DIY With Photos: Katzkin Leather Seats Install in Big Bend Bronco

[Bronc69]

Looks great and one of the upgrades I'm thinking of doing. I'm not sure how comfortable the marine grade vinyl will be (Black Diamond). I'm more if the ilk to do things myself as well. Perhaps a steamer would help with the installation. I'll have to do more research as well.
Thanks for sharing.

Interesting that you worked at Altec! I visited the production facility when I was a filtration product manager (Hydac Corporation). Prior to that I was a hydraulics sales engineer for Bosch Rexroth.
When I visited Altec, I asked what their failure rate was on components during initial startup of the lift system. They looked puzzled and said nearly 100%. I said storing the piping outside getting rusty and not cleaning them properly before installation would be catastrophic for components that like a 20 micron or better filtration LOL!

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[Big Rig]

I really like the colors. Which ones did you pick?

 

[Skeener801]

Looks great and one of the upgrades I'm thinking of doing. I'm not sure how comfortable the marine grade vinyl will be (Black Diamond). I'm more if the ilk to do things myself as well. Perhaps a steamer would help with the installation. I'll have to do more research as well.
Thanks for sharing.

Interesting that you worked at Altec! I visited the production facility when I was a filtration product manager (Hydac Corporation). Prior to that I was a hydraulics sales engineer for Bosch Rexroth.
When I visited Altec, I asked what their failure rate was on components during initial startup of the lift system. They looked puzzled and said nearly 100%. I said storing the piping outside getting rusty and not cleaning them properly before installation would be catastrophic for components that like a 20 micron or better filtration LOL!

You might be pleasantly surprised by the Marine Grade VInyl. I was set on doing a Katskin set, but that MGV is actually quite nice.

 

[Lazarus327]

Wish me luck, I'll be a busy Beaver tonight.

Updates below. Took me probably 6hrs. It sucked. Like most things, it gets easier/quicker after doing one seat. Before moving to an Engineering tech position at Altec Ind. I worked in production for 13yrs as an installer, hydraulic tech, tester, and electrical tech. My hands and forearms haven't hurt like this in about 5yrs lol. If you are not one for manual labor, you will want to pay for the install. It is totally doable on a weekend by a DIY person. I've never done upholstry before. It will be years before I think of doing it again. I'd rather do the timing chains and water pump on my sons Cobalt again haha.

UPDATED WITH RESULTS:

Damn, I don't plan on doing that ever again lol. Looks good, smells good, feels good to sit on, and feels even better knowing I saved over a grand doing it myself.

I did not use any heat gun or steamer. It's hot and humid here in MO, worked out fine. My fingers and forearms are tired. Made a few mistakes and learned some things.

I'll post some tools and more pics later

DIY WRITEUP & PHOTOS:

Tools I used:
-Dykes/side cutters,6-8"
-Hog Ring Pliers (Harbor Freight)
-Needle nose plyers, 6"
-Flat head screwdriver or small prybar
-Fir tree removal tool if you have one
-1/4" impact driver
-socket extension
-impact socket swivel
-18mm socket (deepwell)
-13mm socket (both deep & shallow)
-10mm socket (deepwell, I think size is right, airbags)
-T50, T30 & T20 torx bits/driver
-Razor knife (smaller, for cutouts of rear cargo anchors, rear seat latch releases and headrests)
-Plastic bags(for front headrests)
-Vaccuum (for front headrests)

-Hog Rings (I found these Dewalt ones for ~$12 at Tractor Supply Company. Work great. Really sharp and are staggard so they wrap around without the tips touching ()

Cut holes for the headrest, rear cargo anchors, etc. with a small razor knife. Cut holes smaller than the plastic so it hides under when you press down.
Go slow, and don't screw it up

Don't forget to put this inner plastic gaurd back on BEFORE bolting the legs to the floor.

The plastic guard has one T30 Bolt under the butt-hip area of seat, and one spring clip that pops in near the T50 hing bolt.

All the seat bolt covers just pop out with spring clips

Don't get in a hurry and be a dummy with the razor knife. You do NOT need to cut a section for the rear driver seat belt lol. Luckily my cut hides behind the belt.

Be careful pushing down on the cargo flaps behind the rear seats. I leaned on it, hyperextending too much. The springs shot loose and nailed my knuckles and chest....

