My seat foam in my '91 is totally trashed. I can see through the seat in a few spots and there is always a little snowfall of crumbled foam at the side of the seat. I like the manual seats and would like to keep them rather than do a seat swap. I am also on a limited budget (I know...a Land Cruiser is a terrible vehicle for a poor boy). I was thinking of buying the new foam from Toyota and then just getting some high quality seat covers to go over everything. I don't know any decent upholstery shops that won't charge an arm and a leg to professionally recover the seats. Is this asking for early failure of the new seat foam? Will the seat covers shift around on top of the foam and wear it out prematurely? Or is this a workable idea? Thanks in advance for any input anyone may have.
Seat foam plus seat covers?
- Thread starter Izeloz
- Start date
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This should work but to end up with a setup that is comfortable and that lasts you'll need decent quality material/fit in the seat covers. You'll possibly also need to modify and/or add extra securing to the covers to make them tight enough to not shift and bunch.
If you are really on a budget with your $ (but not your time) then consider just getting some decent quality foam, a filet knife or similar, some glue that is compatible with foam and then build up your existing cushions that way. This is essentially how the pros do it sometimes and you can find some good guides on youtube/etc. You may need to pull truly dead foam out and replace it completely to stop the snowfall. Old foam can also be washed and steamed to rejuvinate it if it isn't too far gone. Fabric can be glued to the foam at chafe points to increase durability, etc. The hardest part of going this route may be finding high quality foam that is the right density for the application. Soft or low grade foam won't last or work well but if the seat cover is easy to remove you can add/remove and adjust until it's comfortable. To really do this on a budget you could recycle foam from an old sofa/etc.
You can put the foam pieces in the tub with detergent and walk around on them to push the water through and get them clean, etc...
If you are really on a budget with your $ (but not your time) then consider just getting some decent quality foam, a filet knife or similar, some glue that is compatible with foam and then build up your existing cushions that way. This is essentially how the pros do it sometimes and you can find some good guides on youtube/etc. You may need to pull truly dead foam out and replace it completely to stop the snowfall. Old foam can also be washed and steamed to rejuvinate it if it isn't too far gone. Fabric can be glued to the foam at chafe points to increase durability, etc. The hardest part of going this route may be finding high quality foam that is the right density for the application. Soft or low grade foam won't last or work well but if the seat cover is easy to remove you can add/remove and adjust until it's comfortable. To really do this on a budget you could recycle foam from an old sofa/etc.
You can put the foam pieces in the tub with detergent and walk around on them to push the water through and get them clean, etc...- Thread starter
- #3
I'm thinking I have maybe $300-$400 per seat to spend (eventually). The driver side is definitely the worse of the two and will be getting whatever treatment first. With this kind of budget, is there anything else I should be looking at? Better to get some Planted or Corbeau brackets and hope to get a lucky find at a Pick-n-Pull?
Really depends on what you will be happy with in your rig and your time/skill to make improvements. I'm not familiar with the cloth options but in that price range you could get LSeat leather covers and then repair the foam and end up with pretty nice seats if yours were the later model seats. It's possible that there are companies that offer cloth covers for comparable prices. I should point out that I'm not talking about a universal cover that slips on over everything but a cover that replaces the factory outer material on the seats. Often the universal, slip over the top covers aren't as clean and tight of a fit or as durable.
I don't think I'd be happy with a lot of effort and loose / ugly results or with foam/cover that don't last. I'd look at pick n pulls before going the foam plus slip on cover route personally and then get the adapter brackets if I found some good seats. If that didn't work I'd buy the factory foam and then shop for the best factory replacement covers I can afford or I'd save my $ for a proper redo of the factory seats but those are personal choices. If your 80 sees a lot of trail use or gets dirty then all-weather seat covers plus a bit of foam bolstering may be the ideal solution. Similarly if you don't notice loose fabric/etc. then throw on some slip on covers with yoga mats stuck under them from wal-mart and spend your money elsewhere. In the end only you can figure out what you will be happy with and what direction is worth your time and money but I think you have enough $ to spend to cover some good options.
I don't think I'd be happy with a lot of effort and loose / ugly results or with foam/cover that don't last. I'd look at pick n pulls before going the foam plus slip on cover route personally and then get the adapter brackets if I found some good seats. If that didn't work I'd buy the factory foam and then shop for the best factory replacement covers I can afford or I'd save my $ for a proper redo of the factory seats but those are personal choices. If your 80 sees a lot of trail use or gets dirty then all-weather seat covers plus a bit of foam bolstering may be the ideal solution. Similarly if you don't notice loose fabric/etc. then throw on some slip on covers with yoga mats stuck under them from wal-mart and spend your money elsewhere. In the end only you can figure out what you will be happy with and what direction is worth your time and money but I think you have enough $ to spend to cover some good options.
