Now you just need an orange center console cover. 
AATLAS1X Leather Install
- Thread starter smcphc
- Start date
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- Thread starter
- #22
Thanks - I might try to stop by for the wrenching party on the 25th. Should be all done by then.
Scott
I have time now so I will take your advise and place a link in the beginning of my thread
Just so people can have a good reference chain, here is the FAQthread with the link for this thread up front
https://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-tech/217863-installation-replacement-leather.html#post3259929
https://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-tech/217863-installation-replacement-leather.html#post3259929
- Thread starter
- #25
Thanks Ken - I probably would never have attempted this without your thread. Even so, I still made mistakes that could have been avoided if I had followed your directions step by step instead of using it as a general reference.
When I'm finished, I'll do a lessons learned and stress the importance of following directions. I guess there's some genetic disposition against actually doing that, I know once I get going I think I know what I'm doing and sometimes it works out, sometimes a price is paid.
Scott
- Thread starter
- #26
Bit of a long day, but all the big stuff is done. Finished the 2nd row seats today, the leather work was easier but there are a lot of trim pieces, brackets, hinges, and latches to deal with so lots of holes to punch and lots of small parts to deal with.
I'll do a write up later, but here's a quick picture:
I'll do a write up later, but here's a quick picture:
That sure is looking fine buddy.
I wasnt a fan of the orange/gray, but this really looks sharp. Good job my friend.
I wasnt a fan of the orange/gray, but this really looks sharp. Good job my friend.
Nice work
- Thread starter
- #29
I need to get this done while it's still fresh in my mind. I did the 2nd rows, started at about 10 am and finished 7 hours later doing both. I had already done the lower on one, that took me about two hours total.
Important thing to note!!!!
Do one seat at a time from start to finish!!! There are lots of trim pieces and brackets, it helps to have the other seat to reference when you get confused as to what goes where.
Start by removing all the trim pieces. I recommend that as you remove them, scotch tape over the screw hole with the screw in place to keep track of which screw goes with which trim piece, as there are quite few and it will speed up reassembly.
Seperate the seat back from the seat bottom by removing the hinge brackets
The seat bottom has two 14mm bolts on each side, the seat back has two on one side, one on the other
Seat bottom first:
The floor brackets need to come off. A good whack with a hammer on this pin will push it back through the star clamp. You also need to remove the rod going the floor latch, removing the small spring clips.
The carpet is held on by velcro on three sides, lift it up
I then started peeling it up and over, removing the hog rings as you go along. You also may need to loosen the seat belt bracket, as on one of the bottoms the leather guide was tucked under it:
Naked seat bottom
For the new leather, I started at the front, and pulled it around to the back, installing the hog rings as you go up and over. At some point, you'll need to pull the seat belts through. With the leather on, you'll notice a big foam gap, don't worry it's covered by carpet.
At this point, I didn't hog ring the sides as it makes it easier to locate the bolt holes for the hinge brackets.
You can either start cutting the holes and mounting brackets, or get going on the seat back and cut all the holes when you have both bottom and back done.
Scott
Important thing to note!!!!
Do one seat at a time from start to finish!!! There are lots of trim pieces and brackets, it helps to have the other seat to reference when you get confused as to what goes where.
Start by removing all the trim pieces. I recommend that as you remove them, scotch tape over the screw hole with the screw in place to keep track of which screw goes with which trim piece, as there are quite few and it will speed up reassembly.
Seperate the seat back from the seat bottom by removing the hinge brackets
The seat bottom has two 14mm bolts on each side, the seat back has two on one side, one on the other
Seat bottom first:
The floor brackets need to come off. A good whack with a hammer on this pin will push it back through the star clamp. You also need to remove the rod going the floor latch, removing the small spring clips.
