How To Install Autocraft Seat Covers

DIY Seat Cover Installation to Spruce up Your Automobile

Updated: Feb. 03, 2022

Make your motorcar's interior look fresh and new with some seat covers

FH14OCT_SETCVR_01-2 Family Handyman

Are your car seats hopelessly stained or torn—or just plain ugly? Larn how to order and install replacement seat covers for both dorsum and front seats.

Seat cover options

Whether you fill your vehicle with structure materials, haul kids and grandkids around or simply spill lots of coffee, yous know how easy information technology is for manufactory seat covers to get grungy. If they're beyond rescuing with an upholstery cleaner and you want to spruce upward your vehicle's interior, you take only 3 options: Pay a professional automotive upholsterer to reupholster your seats (well over $ane,000), buy used seats from a junkyard, or buy and install seat covers yourself.

Aftermarket seat covers cost as little as $50 per seat for a universal-fit style or about $150 per seat for elevation-of-the- line custom-fit covers. Nosotros'll prove you lot how to order and install custom-fit seat covers. The installation is similar across makes and models. The job takes about two hours for forepart and rear seats. The merely tools you'll demand are a wire coat hanger and some tape 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. You tin purchase universal seat covers right off the shelf at an auto parts store or gild them online. Custom-fit seat covers must be ordered to fit your exact twelvemonth, make, model and seat style. They're far more expensive than universal-fit seat covers. But they fit similar a glove, stay put when you lot slide in and out, and are more comfy. Plus, custom-fit seat covers include breakaway stitching and then the air bag can deploy properly if your vehicle has side bolster air numberless.

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

For some foreign reason nosotros don't empathise, officially licensed designer camouflage and sports patterns are the near popular seat cover fabrics these days. Since the fabric designers get a royalty on every sale, yous'll pay more for those patterns. If you want to keep the price down, skip the trendy camo and sports fabrics and choose a solid color.

If you order custom-fit seat covers, you'll have the option of also 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 design and added headrest covers. The front end seat covers toll $341 and the rears, $331. Hither's how they install.

When Yous Install New Seat Covers

Notation: We couldn't testify you the trim disconnect and seat comprehend attachment points with the seat still in the vehicle. So nosotros bought a junkyard Subaru seat to show 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 aforementioned way, these instructions will work with the majority of makes and models. However, if the seat comprehend manufacturers' instructions differ from ours, follow theirs instead.

Start with the front seat covers

Photo 1: Release the bib panel

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

Photo 2: Thread the straps through the gap

Button the bottom absorber straps through the gap between the seat back and the bottom cushion. Then pull the straps completely through until the seat encompass is taut.

Photo iii: Buckle the seat cushion straps

Route the lesser cushion straps toward the front of the seat, making certain the straps don't interfere with the seat adjuster mechanism. Thread the strap into the buckle and cinch 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 encompass. Then connect the ends using the supplied Southward-hook.

Photo 5: Install the seatback cover

Pull the embrace downwardly until it reaches the side bolsters (cushions). And then compress the bolster while you pull the fabric downwards to the bottom.

Photo vi: Install the headrest covers

Stretch the rubberband edges around the headrest and pull it down. Tug at the comprehend textile until it fits smoothly on the contour of the headrest.

The lesser seat absorber covers unremarkably attach to the seat with straps, buckles and S-hooks. You'll have to thread bottom cushion straps through the gap between the seat back and the bottom cushions (where the back reclines). That's like shooting fish in a barrel in older vehicles. Merely the gap in newer vehicles is unremarkably covered with a "bib" panel. Don't worry. The bib is easy to disconnect. It'due south connected to the seat springs with either clips or an elastic strap. Merely reach nether the seat and disconnect the straps (Photo 1). Then elevator the bib to access the gap.

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

Remove the headrests. Then slide the cover over the seat back cushion (Photo five). Push the bottom straps through the gap and into the buckles but like y'all did on the lesser cushion (refer to Photograph 3). Reconnect the bib panel and pull downwards on the rear portion of the seat back cover to remove wrinkles. And so stick the hook-loop edge to the bib to secure it. Stretch the headrest covers onto the headrest (Photo vi) and reinstall them on the seats.

Then move to the backseats

Photo vii: Install rear bench seat cover

Fit the cover onto the bench seat and thread the straps into the buckles. Tighten until snug. Check 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 60/xl rear bench seats, remove the lesser cushion commencement. If yous have bucket seats in the rear, install them just like y'all did on the front end seats. To remove a bench seat bottom absorber, run your paw along the front end edge to locate the latch points. Try jerking direct up at the latch points. If the cushion doesn't release, push it straight back every bit you lift up to release it from the hook latches. So remove the entire bottom cushion from the vehicle and ready it on a demote. Install the bottom cushion seat cover with straps and Due south-hooks (Photo 7). Remove the rear headrests and slide the rear seat back covers onto the rear seats. Secure with the attached hook-and-loop fasteners. Add headrest covers and replace the headrests. You're done.

Add a Bun Warmer and Lumbar Support

If your vehicle didn't come up with seat heaters, now's the time 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 command connects to a cigarette lighter or power outlet. The model we show here (the ProHeat pad and controller; nearly $85 from nwseatcovers.com) has an adjustable heat setting and automatic shutoff to foreclose bombardment drain (in instance you forget to turn information technology off). And, if you desire lumbar support, slide this unit (about $70 at nwseatcovers.com) under the seat dorsum cover earlier strapping information technology in place. Route the pump and tube out to the side. One time the seat covers are fully installed, adjust the compactness with the pump.

Required Materials for this Project

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

Originally Published: December xiii, 2022

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

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