Did anyone install Katzkin leather on their own?!

[Black Jeep Convertible]

Honestly I didn’t keep track, I did it over a weekend, maybe 6 hours total?

Sounds about right. Took me the same amount of time many years ago, but it left me with sore fingertips for days. Still worth saving $400-$600 in labor

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[Turbo_punkn]

Sounds about right. Took me the same amount of time many years ago, but it left me with sore fingertips for days. Still worth saving $400-$600 in labor

My fingers were definitely hurting lol!

 

[Mattk11]

I installed Katzkins in my 2020 Rubicon. The local Katzkin authorized shops were almost all auto accessory stores that employed teens and 20 somethings so I didn't really trust any of them enough to pay them $800-1000 for the install. Of all the DIY stuff I do, this was probably an 8 on a scale of 10. My college-age son was a huge help.

When I started the install, my hog ring pliers were way too small to get proper leverage so I had to search all over town to buy some larger ones. The hog rings are very difficult to get right. I couldn't make a fist for a couple of days after because it is really hard on the hands. I did one front seat the first day, it took about 4 hours. Mostly because I had to learn how to do it as I was going. There are JK videos on youtube that are helpful, but nothing for JL that provided exact instructions when I did mine.

The second day, it took me about 4 hours to do the other front seat and the back seat. I am not 100% happy with the back seats and will probably have a local upholstery shop take a look at it to see if they can tighten them.

 

[Black Jeep Convertible]

I installed Katzkins in my 2020 Rubicon. The local Katzkin authorized shops were almost all auto accessory stores that employed teens and 20 somethings so I didn't really trust any of them enough to pay them $800-1000 for the install. Of all the DIY stuff I do, this was probably an 8 on a scale of 10. My college-age son was a huge help.

When I started the install, my hog ring pliers were way too small to get proper leverage so I had to search all over town to buy some larger ones. The hog rings are very difficult to get right. I couldn't make a fist for a couple of days after because it is really hard on the hands. I did one front seat the first day, it took about 4 hours. Mostly because I had to learn how to do it as I was going. There are JK videos on youtube that are helpful, but nothing for JL that provided exact instructions when I did mine.

The second day, it took me about 4 hours to do the other front seat and the back seat. I am not 100% happy with the back seats and will probably have a local upholstery shop take a look at it to see if they can tighten them.

how’d you do the armrest? Just have them send overextra material?

 

[Mattk11]

how’d you do the armrest? Just have them send overextra material?

I had them send extra material, then I had a local shop sew the two seams with red to match the seats and install. Cost me $100. I was told after the fact that Katskin may have an armrest you can order but can’t confirm.

 

[ItsNo4RE]

I did this a few months ago on my ram.... is it easy? Nope. Took me, my brother in law and 15 yr old son about 4 hrs of hard labor.

 

[sbrimer]

I did mine. It’s not hard but very very labor intensive. The hog rings are a pita, I used 80lbs zip ties for the install instead, since I didn’t want to deal with hog rings ever again. Zip ties also allow to make sure everything is lined up correctly before tightening them up.

So, I purchased a set of OEM leather from a Rubicon to replace the cloth in my wife's Rubicon (I'm beyond tired of hearing that my Jeep has leather and hers does not), and I'm curious how the zip ties have worked so far instead of the hog rings.

Heavy duty zip ties just seem so much easier. Zip ties do have a quality issue and just like any thing else, you buy cheap ones and they break pretty easy. I don't recall seeing a pound measurement on zip ties? Remember where you purchased the ones you used?

 

[JaayyyeeeE]

So, I purchased a set of OEM leather from a Rubicon to replace the cloth in my wife's Rubicon (I'm beyond tired of hearing that my Jeep has leather and hers does not), and I'm curious how the zip ties have worked so far instead of the hog rings.

Heavy duty zip ties just seem so much easier. Zip ties do have a quality issue and just like any thing else, you buy cheap ones and they break pretty easy. I don't recall seeing a pound measurement on zip ties? Remember where you purchased the ones you used?

Mine are holding up pretty well. The fabric and foam used to anchor the hogrings tears very easily, and will probably fail before the zipties do. The velcro on the cushions and overlapping frame clips is what really secures the covers to the frame.
I believe in an industrial setting hogrings are more efficient with expensive specialized tools but not really used for strength. So zipties work just fine too.
I have seen strength rating for zip ties at all the major hardware stores and walmart.
Hope that helps

 

[TheRaven]

I just finished the leather install in my wife's JLU 80th and I have to say this was by far the worst one i've ever done. The seat design on the JL Is freakin terrible. I've never seen poor design choices quite like this. Even the fact that they still rely on hog rings...the last upholstery job I did that used hog rings was on a 1969 Camaro. Most other automakers have moved on to re-usable clips (and holy shite does that make the job easier). I did my Tahoe two years ago and despite the HUGE 18-way power seats with heating and cooling and airbags, i'd rather do two more Tahoe interiors than one Wrangler.

One small positive is the headrests...by far the easiest headrests i've ever re-upholstered...usually headrests are a freakin nightmare.

The best advice I can give is leave at least two days for the project so that you don't have to try to rush. I actually took three - one for the driver's seat, then one for the passenger seat and rear seat bases, then one for the rear seat backs and misc loose-end-tying-up.

Oh and I don't think there are any how-to's on the JL leather install as of yet. I was unable to find any. You can watch the JK ones but they aren't much help because the JL is very different.

I'm going to have to go against my usual DIY spirit and recommend that newbies NOT try to tackle this one. It's not a good choice for your first interior job. It sucks if, like me, you live in an area not flush with upholstery shops...because I can't get a leather install done in my area for under $1k. Apparently in Austin, SoCal, and Miami they'll do it in an hour for a case of beer. No such luck here.

 

[Tooth]

Reviving this thread vs starting a new one. I have Katzkins coming this week with a plan to DIY install. Got them off eBay for a deal, but now I’m seeing @TheRaven post and I’m spooked. I’m pretty handy but don’t want this to be a disaster. I don’t see many DIY installs on a JLU. Any rookies tried this with success?

 

[Fantom]

I installed mine in April. I've never done anything like it before but found it really easy to do and saved $1200. you won't have any issues. only thing I did was buy a pneumatic hog ring gun to speed things up.

Reviving this thread vs starting a new one. I have Katzkins coming this week with a plan to DIY install. Got them off eBay for a deal, but now I’m seeing @TheRaven post and I’m spooked. I’m pretty handy but don’t want this to be a disaster. I don’t see many DIY installs on a JLU. Any rookies tried this with success?

 

[lashlee]

I used to work at a car stereo store where we did them, mainly for dealers that had a customer that wanted leather on a given car (many Honda's and Toyota's). Like others have said, hog ring pliers are a must, and strong zip ties can be handy in certain spots (not the garbage ones from HF). A heat gun or a steamer can make the leather stretch and conform to the foam to get rid of the wrinkles. You'll have to take the seats out, and most kits include pieces to cover the arm rest (and door panel inserts that Jeep's don't have but many cars do).

 

[Tooth]

I got it done last weekend and turned out pretty good. It wasn’t necessarily difficult, but it was tedious and hard on the hands. Took me about 12 hours in total over two days. I could probably do it in half the time if I had to do it again. Overall extremely pleased to have leather for 25% of retail.

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