2001Millrunner

I know i bought a kit that i had to return eventually but I decided to go with this one http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...tem=2452419367 I've been watching it for over a year and recently the price dropped by $200 so I thought I'd give it a go. I emailed people that bought the kit and all of them had nothing but good things to say. The inside is perforated and I also asked seller if i could get 2tone for same price but he said these are clereance items so for the 2tone it'd be $599. If anyone has any inputs/experience with this then it'd be appreciated. I'll be installing it myself and it doesnt appear to be a very hard work. Anyways I'll be sure i put up a pic after I'm finished. I hope this one works out ok...(cross fingers)

steelhead

Keep me posted, I would like to add leather down the road. It just lasts so much longer than fabric.

Bob_98SR5

ray,

i believe you need somehting called a 'hog ring plier' or something like that to effectively seam/tie the leather. other than that, no clue.

bob

shazaam

hey-
good luck with the leather. Check out I beleive its auto leathers.com .... they sell the katzskin leather. I got the two tone, with perforated center, with piping, and seat heaters for about what your going to pay for cheap two tone. Not to mention the three year warranty.

as far as install if your like me, moderatley mechanically inclined, its a very easy install. The only thing you need to watch out for is detail and take your time. If your anal about the look of it, have someone else put it in for you. When I did mine it looked good, but I knew where the flaws were. esp those damn door panels. make sure that the door panel inserts aren't the puffy ones, like I had the first time, they don't work well with our doors. When you get the leather and if you do the install ask for more tips and I'll see if I can't help you out some more.

sgirt

You will need to post some pics and let us know what you think. I have been watching that seller on ebay for awhile too. Just not sure on them yet. Keep up posted!

MTL_4runner

If you already did it let's see the

I was curious about it myself.

Jonathan

Me too, let's see the pics

shazaam

The kit I bought off of ebay is gone. I hydrolocked my truck, and flodded the inside with indiana swamp water. So I had to redo the carpet, and then redo the leather. (sold the leather back on ebay for $325) I have the one from auto leathers.com in it right now, and I had someone else install it. If you still want to see the pics, I can try to post them.


EDIT: I know I posted this before but the leather that was from Ebay it cracked within a year of use. I use leather cleaner once a month. But hey maybe you guys will have better luck then me.

2001Millrunner

still waiting for the shipment, probably its being delayed with all the snow in the east coast. I guess delivery trucks are not 4runners

dbikeman

I went to auto leathers.com I had a question about color? which color do you choose to match oak interior? Also did you leave your back seats the way they were?

shazaam

order a color swatch from them to match your interior. I got like that camel tan with the black perforated inserts, and black pipping. While the leather looks damn good, it doesn't match. Its not ugly, but it doesn't match .. so I need to do some more finishing touches .. need time to do it though. and yes I got the whole seat back seats, door panels, front sets, etc)

dbikeman: I'll get you a pic of that rear spoiler .. just didn't have time this weekend

lee

ew

Billrunner

i don't know why you would do that, I hate leather, Its looks good when new, if your leasing then what the hell, but I prefer fabric- warm in winter and breathable in summer, and you don't have to maintain it. I have always had japanese vehicles and the fabric never wears out unlike domestic vehicles. When I was shopping for 4runners last summer, the leather on the drivers seat was most always cracked and looking bad.
Well thats me so Good Luck to you.

2001Millrunner

Just received the product and did an initial fit over the head rests.....the quality on this is EXCELLENT! and I'm pretty anal about details. Not even a wrinkle on it, leather is very thick and in prestine condition and everything is included in the kit. it even has the replacement part for the door inserts which means i dont even have to apply glue over the old cloth one and put it over. just a direct fit. I love the way it is perforated inside, it gives a sporty look. So far so good Well I'll be installing these seat by seat starting tomorrow after i get hog ring and hog ring pliers. it'll prolly take me a week or two. I'll keep u folks updated.

BTW the same leather kit sdastg1 was talking about. I bought the same one last year and returned it because i was not satisfied with the quality. The kit that i bought just now is the one that i've been watching over a year and only reason that i stayed away from it was because of it hefty price of $600.

gn86r

got any pics of your interior? i was thinking about a color combo like this.

funglenn

Something to keep in mind when getting aftermarket leather seats....

Even if you get great aftermarket leather one thing I found is the foam is different in factory leather seats.

They use a stiffer foam that helps keep the leather seat looking better longer and gives great support. The leather seats you build will feel different than the factory ones would.

The issue is if you swap limited seats into an SR5 (What I did) is that limiteds have a different harness for the passenger airbag seat sensor. I kept the original foam cushon for the passenger seat, designed for a cloth seat (because the seat sensor is built into the cushon). And the rest are factory toyota leather foam. You can tell the difference when you squeeze the passenger and drivers seat. (the Pasenger seat also squeaks, while the drivers seat dones not. But extra cushoning around the sides fixed that)

I do plan later to get Katzkin seats, their performated seats are the best in my opinon. I was never happy with the Classic Soft Trim interior that the stealer put in when I bought the truck.

Another idea... if you get the cushoned gathered inserts for the doors you can get rid of the cushoning and then put them in with out it. Someone said that the cushoned ones do not work well, that is true. it looks different, and in my opinon alot nicer if you remove the cushon and give it the gathered look. I will post a picture of my doors later if anyone is interested.

My two cents...

2001Millrunner

ok i just spent most of my morning looking for hog ring pliers and hog rings. no luck, no one will carry them. Went to home depot, lowes, michael's, Joanne fabric, Sears........i mean everywhere. this sux, i think i'll just use the old hog rings and regular pliers......

pfdaxe

Go to an auto upholstry supplier. That's what I did when I installed my kit. The pliers were around $10 or $20 and a big bag of hog rings were about $20. You won't be able to reuse the old ones as you'll have to cut them off.

Paul

shazaam

you know something when I put mine in, those damn hog ring pliers were a pain in the ass to use. I just bought some zip ties and finished it with that, and it worked out fine. =)

but somehow you seen like a glutten for punishment (I mean that in a nice way) so yeah either the site pxdaxe suggested or autoleathers.com will sell you some. also check out a local upholstery shop

2001Millrunner

yea i just went to the shop and the nice guy there sold me a bag of hog rings and pliers for 13bucks. he just gave me a handful in a bag...I dont know how much I'd need to use but i'll find out i guess...