KATZKIN Leather Seat Group Buy

I like that one! Too bad I already have my Katzkins installed.

 

ok, I promised John I would post some pics of my installed leather seats. I absolutely love them and the heated seats! Much better than the cloth.

I also ordered leathers for my 1967 Mustang, and they turned out fantastic also.

Hope you like the pics!

 

Mustang pics and leathers....

 

Damn fellow Hatfield. Some nice ass seats you have there. Sexy 'stang too.

 

Here is a shot of the Redline Goods console cover installed in AndrewHs ride. The cover is in Black, the kit is in Dk. Graphite. JH

 

shit looks good John. Thanks again!

 

That does look good! How was it to install? Did it fit over easy?

 

I'm liking it and will definitely have to order one myself. That cover and darker Weathertech mats will look really sharp.

 

I have Carbon leather, black weathertechs and a charcoal center console cover from redline, it all ties in very nicely!

 

yup. i have the black husky mats. everything looks awesome together.

 

Hey John, do you know if the charcoal color that Redline has is a close match to the Katzkin dark graphite? Or could you otherwise recommend the best match to the Katzkin dark graphite for the center console lid?

 

Got my install done today.

I can't believe how fast my kit was delivered! The turn around time from submitting my order to John to receiving my kit was insanely quick. FedEx delivered my kit on Friday at 5pm, and I wasted no time getting to work with the install. I gotta say -- the install was a bitch and a half. Homers install thread was a huge help, but IMO it was easily as tough as it looks.

Here are some random thoughts from my experience and some advice:

- My whole body hurts after doing the install, especially my hands. I'm a fit 35 year old dude but I feel like an 80 year old right now.

- Study Homer's install thread carefully. His thread is for CST, but the Katzkin install is basically the same. The main difference is that you don't reuse the metal rods from the stock cloths seats like you do for the CST kit, except for the vertical downrods in each front seat.

- Watch the youtube of the guy doing the Katzkin install on an F-150. It's obviously a totally different truck, but there are a few similarities with the Tacoma and it helps give you a general idea of what you are in for.

- The install is a relatively straightforward process, but it involves lots of time and hard work. Don't attempt to DIY if you have arthritis in your hands. Even if you don't have arthritis, you WILL by the time you are done with the install.

- The back seats are WAY easier than the front seats. (that's what SHE said)

- The most difficult parts IMO were zipping the zippers shut on the front seats (I think that was the step that yielded the most new 4 letter words that I was inventing on the spot), and doing the door panel armrests. Getting those zippers zipped was about as tough as Oprah trying to squeeze her ass into a pair of size 30 jeans and then get her fly zipped.

- When you put the plastic headrest recepticles back in to the seatbacks, make sure they are hammered home all the way such that the tangs snap back into place. You can help push the tangs back into place with a long screwdriver poked down inside the recepticle from the top. If the tangs don't snap back into place, they will occupy space within the recepticle and the metal headrest rods won't be able to slide into the recepticles.

- Use a steamer. I bought one at Target for $24.99. It will help get rid of wrinkles, as it relaxes the leather. I can't see how doing the headrest covers would be possible without a steamer. Follow the steps in the youtube of the F-150 install for the headrests. You don't really need 2 people if you have a steamer and silicone spray.

- After you do the hog clips for each seam, really take the time to yank on and massage the leather to get it to sit on the foam properly.

- One pitfall that I encountered was when I put the metal "downrods" that you have to reuse for the front seatbacks in their respective sleeves in the Katzkins. I screwed up the process the first time around and ended up having to take the Katzkin off and redo the entire process from scratch. I didn't see this process discussed in great detail, so here are some pics so you don't make the mistake I made:

Towards the top of the seatback, there is a horizontal groove in the foam with an impregnated rod that you will hog clip the Katzkin to. There are vertical grooves in the foam that accept the vertical metal "downrods" as HomerTaco calls them. You will see that in both of the vertical grooves, there are cross rods about 1.5" above the horizontal hog clip groove (white rod in pic that crosses vert groove):




The metal downrods will need to go behind those cross rods. The downrods slide into cloth sleeves that are sewn to the Katzkins, but I took a pic of one of the downrods in place without the Katzkins just so you can see what the rod should be doing (rod is in the vertical groove on the right):




When you install the Katzkin with the rod inside it, you will have to make sure that the rod is "latched" behind that cross rod like so:



To allow the downrod to latch behind the cross rod, you will need to crosscut the cloth sleeve on the Katzkin about 1" above the intersection of sewn seam that gets hog cliped to the horizontal groove. You need to cut the sleeve so that the metal downrod will poke out of the sleeve slightly below the cross rod and will be able to latch behind the cross rod once it pokes out of the sleeve. I just snipped the sleeve once with scissors:




Here's a couple pix from Homer's thread that show the downrod getting shoved into the sleeve, and then the lower eyelet of the downrod that gets dual hog clips at the bottom. When you insert the downrod up into the sleeve and the top end of the rod starts to approach the cross rod, you will have to push firmly with one hand on the intersection of the horizontal and vertical seams from the outside of the Katzkin to ensure that the downrod is guided behind the cross rod and latches in place. You will know if you did it right because that intersection of horiz and vert seams should be sucked into the seat foam good and tight.

Insertion of downrod into Katzkin:


The lower eyelet of the downrod that gets dual hog clipped to the foam:


The pitfall I encountered with all this was that I didn't latch the downrods behind the cross rods the first time around. My seats looked wrinkly and the leather didn't seem to conform right. It's a subtle difference, but the seatbacks will fit much tighter if you latch those rods. If you already did the install and think that you might have missed this step the way I did the first time, it might be worth taking the time to redo it the right way.

Hope this all makes sense.


I will post pics of my completed Katzkin setup soon!

Oh, and BIG thanks to John and Andrew for managing this group buy!! This is one of the best mods you could possibly do to your rig. Y'all should crack open that piggy bank and go for it if you haven't already!

 

charcoal and black is all they have i believe. or at least the color samples john showed me. i went with black center console cover. look at the above pics to see the color comparison between it and my seats.

 

awesome mini write up benWA. +rep.

 

Thanks Ben for your thoughts!!
I would certainly agree with the comparison between Oprahs ass and the factory foam, it sure is a lot to asked from a zipper Can't wait to see the finished product. John

 

Coupla pix of my new trim! STOKED!!!

I borrowed timsxr's good taste: Ice Grey with Dark Graphite inside panels, Dark Graphite top stitching, and Light Grey TRD emboidery:



Arm rests turned out perfect. I used Locktite spray adhesive. Seems to bond fine with the cloth underneath.



The front passenger seat is still a little puckery in the pic (pic was taken immediately after install), but I think letting that side of the truck bake in the sun for an afternoon will tighten it right up.

I haven't even bothered to do the rear head rests yet, because I never use them (better visibility without them). I'll get around to it at some point though, in case I ever have occasion to have passengers on a long trip.

Also, I plan on making my own center console cover with the same dark graphite color as the seat inserts. I like the look of the Redlines, but sounds like they don't have a color that matches what I'm looking for.

 

Love the leather, I want to do that exact combo when I get mine!

 

I have this kit on hand ready to ship!
2005-2008 Double Cab BASE Seats (Passenger side folds flat like table)
ROADWIRE Regular Kit
Light Grey Wrap
Perforated Dark Charcoal Body
TRD Sport logos on front two lean backs
$675/Shipped

 

This one is mine!

 

damn ryan! thats a sick set!