The carpet is held on by velcro on three sides, lift it up
I then started peeling it up and over, removing the hog rings as you go along. You also may need to loosen the seat belt bracket, as on one of the bottoms the leather guide was tucked under it:
Naked seat bottom
For the new leather, I started at the front, and pulled it around to the back, installing the hog rings as you go up and over. At some point, you'll need to pull the seat belts through. With the leather on, you'll notice a big foam gap, don't worry it's covered by carpet.
At this point, I didn't hog ring the sides as it makes it easier to locate the bolt holes for the hinge brackets.
You can either start cutting the holes and mounting brackets, or get going on the seat back and cut all the holes when you have both bottom and back done.
Scott
- Thread starter
- #30
On to the seat back:
First you need to remove the arm rest brackets. They're held on by two 12 mm bolts on the inside and three on the outside. The arm rests are held on to the brackets with two 14mm bolts on each side.
There is a zipper on each side of the back that is tucked into the corners. Pull it out and unzip. The back panel is now held on by a big plastic clip. Take a look at your new seat covers to get an idea of how it functions, but basically it's a full length channel sewn on one end of the leather and on the other is a lip that fits into the channel, held there by tension. You can pull it down far enough to unclip, if that doesn't work, slip a long handle flat head screwdriver in there to work it free.
You can see the channel in this picture:
Peel back the leather, removing the hog rings
There are several sections of hog rings that hold the pocket for the arm rest in. Make a mental note of these as they're easy to miss when putting the new leather on.
You can now lift up the foam and see the head rest clips. Easy enough to reach up and squeeze them to remove
To put the new leather on, slip it over the seat back and start attaching hog rings starting at the top and working your way down. Don't forget the hog rings on the arm rest pocket. I did on the first one, wondered why it was so loose, and had to go back in. The last section of the arm rest pocket gets a little tight, but with a little maneuvering you'll find a way:
Now it will look like you have plenty of slack to attach the plastic channel/clip, until you realize that it is has to bend over to attach (this will make sense when you do it). To get enough tension on the clip, I used a paint scraper to push down on the lip while pulling the other part over and clipping it in:
Don't tuck the zipper in just yet, you can unzip it to find the bolt holes for the hinge brackets.
The leather is on, time for reassembly.
Scott
First you need to remove the arm rest brackets. They're held on by two 12 mm bolts on the inside and three on the outside. The arm rests are held on to the brackets with two 14mm bolts on each side.
There is a zipper on each side of the back that is tucked into the corners. Pull it out and unzip. The back panel is now held on by a big plastic clip. Take a look at your new seat covers to get an idea of how it functions, but basically it's a full length channel sewn on one end of the leather and on the other is a lip that fits into the channel, held there by tension. You can pull it down far enough to unclip, if that doesn't work, slip a long handle flat head screwdriver in there to work it free.
You can see the channel in this picture:
Peel back the leather, removing the hog rings
There are several sections of hog rings that hold the pocket for the arm rest in. Make a mental note of these as they're easy to miss when putting the new leather on.
You can now lift up the foam and see the head rest clips. Easy enough to reach up and squeeze them to remove
To put the new leather on, slip it over the seat back and start attaching hog rings starting at the top and working your way down. Don't forget the hog rings on the arm rest pocket. I did on the first one, wondered why it was so loose, and had to go back in. The last section of the arm rest pocket gets a little tight, but with a little maneuvering you'll find a way:
Now it will look like you have plenty of slack to attach the plastic channel/clip, until you realize that it is has to bend over to attach (this will make sense when you do it). To get enough tension on the clip, I used a paint scraper to push down on the lip while pulling the other part over and clipping it in:
Don't tuck the zipper in just yet, you can unzip it to find the bolt holes for the hinge brackets.
The leather is on, time for reassembly.
Scott
- Thread starter
- #31
To help with reassembly, I ground down an old 11mm socket to make a punch.
This really helped on some holes. Depending on the situation, sometimes it's easier to just make a small slit in a cross shape and poke the bolt through, but on some holes where there is rotation like the arm rests where the leather might bind, and on others like the hinge bolts where it's easier to line up the bolt if you can actually see the threads.