Seat belt bolt is 18mm. After the nut is removed with deepwell 18mm and extension from under seat, use pry bar to push the spring retainer washer loose. I pryed it up a little and cut it with dykes. It did not want to come off.

Air bags have two nut on the inside-rear of seat frame;outside facing edge of seat. Might have been 10mm socket, I didn't take note of that.

Use something like cable or thick string to pull the zippers on and off. One of my zippers sliders broke. I found a #5 zipper slider at Hobby Lobby for a purse that worked perfectly.

I actually used needle nose pliers for the new hog ring crimps more often then hog ring pliers. There just isn't much working room in there. Maybe my pair was a little big. Have a good 6" set of needle nose.

Have some sharp dykes, maybe two pair. You will cut a lot of hog rings.

Great writeup! This is unrelated but I gotta ask you, where did you get the sill covers I see on the first pic? And how do you like them? I've been shopping for the ones that wrap over the outside edges of the sill like these. Thx!

 

[Lazarus327]

Sorry, that would be the second pic I believe...

 

[NatureBoy]

My man… I was slowly scrolling down looking at the pictures and thinking,..”Man that looks nice. Too bad he didn’t write up a DIY…” Jackpot!!

I plan on doing this same mod and the only vid I could find was a partial install vid on YouTube. This is big help. Thanks.

 

[Beaver24]

Great writeup! This is unrelated but I gotta ask you, where did you get the sill covers I see on the first pic? And how do you like them? I've been shopping for the ones that wrap over the outside edges of the sill like these. Thx!

https://www.stickerfab.com/products/door-sill-protectors-2021-bronco

I actually wish they were longer. Working fine so far though.

 

[Beaver24]

Looks great and one of the upgrades I'm thinking of doing. I'm not sure how comfortable the marine grade vinyl will be (Black Diamond). I'm more if the ilk to do things myself as well. Perhaps a steamer would help with the installation. I'll have to do more research as well.
Thanks for sharing.

Interesting that you worked at Altec! I visited the production facility when I was a filtration product manager (Hydac Corporation). Prior to that I was a hydraulics sales engineer for Bosch Rexroth.
When I visited Altec, I asked what their failure rate was on components during initial startup of the lift system. They looked puzzled and said nearly 100%. I said storing the piping outside getting rusty and not cleaning them properly before installation would be catastrophic for components that like a 20 micron or better filtration LOL!

Yes, storage of parts has gotten better over the years. I remember seeing things like that. When I did my Fluid Power Certification years ago, the instructer said the same thing. He was surprised we didn't have more failures. We have a hydraulics and electrical standards team in place now a days. Ennvironmental standards and a better '5S' cleaning regiment.

 

[Beaver24]

Great color combo. What exact colors did you go with? Nice to compare real life to the CGI on the website

They were labeled as Black Mahogany when I got them. I got them off ebay from user 'sealeddeals.com'

 

[Beaver24]

Great photo's, great write up. Did you have heated seats in it? And even if it didn't, do you think it would be possible to slide those heating pads into the seats without removing too many hog rings? If it would be relatively simple, I might take on the task myself.

No heated seats. I didn't want to make the install any harder. The pads would need to be pretty small to fit between the seemed areas where the hog rings are. I guess you could not hog ring the center, but I'm not sure if that would stay in place over time.

 

[Beaver24]

@Dads_bronze_bronco

@Beaver24 - can you post up or pm me the directions for removing and re-installing the front passenger seat back rear panel?

I have a Corbeau inflatable lumbar bag I am going to install when I finally get my Bronco.

Front seats;
-Two bungee straps under neath. You have to pop an electrical connector retainer clip loose underneath to get the strap loose.
-You will see a black clip running along the bottom edge.
-There are zippers on the back corners of the seats. The zipper slidder is tucked under the lower corners.
-Then several black clips up the sides
Attached are photos of that side's factory cloth cover.

 

[Beaver24]

Looks good!

I think we'd all like to know the details; colors, material, why no Degreez?


*optional pedantic statement

Spoiler

We all know they're DiC's (pronounced dykes) because that's short for diagonal cutters, right?

I didn't want to deal with heated seats. I'm fine without them. Not sure how big the heating pads are, but there isn't much room between the seemed areas of the seats. That's all hog ringed in place. I've never seen what the heating pads look like though.

