Who Sell OEM Seat Covers?

[Guest rsd9699]

Who sells seat covers for cars and trucks after the manufacturer decides they are obsolete - generally after 7 years?

I have a 88 burb and a 96 trooper that need new driver side seat covers.

I would prefer to try to get them from the OEM supplier/manufacturer rather than dealing with the local upholstery shops. I think I would get a better fit and the time to do it would be about the same locally as to order it from a supplier.

Ron

[nzcarnerd]

Having a connection to an upholstery business, I can say from experience that this is a problem here in NZ. Mostly it is work vans and light trucks where the driver is in and out of the vehicle regularly, usually with dirty hands and wearing work clothing. Replacing the seat cover is not too much of a problem even if the fabric used is not exactly the same as original. The main problem is with the moulded foam which is not even available for late model vehicles. Owners usually wait until pieces have chipped off the foam before enquiring about repairing the seat and by then it is often too late to fix it. The most expensive part of the repair is the labour charge because it is time consuming to dismantle and reassemble the seats. Because the wear is usually in vehicles that are no longer worth much owners usually just put up with it and perhaps put some sort of temporary cover on. With earlier model light commercials it was sometimes possible to swap the less-worn passenger side seat over to the driver side but later vehicles are not usually interchangeable.

[Guest Kingoftheroad]

Who sells seat covers for cars and trucks after the manufacturer decides they are obsolete - generally after 7 years?

I have a 88 burb and a 96 trooper that need new driver side seat covers.

I would prefer to try to get them from the OEM supplier/manufacturer rather than dealing with the local upholstery shops. I think I would get a better fit and the time to do it would be about the same locally as to order it from a supplier.

Ron

I have no suggestions for the Trooper, sorry. However, for GM truck seat covers, you could try one of the local shops that cater to old Chevy truck restorers / rodders like "Grumpy's", they usually carry custom & OEM repros for Chev & GMC trucks. Unless your totally stuck on keeping the OEM seats, you might consider aftermarket custom seats for your old Chev which can be found at any truck accessory shop.

[Guest rsd9699]

I tried govmo - it was obsolete and I figured as much due to the age.

I had bought some seat heaters from a fellow of feebay but I have lost his info since yahoo decided to purge my emails for me without notifying until after the the fact that I could not get them back and they wonder why they are not number one!!!!!!! He told me at that time he could OEM covers from the makers themselves.

Since the burb is fairly nice - robing from the pass side is not an option. Nor is the mismatch of fabric. The covers are retained by by a single clasp and literally peel off. The foam is okay since it is not a commercial vehicle.

I have not found any oem providers by net searches yet but will continue looking.

Ron

[Bleach]

You could try some self service wrecking yards for the Trooper. You might find a good one there or use a passenger side cover if they're the same.

[NTX5467]

For late model vehicles, for which factory replacement seat covers might not still be available from the dealership, you'd have better luck finding out which trim shop they use for their warranty repair of seat covers were a panel is replaced at lesser cost than the whole cover. The later model fabrics and such are still around, so that should not be an issue. They should have the DeLeo or Detroit fabric books to ensure the correct fabric is sourced.

Considering that the '88 Suburban is the older chassis, you might find something in the restoration industry for the '87 and prior Chevy pickups. I don't recall the trim codes for the '87 pickups and the '88 Suburbans being different. The Suburbans didn't change to the '88 pickup platform until the 1992 model year.

Don't forget about foam replacements, either.

Just some thoughts,

NTX5467

[Guest rsd9699]

My local uphostery shop can match the material but not exactly the way the original covers were made to be installed using the velcro and belly strap. I have used them in the past but just not 100 percent happy with the end results. This is mainly why I was looking for an oem solution.

Ron

[Jim Rohn]

here you go:

Largest Selection of Cloth, Vinyl & Leather Automobile Upholstery - SMS Auto Fabrics

[Guest rsd9699]

To take it a step further. My automotive experiences tell me that nothing bets OEM quality. I have yet to find in the aftermarket anything that beats OEM.

For examples: parts that come on most any car seem to last forever; alternators, batteries, starters and upholstery.

Yet you can buy new, not rebuilt starters, batteries and alternators and they seen to last less than half as long as the OEM stuff.

The upholstery is likely no different. An 88 year model and the seat is now wearing out - that is 23 years - will the replacement last that long - i have my doubts.

I will check them out (sms) but grump's and lmc don't list any restoration interiors.

Ron

[Lebowski]

This is an SMS interior in my '61 Mercury. It was replaced in 2004 and still looks great. I've been told that they can match any original color for any make or model and the quality is very good in my opinion....

[NTX5467]

SMS is supposed to be the premier interior cloth and vinyl vendor in this part of the world. I don't believe there is any question about that.

Go to the www.classicindustries.com, click on the Chevy/GMC truck catalog. On p39, you'll find the front seat upholstery repro kit for '81-'87 pickups for the "Velour Bench Seat". This should be the same seat that is in your '88 Suburban, with the cushion and lean back being $199.99 for the front seat set. On p41, you'll find the complete '88 Suburban kit (all seats) for a little over $600.00. In that same section, new lower cushion foam (bench seat) is also listed. You might have to download the Interior/Upholstery section of the catalog to find these things. I suspect this would be representative of what the restoration/reproduction industry has available. They also have the Auto Custom Carpet molded carpet for the vehicles, too, or you can source that direct from ACC. I'm presuming you have the front bench seat, rather than bucket seats?

I don't have any problems with a good, local trim shop which produces "known" high quality work. But I also know that a "factory made" seat cover usually tends to be more like the original, be it from OEM stock or a known high quality repro vendor.

Regards,

NTX5467