You can sometimes find the bolt holes by referencing the old leather to get an idea of where the hole should be, and then pushing down to find it. Sometimes other holes are nearby, so make sure you have an actual bolt hole before doing any cutting. If that fails, if possible peel back the leather enough to see it. This is why I didn't hog ring the sides in just yet. Keep in mind that if you do it that way, you need to account for the tension that will be on the leather when it's done. Always triple check before you cut, there is no going back once you start! It's even worse that you've probably put in a full day already and might be getting tired and sloppy. Stay focused. Once the hinge brackets are on, you can finish hog ringing the sides on the seat bottom, and zipping and tucking on the seat back.
You'll also need to cut a slit for the latch release lever:
Go slow on this one, it's easy to go too far. I have a little bit showing as you can see here:
Replacing the leather on the arm rests is easy compared to what you've been through, just one zipper on the back. Cut the holes for the 14mm bolts using a punch as the holes needs to be big enough for a bushing to fit in.
Important note at this point! Attach the bracket to the armrest. On the bracket that fits inside the pocket, attach the trim before installing the bracket, you can't access it after it's on. Bolt the pocket bracket in first, access sucks but a few tries should get it done. The bracket on the seat edge is easy.
Everything else is straightforward.
Be sure the floor bracket spring is in its perch!
To reinstall the star clamps on the floor bracket pins, I used an 11mm socket. I put the socket over the clamp, lined it up while putting tension on the other end of the pin with my finger, and gave the socket a whack with a hammer. Seemed to work fine for me.
Also note that the carpet slit for the floor latch needs to be lengthened, easy enough to do with a scissor.
Don't forget to do the latch release arm and the pull strap.
Reattach the seatback to the bottom, screw on all your trim pieces, and you're done. Oh yeah, you need to to do the headrest holes. Once the holes are located and punched out, make sure the headrest guides are properly orientated as one has the spring loaded clip for the notches in the headrest arms.
Now you're done.
Time to do the other seat.
After going through it all over again, reinstall and take a break.
As I stated before, the leather installation on the 2nd row seats was pretty easy. There are just so many brackets and trim pieces that most of your time will be spent locating and cutting the bolt holes and reassembling the seats.
Scott
This really helped on some holes. Depending on the situation, sometimes it's easier to just make a small slit in a cross shape and poke the bolt through, but on some holes where there is rotation like the arm rests where the leather might bind, and on others like the hinge bolts where it's easier to line up the bolt if you can actually see the threads.
You can sometimes find the bolt holes by referencing the old leather to get an idea of where the hole should be, and then pushing down to find it. Sometimes other holes are nearby, so make sure you have an actual bolt hole before doing any cutting. If that fails, if possible peel back the leather enough to see it. This is why I didn't hog ring the sides in just yet. Keep in mind that if you do it that way, you need to account for the tension that will be on the leather when it's done. Always triple check before you cut, there is no going back once you start! It's even worse that you've probably put in a full day already and might be getting tired and sloppy. Stay focused. Once the hinge brackets are on, you can finish hog ringing the sides on the seat bottom, and zipping and tucking on the seat back.
You'll also need to cut a slit for the latch release lever:
Go slow on this one, it's easy to go too far. I have a little bit showing as you can see here:
Replacing the leather on the arm rests is easy compared to what you've been through, just one zipper on the back. Cut the holes for the 14mm bolts using a punch as the holes needs to be big enough for a bushing to fit in.
Important note at this point! Attach the bracket to the armrest. On the bracket that fits inside the pocket, attach the trim before installing the bracket, you can't access it after it's on. Bolt the pocket bracket in first, access sucks but a few tries should get it done. The bracket on the seat edge is easy.
Everything else is straightforward.
Be sure the floor bracket spring is in its perch!
