat covers cost every bit picayune as $fifty per seat for a universal-fit manner or about $150 per seat for top-of-the- line custom-fit covers. We'll bear witness you how to order and install custom-fit seat covers. The installation is similar across makes and models. The job takes about two hours for front end and rear seats. The only tools you'll need are a wire coat hanger and some record to fish the straps under plastic trim pieces (if equipped). Everything else is included with the seat covers.

How to buy seat covers

Seat covers come in two styles: universal and custom-fit. Yous tin can buy universal seat covers right off the shelf at an auto parts store or guild them online. Custom-fit seat covers must be ordered to fit your exact twelvemonth, make, model and seat mode. They're far more expensive than universal-fit seat covers. But they fit like a glove, stay put when you slide in and out, and are more comfortable. Plus, custom-fit seat covers include breakaway stitching so the air bag can deploy properly if your vehicle has side eternalize air bags.

To go around the air bag result and keep costs down, universal seat covers simply eliminate the fabric that would unremarkably cover the seat air numberless. Then, to reduce slipping, the manufacturers coat the underside of the fabric with an anti-skid prophylactic. That makes them a bit more uncomfortable to sit on for long periods. And they will inevitably slip out of identify and wrinkle because they're not an exact fit for your seats.

For some strange reason we don't empathize, officially licensed designer camouflage and sports patterns are the nigh popular seat cover fabrics these days. Since the material designers get a royalty on every sale, yous'll pay more than for those patterns. If you want to keep the toll down, skip the trendy camo and sports fabrics and cull a solid color.

If you order custom-fit seat covers, you'll take the option of besides ordering matching armrest and headrest covers, console covers, seat dorsum storage and map pockets.

Purchase custom-fit and universal seat covers from retail and online auto parts stores, or directly from the manufacturer. We bought the custom-fit seat covers for this 2022 Subaru Outback at nwseatcovers.com. We bucked up and picked the trendy Bill Jordan Realtree AP Snow camo pattern and added headrest covers. The front seat covers price $341 and the rears, $331. Here'south how they install.

When You Install New Seat Covers

Notation: Nosotros couldn't show you the trim disconnect and seat cover attachment points with the seat still in the vehicle. So we bought a junkyard Subaru seat to testify how everything fits together. You don't have to remove the seats from the vehicle to install new seat covers. And since most seats are made the same way, these instructions will piece of work with the bulk of makes and models. Withal, if the seat cover manufacturers' instructions differ from ours, follow theirs instead.

Kickoff with the front seat covers

Photo ane: Release the bib panel

Follow the bib panel straps and unclip them from the springs or pull the elastic straps out from under the springs. Then elevator the bib panel up to access the gap between the back and the bottom cushion.

Photo 2: Thread the straps through the gap

Push the lesser cushion straps through the gap betwixt the seat dorsum and the bottom cushion. So pull the straps completely through until the seat embrace is taut.

Photo iii: Buckle the seat cushion straps

Route the bottom cushion straps toward the front end of the seat, making sure the straps don't interfere with the seat adjuster mechanism. Thread the strap into the buckle and sure-fire it tight to remove wrinkles in the seat cover.

Photograph 4: Tighten and connect the bungee cords

Pull the bungee cords to cinch the skirt on the bottom seat cover. So connect the ends using the supplied S-hook.

Photo five: Install the seatback encompass

Pull the cover downwardly until it reaches the side bolsters (cushions). Then compress the bolster while you pull the fabric downwards to the lesser.

Photo 6: Install the headrest covers

Stretch the elastic edges around the headrest and pull it down. Tug at the encompass material until information technology fits smoothly on the contour of the headrest.

The bottom seat cushion covers usually attach to the seat with straps, buckles and S-hooks. You'll have to thread bottom absorber straps through the gap betwixt the seat back and the lesser cushions (where the back reclines). That's easy in older vehicles. But the gap in newer vehicles is usually covered with a "bib" panel. Don't worry. The bib is easy to disconnect. It's connected to the seat springs with either clips or an elastic strap. Merely reach under the seat and disconnect the straps (Photograph ane). And so lift the bib to access the gap.

Next, fit the seat cover onto the bottom absorber and thread the rear straps through the gap (Photo 2). Route the straps toward the front buckles and tighten (Photo 3). Then connect the bungee cords (Photograph 4). Tuck the puckered seat cover "skirt" backside the plastic trim panels (if equipped).

Remove the headrests. And then slide the embrace over the seat back cushion (Photo 5). Push button the bottom straps through the gap and into the buckles just like you did on the lesser cushion (refer to Photo 3). Reconnect the bib panel and pull down on the rear portion of the seat back cover to remove wrinkles. Then stick the hook-loop edge to the bib to secure information technology. Stretch the headrest covers onto the headrest (Photo 6) and reinstall them on the seats.

Then move to the backseats

Photograph vii: Install rear bench seat embrace

Fit the cover onto the demote seat and thread the straps into the buckles. Tighten until snug. Cheque the fit and adjust. Then tighten the buckles, secure the bungee cords and connect the remaining straps to the springs with S-hooks.

If your vehicle has threescore/twoscore rear demote seats, remove the lesser absorber showtime. If you have bucket seats in the rear, install them only similar you did on the front seats. To remove a bench seat bottom absorber, run your hand along the front edge to locate the latch points. Try jerking straight up at the latch points. If the absorber doesn't release, push it directly back as you lot lift up to release information technology from the hook latches. And so remove the unabridged bottom cushion from the vehicle and gear up it on a demote. Install the bottom absorber seat cover with straps and S-hooks (Photograph 7). Remove the rear headrests and slide the rear seat dorsum covers onto the rear seats. Secure with the attached claw-and-loop fasteners. Add headrest covers and replace the headrests. You lot're done.

Add together a Bun Warmer and Lumbar Support

If your vehicle didn't come with seat heaters, now's the fourth dimension to add them. Add-on electric seat heaters fit between your existing seat cushions and the new seat covers and secure with elastic bands and straps. The seat heater control connects to a cigarette lighter or power outlet. The model we show here (the ProHeat pad and controller; about $85 from nwseatcovers.com) has an adjustable heat setting and automatic shutoff to forestall battery bleed (in instance you forget to plough it off). And, if you lot want lumbar back up, slide this unit (about $70 at nwseatcovers.com) under the seat back comprehend before strapping it in place. Route the pump and tube out to the side. Once the seat covers are fully installed, arrange the firmness with the pump.

Required Materials for this Projection

Avert last-minute shopping trips by having all your materials ready ahead of time. Here's a list.

Source: https://www.familyhandyman.com/project/spruce-up-your-car-how-to-install-seat-covers/

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