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Leather or Cloth Seats

458STEEL

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How did they add the stitching? Did they remove seats? Great work!

They remove seats then unstitch the factory seats and stitch in Hex pattern
Cloth vs Leather debate will never end. Get what makes you Happy
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rshawn3908

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My cloth seats in my 2020 are already showing wear with less than 5000 miles. I took it to the dealer and jeep said it was normal wear and tear and its not covered. Anyone else have this problem? I'm so frustrated.

Jeep Wrangler JL Leather or Cloth Seats seat
 

Col_Sanders

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Leather/vinyl is easier to clean, which is nice since I have kids, but I live in the desert and leather gets HOT in the sun. Really bothers the wife more than me since she wears short shorts. I was set on getting cloth and installing seat covers but got a better deal on one with leather. I'll just toss a couple towels in the back to cover the seats when necessary.
 

Tiger1

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Do your black leather seats get really hot when you have your top down with the jeep sitting in the sun? Trying to figure out if I really want the leather or would be better off with cloth seats... With my JK I have cloth seats and they are not too hot when the jeep is sitting with the top down in the hot sun, but the center console gets really hot.
Leather seats preferred in my opinion. But...everyone's right on this thread - they're hot & make your nether-region sweat in the summer. We bought these & have been very happy. They fit right over the seat and are machine washable. We use them in summer when we're exercising, swimming (especially ocean with salty swim trunks), for the dog, transporting wet or dirty stuff like Home Depot, and for long road trips. When we're done using them, we throw 'em under the seat. Highly recommend the towel version:
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daveprice7

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Funny that this old thread resurfaced today.. I've been eyeballing some of those websites that sell Katzkin kits for DIY install... because.. why not attempt to reupholster my vehicle?

It's mighty tempting to go crazy with the colors and options and stuff, but I found a place that sells a Katzkin kit with black leather and silver stitching (Sahara style, no logo of course) for $540 (front and back!). Heck.. a decent set of seat covers would cost more than that (I'm looking at you Bartact/PRP).

I'm not exactly in the extreme weather capital of the world, so, the temperature debate isn't so much an issue. I was really just looking at all of the dog hair that the fabric seats grab and don't let go of... and my driver's seat has a glob of tree sap or something on it that seems to be a permanent fixture. I've only had one vehicle with leather seats in my life and I loved them... I think my little garage ornament deserves it.
 

lzaffuto

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I'm thinking about doing the PRP vinyl seat covers in either dark beige or brown. I have two herding breeds with multi-layered coats and dog hair gets all over everything. It's always a battle between heat during the summer time and easier cleaning without having to scrub and I think the easier cleaning is winning. I currently have seat towels over my cloth seats but even with bungees to keep them sorta in place they still slide and bunch up all over.
 

Micky

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different argument. My kids prefer cloth, and i understand why. with leather, you tend to slip and slide if in back, with cloth, you dont slide as much. then there is the sweat factor when its skin on leather on warm days and wearing shorts.
 

tts42572

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Also went with cloth seats on a JLUR order I did a recently.

I've just not been a fan of leather seats in other vehicles I've had. Always very hot in the summer or cold in the winter. And my biggest gripe is just little defects I've had happen....Tears, holes, whatever. In my latest car that I'm trading in on the JL, I've twice had to have the leather seats fixed for tears/cracks or whatever that came about.

Also, for me cloth are just more comfortable.

So it's cloth for me.

I special ordered my JLUR mainly because I couldn't find one with all the options I wanted that didn't have leather. As hot as that center console gets topless, I cant imagine dealing with leather seats in this cool Texas summer every year. I am very happy with my Rubicon Cloth seats, especially going topless!
 

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Heimkehr

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My vehicles have cloth interiors, which is my preference. Cloth seats aren't ever hot or cold, and the interiors can look as good as the effort put forth to make them so.

The ever-increasing presence of leather seating everywhere, even in lower tier brands and/or trim levels, is intriguing. It seems the OEMs are either making it standard, or bundling leather interiors into popular option packages that sell well. Said differently, it seems to be getting more difficult to opt out of leather, at least in some instances. That was certainly Mrs. Heimkehr's experience when shopping for her new Honda CR-V EX, one in which she too wanted a cloth interior. It took a fair bit of time to find one that wasn't an EX-L.

I wish FCA offered a vinyl seating option for the Wrangler. It makes sense, with respect to the vehicle's mission brief. At least we have the opportunity to spend $4K on half doors, though. Thanks, Stellantis!

Personally, I see more leather interiors that don't impress me (in terms of appearance or perceived long-term quality) than those that do. Some look downright "builder grade", like that in my neighbor's Kia Sorento. The seating surfaces could pass for vinyl, and the Kia isn't alone in that regard.

Perhaps I'm biased. I cut my teeth on leather interiors in English cars. They know how to do upholstery right. Not even the 20 dead cows in my parent's well-equipped Suburban LTZ can compete.
 
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El Zilcho

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Just to share my experience. I have base sport with cloth seats. Seats are comfy easy to clean but they were black and I have dogs with light short fur which was very hard to get read of. I had a chance to get full set of rubicon tan leather seats for a great price. Turns out the difference is not just cloth vs leather, it feels like leather seats have better padding and generally noticeably more comfortable. Plus tan seats dont get hot under the sun.
 

ads75

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Just to share my experience. I have base sport with cloth seats. Seats are comfy easy to clean but they were black and I have dogs with light short fur which was very hard to get read of. I had a chance to get full set of rubicon tan leather seats for a great price. Turns out the difference is not just cloth vs leather, it feels like leather seats have better padding and generally noticeably more comfortable. Plus tan seats dont get hot under the sun.
The padding difference might due to base Sport trim vs Rubicon trim, not necessarily cloth vs leather.
 

El Zilcho

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The padding difference might due to base Sport trim vs Rubicon trim, not necessarily cloth vs leather.
Entirely possible, but I read somewhere on this forum that padding for leather and cloth seats have different part numbers.
 

Whaler27

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The local Jeep dealer had 73 new wranglers in stock when I bought my 2019 JL, but only 7 or 8 of them had leather, and none of those were the color I wanted, so I got cloth. Yesterday I ordered the Katzkin set, which we’ve put in three other vehicles. It’s thicker/better than most factory leather. The installer said the factory seat heat will work fine too. (I chose the pattern below, except the gray on my seats will be almost as dark as the black, and I’m adding some embroidery.)

The summer sun, heat, and damp bathing suits aren’t a problem. We just drape the Jeep seat towels over them in the summer. (The ones with the carabiner clips that hold them in place on the headrests.)

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