Leather, Black/Mahogany, I didn't order directly from Katzkin-ebay for $700 from user 'sealeddeals.com'

 

[B_Dominant]

Can you give some tips on how to remove the head rest trim that's attached to the seat? Did you remove the seat back from the bottom? Also, did you replace the seat bolts? Thanks!

 

[Tucker417]

Wish me luck, I'll be a busy Beaver tonight.

Updates below. Took me probably 6hrs. It sucked. Like most things, it gets easier/quicker after doing one seat.
Before moving to an Engineering tech position at Altec Ind. I worked in production for 13yrs as an installer, hydraulic tech, tester, and electrical tech. My hands and forearms haven't hurt like this in about 5yrs lol. If you are not one for manual labor, you will want to pay for the install. It is totally doable on a weekend by a DIY person. I've never done upholstry before. It will be years before I think of doing it again. I'd rather do the timing chains and water pump on my sons Cobalt again haha.

UPDATED WITH RESULTS:

Damn, I don't plan on doing that ever again lol. Looks good, smells good, feels good to sit on, and feels even better knowing I saved over a grand doing it myself. I did not intend to do a writeup, so there are things I left out. I took photos of some things for myself as I was doing it. Sorry I didn't get better details for you guys reading in the future. It's all off memory. It's a bit backwards in order and messy.

I did not use any heat gun or steamer. It's hot and humid here in MO, worked out fine. My fingers and forearms are tired. Made a few mistakes and learned some things.

I'll post some tools and more pics later

DIY WRITEUP & PHOTOS:

Tools I used:
-Dykes/side cutters,6-8"
-Hog Ring Pliers (Harbor Freight)
-Needle nose plyers, 6"
-Flat head screwdriver or small prybar
-Fir tree removal tool if you have one
-1/4" impact driver
-socket extension
-impact socket swivel
-18mm socket (deepwell)
-13mm socket (both deep & shallow)
-10mm socket (deepwell, I think size is right, airbags)
-T50, T30 & T20 torx bits/driver
-Razor knife (smaller, for cutouts of rear cargo anchors, rear seat latch releases and headrests)
-Plastic bags(for front headrests)
-Vaccuum (for front headrests)

-Hog Rings (I found these Dewalt ones for ~$12 at Tractor Supply Company. Work great. Really sharp and are staggard so they wrap around without the tips touching ()

Cut holes for the headrest, rear cargo anchors, etc. with a small razor knife. Cut holes smaller than the plastic so it hides under when you press down.
Go slow, and don't screw it up

The plastic guard has one T30 Bolt under the butt-hip area of seat, and one spring clip that pops in near the T50 hing bolt. You can see the slot in the arm for the clip. Just pop it loose and manhandle the plastic off.

Don't forget to put this inner plastic guard back on BEFORE bolting the legs to the floor. I had to take it back apart a little. the inner arms arm close together, so you have to twist/pursuade the plastic guard back on there.

All the seat bolt covers just pop out with spring clips

Don't get in a hurry and be a dummy with the razor knife like me. You do NOT need to cut a slit in the section for the rear driver seat belt lol. It runs over it, not through it... Luckily my screw up hides behind the belt well.

Be careful pushing down on the cargo flaps behind the rear seats. I leaned on it, hyperextending it too much. The springs shot loose and nailed my knuckles and chest

Seat belt bolt is 18mm. After the nut is removed with deepwell 18mm and extension from under seat, use pry bar to push the spring retainer washer loose. I pryed it up a little and cut it with dykes. It did not want to come off.

Use something like cable or thick string to pull the zippers on and off. One of my zippers sliders broke. I found a #5 zipper slider at Hobby Lobby for a purse that worked perfectly.

Air bags have two nuts on the inside-rear of seat frame;outside facing edge of seat. Might have been 10mm socket, I didn't take note of that. Bags slide out of the yellow sleeve. I did not unhook my battery. You can though. Once I hooked my seat connectors back in, there were no warning lights on dash.

I actually used needle nose pliers for the new hog ring crimps more often then hog ring pliers. There just isn't much working room in there. Maybe my hog ring pliers were a little big. Have a good 6" set of needle nose. You have to be sort of rough and force your way into the foam.