To reinstall the star clamps on the floor bracket pins, I used an 11mm socket. I put the socket over the clamp, lined it up while putting tension on the other end of the pin with my finger, and gave the socket a whack with a hammer. Seemed to work fine for me.
Also note that the carpet slit for the floor latch needs to be lengthened, easy enough to do with a scissor.
Don't forget to do the latch release arm and the pull strap.
Reattach the seatback to the bottom, screw on all your trim pieces, and you're done. Oh yeah, you need to to do the headrest holes. Once the holes are located and punched out, make sure the headrest guides are properly orientated as one has the spring loaded clip for the notches in the headrest arms.
Now you're done.
Time to do the other seat.
After going through it all over again, reinstall and take a break.
As I stated before, the leather installation on the 2nd row seats was pretty easy. There are just so many brackets and trim pieces that most of your time will be spent locating and cutting the bolt holes and reassembling the seats.
Scott
Last edited:
- Thread starter
- #32
Lessons Learned:
Do one seat at a time so you can use the other seat as a reference.
Use a workbench, try to get up to waist high.
Pay attention when reinstalling headrest guides, the spring loaded clip needs to go in the correct hole in the correct direction.
Use a socket to compress headrest clips.
Keep old hog rings in a bowl, and keep track of them. These are tire punctures waiting to happen if you kick one across the garage floor or driveway.
Get some wet wipes, your hands get greasy when handling the seat bottoms, no sense in getting the new leather dirty before it’s even on.
I'm pretty unorganized, but I made a conscious effort to keep track of everything. I used stainless steel dog bowls to hold the bolts and screws, and a box for the bigger brackets and trim pieces.
My 2nd row seat backs were sent with one of the plastic clips sewn on upside down. Shane offered to have it fixed, but it was easy enough to have a local upholstery shop re-sew it. The guy at the shop was very impressed with the quality of leather, and said he would probably charge about $1500 for the leather alone. I asked him what the charge would be for just installing replacement covers, and was given a rough quote of $250-300 for the 1st and 2nd row seats. That's pretty good considering the amount of work involved, and in retrospect I might have considered it seeing as how my experience level with upholstery was zero.
However, after completing it on my own I have two thoughts on it. The difficulty is not nearly as hard as I anticipated. It's obvious that Shane has put a lot of effort into making sure the patterns were followed correctly and this makes the installation pretty smooth. All the hog rings strips lined up correctly and the leather fits tightly without having loads of tension. It does take some effort in stretching the leather onto some of the final edges, but I never felt as though it wasn't fitting correctly and that something was wrong.
That being said, this does take a lot of time. I probably have about 30 hours worth of work in this. I find it therapeutic to do a somewhat challenging job, especially one I haven't done before, but if you can't afford the time or get easily frustrated, it might be worth it to pay the $300 and have it done professionally. As I said before, you then run the risk of not being happy with a job you have now paid for and having to waste time, effort, and maybe more money getting it right.
Doing it on my own, I was able to correct mistakes as I made them, and it was my decision as to what imperfections were acceptable. I'll also mentally bank the $300 I saved and maybe use it to buy the synthetic winch line I've been holding off on.
I'd really like to thank Shane for offering this to us. It really is a great price for leather, and I'm totally happy with how it turned out. I'd also like to thank Ken Romer and elmariachi for their threads.
https://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-tech/217863-installation-replacement-leather.html
https://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-tech/238030-80-series-replacement-leather-seats-installed.html
Just knowing others had done it made me realize that this doesn't have to be done professionally and that there are alternatives.
Scott
Do one seat at a time so you can use the other seat as a reference.
Use a workbench, try to get up to waist high.
Pay attention when reinstalling headrest guides, the spring loaded clip needs to go in the correct hole in the correct direction.
Use a socket to compress headrest clips.
Keep old hog rings in a bowl, and keep track of them. These are tire punctures waiting to happen if you kick one across the garage floor or driveway.
Get some wet wipes, your hands get greasy when handling the seat bottoms, no sense in getting the new leather dirty before it’s even on.
I'm pretty unorganized, but I made a conscious effort to keep track of everything. I used stainless steel dog bowls to hold the bolts and screws, and a box for the bigger brackets and trim pieces.
My 2nd row seat backs were sent with one of the plastic clips sewn on upside down. Shane offered to have it fixed, but it was easy enough to have a local upholstery shop re-sew it. The guy at the shop was very impressed with the quality of leather, and said he would probably charge about $1500 for the leather alone. I asked him what the charge would be for just installing replacement covers, and was given a rough quote of $250-300 for the 1st and 2nd row seats. That's pretty good considering the amount of work involved, and in retrospect I might have considered it seeing as how my experience level with upholstery was zero.
However, after completing it on my own I have two thoughts on it. The difficulty is not nearly as hard as I anticipated. It's obvious that Shane has put a lot of effort into making sure the patterns were followed correctly and this makes the installation pretty smooth. All the hog rings strips lined up correctly and the leather fits tightly without having loads of tension. It does take some effort in stretching the leather onto some of the final edges, but I never felt as though it wasn't fitting correctly and that something was wrong.
That being said, this does take a lot of time. I probably have about 30 hours worth of work in this. I find it therapeutic to do a somewhat challenging job, especially one I haven't done before, but if you can't afford the time or get easily frustrated, it might be worth it to pay the $300 and have it done professionally. As I said before, you then run the risk of not being happy with a job you have now paid for and having to waste time, effort, and maybe more money getting it right.
Doing it on my own, I was able to correct mistakes as I made them, and it was my decision as to what imperfections were acceptable. I'll also mentally bank the $300 I saved and maybe use it to buy the synthetic winch line I've been holding off on.
I'd really like to thank Shane for offering this to us. It really is a great price for leather, and I'm totally happy with how it turned out. I'd also like to thank Ken Romer and elmariachi for their threads.
https://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-tech/217863-installation-replacement-leather.html
https://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-tech/238030-80-series-replacement-leather-seats-installed.html
Just knowing others had done it made me realize that this doesn't have to be done professionally and that there are alternatives.
Scott
why did Atlas make the center of the covers ORANGE?? Just curious......
- Thread starter
- #35
Doh! I was wondering why everyone around here was giving me the "hook 'em horns" sign.
I saw them on the Metal Tech seat thread and really liked the way they look. I didn't want to go with two tone gray, or stock gray, and my wife and I decided on the orange/gray. I knew I'd regret it if I went conservative. No looking back now!
Weird thing is, my wife started working at the University of Texas when we moved here, and though we didn't even think about it when we ordered the seat covers, the first thing I thought of when I opened the box was "Oh my god, it's Longhorn orange." They're pretty serious about their football around here, and figured that it could have gone badly with another color choice.
Scott
Looks great.
To give everyone an idea of "professional" cost, at least what i've been quoted, an upholster said vinyl alone would run me around $1000 (double that for leather) - labor would probably be a little over $1000.
If you have the space, tools and banana skills this seems like the way to go.
I need a bigger garage!
To give everyone an idea of "professional" cost, at least what i've been quoted, an upholster said vinyl alone would run me around $1000 (double that for leather) - labor would probably be a little over $1000.
If you have the space, tools and banana skills this seems like the way to go.
I need a bigger garage!
Looks great.
To give everyone an idea of "professional" cost, at least what i've been quoted, an upholster said vinyl alone would run me around $1000 (double that for leather) - labor would probably be a little over $1000.
If you have the space, tools and banana skills this seems like the way to go.
$1000 for vinyl?
geez, didn't know they made plastic out of gold... or is it some fancy type of ballistic Kevlar or somethin'.....?
Wow! They look even better in person. They are FAR more comfortable to sit in than my old seats. I wasn't sure about the orange but it really looks fantastic in your truck. Great job on the install and the write-up.
Kelly
Kelly