Have some sharp dykes, maybe two pair. You will cut a lot of hog rings.

The front headrests-look up the plastic bag vaccuum trick on Youtube, it works. I even used Walmart bags and it worked haha.

Thank you for posting. This gave me the confidence to do mine.

Wish me luck, I'll be a busy Beaver tonight.

Updates below. Took me probably 6hrs. It sucked. Like most things, it gets easier/quicker after doing one seat.
Before moving to an Engineering tech position at Altec Ind. I worked in production for 13yrs as an installer, hydraulic tech, tester, and electrical tech. My hands and forearms haven't hurt like this in about 5yrs lol. If you are not one for manual labor, you will want to pay for the install. It is totally doable on a weekend by a DIY person. I've never done upholstry before. It will be years before I think of doing it again. I'd rather do the timing chains and water pump on my sons Cobalt again haha.

UPDATED WITH RESULTS:

Damn, I don't plan on doing that ever again lol. Looks good, smells good, feels good to sit on, and feels even better knowing I saved over a grand doing it myself. I did not intend to do a writeup, so there are things I left out. I took photos of some things for myself as I was doing it. Sorry I didn't get better details for you guys reading in the future. It's all off memory. It's a bit backwards in order and messy.

I did not use any heat gun or steamer. It's hot and humid here in MO, worked out fine. My fingers and forearms are tired. Made a few mistakes and learned some things.

I'll post some tools and more pics later

DIY WRITEUP & PHOTOS:

Tools I used:
-Dykes/side cutters,6-8"
-Hog Ring Pliers (Harbor Freight)
-Needle nose plyers, 6"
-Flat head screwdriver or small prybar
-Fir tree removal tool if you have one
-1/4" impact driver
-socket extension
-impact socket swivel
-18mm socket (deepwell)
-13mm socket (both deep & shallow)
-10mm socket (deepwell, I think size is right, airbags)
-T50, T30 & T20 torx bits/driver
-Razor knife (smaller, for cutouts of rear cargo anchors, rear seat latch releases and headrests)
-Plastic bags(for front headrests)
-Vaccuum (for front headrests)

-Hog Rings (I found these Dewalt ones for ~$12 at Tractor Supply Company. Work great. Really sharp and are staggard so they wrap around without the tips touching ()

Cut holes for the headrest, rear cargo anchors, etc. with a small razor knife. Cut holes smaller than the plastic so it hides under when you press down.
Go slow, and don't screw it up

The plastic guard has one T30 Bolt under the butt-hip area of seat, and one spring clip that pops in near the T50 hing bolt. You can see the slot in the arm for the clip. Just pop it loose and manhandle the plastic off.

Don't forget to put this inner plastic guard back on BEFORE bolting the legs to the floor. I had to take it back apart a little. the inner arms arm close together, so you have to twist/pursuade the plastic guard back on there.

All the seat bolt covers just pop out with spring clips

Don't get in a hurry and be a dummy with the razor knife like me. You do NOT need to cut a slit in the section for the rear driver seat belt lol. It runs over it, not through it... Luckily my screw up hides behind the belt well.

Be careful pushing down on the cargo flaps behind the rear seats. I leaned on it, hyperextending it too much. The springs shot loose and nailed my knuckles and chest

Seat belt bolt is 18mm. After the nut is removed with deepwell 18mm and extension from under seat, use pry bar to push the spring retainer washer loose. I pryed it up a little and cut it with dykes. It did not want to come off.

Use something like cable or thick string to pull the zippers on and off. One of my zippers sliders broke. I found a #5 zipper slider at Hobby Lobby for a purse that worked perfectly.

Air bags have two nuts on the inside-rear of seat frame;outside facing edge of seat. Might have been 10mm socket, I didn't take note of that. Bags slide out of the yellow sleeve. I did not unhook my battery. You can though. Once I hooked my seat connectors back in, there were no warning lights on dash.

I actually used needle nose pliers for the new hog ring crimps more often then hog ring pliers. There just isn't much working room in there. Maybe my hog ring pliers were a little big. Have a good 6" set of needle nose. You have to be sort of rough and force your way into the foam.

Have some sharp dykes, maybe two pair. You will cut a lot of hog rings.

The front headrests-look up the plastic bag vaccuum trick on Youtube, it works. I even used Walmart bags and it worked haha.

Thanks you for this write up.

Wish me luck, I'll be a busy Beaver tonight.

Updates below. Took me probably 6hrs. It sucked. Like most things, it gets easier/quicker after doing one seat.
Before moving to an Engineering tech position at Altec Ind. I worked in production for 13yrs as an installer, hydraulic tech, tester, and electrical tech. My hands and forearms haven't hurt like this in about 5yrs lol. If you are not one for manual labor, you will want to pay for the install. It is totally doable on a weekend by a DIY person. I've never done upholstry before. It will be years before I think of doing it again. I'd rather do the timing chains and water pump on my sons Cobalt again haha.

UPDATED WITH RESULTS:

Damn, I don't plan on doing that ever again lol. Looks good, smells good, feels good to sit on, and feels even better knowing I saved over a grand doing it myself. I did not intend to do a writeup, so there are things I left out. I took photos of some things for myself as I was doing it. Sorry I didn't get better details for you guys reading in the future. It's all off memory. It's a bit backwards in order and messy.

I did not use any heat gun or steamer. It's hot and humid here in MO, worked out fine. My fingers and forearms are tired. Made a few mistakes and learned some things.

I'll post some tools and more pics later

DIY WRITEUP & PHOTOS:

Tools I used:
-Dykes/side cutters,6-8"
-Hog Ring Pliers (Harbor Freight)
-Needle nose plyers, 6"
-Flat head screwdriver or small prybar
-Fir tree removal tool if you have one
-1/4" impact driver
-socket extension
-impact socket swivel
-18mm socket (deepwell)
-13mm socket (both deep & shallow)
-10mm socket (deepwell, I think size is right, airbags)
-T50, T30 & T20 torx bits/driver
-Razor knife (smaller, for cutouts of rear cargo anchors, rear seat latch releases and headrests)
-Plastic bags(for front headrests)
-Vaccuum (for front headrests)

-Hog Rings (I found these Dewalt ones for ~$12 at Tractor Supply Company. Work great. Really sharp and are staggard so they wrap around without the tips touching ()

Cut holes for the headrest, rear cargo anchors, etc. with a small razor knife. Cut holes smaller than the plastic so it hides under when you press down.
Go slow, and don't screw it up

The plastic guard has one T30 Bolt under the butt-hip area of seat, and one spring clip that pops in near the T50 hing bolt. You can see the slot in the arm for the clip. Just pop it loose and manhandle the plastic off.

Don't forget to put this inner plastic guard back on BEFORE bolting the legs to the floor. I had to take it back apart a little. the inner arms arm close together, so you have to twist/pursuade the plastic guard back on there.

All the seat bolt covers just pop out with spring clips

Don't get in a hurry and be a dummy with the razor knife like me. You do NOT need to cut a slit in the section for the rear driver seat belt lol. It runs over it, not through it... Luckily my screw up hides behind the belt well.

Be careful pushing down on the cargo flaps behind the rear seats. I leaned on it, hyperextending it too much. The springs shot loose and nailed my knuckles and chest

Seat belt bolt is 18mm. After the nut is removed with deepwell 18mm and extension from under seat, use pry bar to push the spring retainer washer loose. I pryed it up a little and cut it with dykes. It did not want to come off.

Use something like cable or thick string to pull the zippers on and off. One of my zippers sliders broke. I found a #5 zipper slider at Hobby Lobby for a purse that worked perfectly.

Air bags have two nuts on the inside-rear of seat frame;outside facing edge of seat. Might have been 10mm socket, I didn't take note of that. Bags slide out of the yellow sleeve. I did not unhook my battery. You can though. Once I hooked my seat connectors back in, there were no warning lights on dash.

I actually used needle nose pliers for the new hog ring crimps more often then hog ring pliers. There just isn't much working room in there. Maybe my hog ring pliers were a little big. Have a good 6" set of needle nose. You have to be sort of rough and force your way into the foam.

Have some sharp dykes, maybe two pair. You will cut a lot of hog rings.

The front headrests-look up the plastic bag vaccuum trick on Youtube, it works. I even used Walmart bags and it worked haha.

Thanks for making this write up. Thanks to you, I was able to tackle mine this weekend. I’m also in MO. Springfield/Ozark area.

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