Cloth or leather seats, which are best?

[mbirch]

My cloth driver side seat is wearing through in the lower back and a metal bracket is poking through on the door side. I have a chance to get a very good used OEM leather seat from a 2005 Laramie (mine is an SLT) for $250. Any opinions on the leather versus cloth seats as far as wear and comfort. The cloth seat I have is comfortable enough but wearing thin. My back starts hurting after a few hours driving but I don't think a leather seat would help that any.

 

[spin05]

i like leather for the heated seat only. Otherwise cloth......

 

[AaronOregon]

I prefer cloth over leather.

 

[jgillott]

I have leather in my Corvette. Even being the vented leather, it is still hot in the summer. My father has leather in his Dakota, it has held up very well, but he is ultra careful with his vehicles. My better half will not allow me to buy leather in any vehicle we use daily....claims it is too cold in the winter and too hot in the summer.

 

[Jim W]

Unless you have heated seats I would stay with cloth seats. My wife's Jetta has leather seats and they are heated; she likes them but would not if they were not heated. Leather is just too cold in the winter. My 08 SLT has cloth seats and I like them; but I have a thicker padded seat cushions on both seats to keep my left leg from going numb while driving because of the third gen seat designed.
Jim W.

 

[BIGNASTY]

...................................... double post

 

[BIGNASTY]

Cloth seems to be a little warmer in the cold, Leather seats in wife's care stick to skin in the summer and its not even hot here.

Just noticed you have an 05 and you have worn your seats that bad? in that case you want to stay away from leather it costs twice as much to repair them as it would cloth.

Just asking what do you do to wear them that bad and fast?

Maybe I don't want to know!!!! send pictures instead

 

[mbirch]

Sounds like most of you prefer the cloth seats over leather. I have 183,000 miles on my truck and every time I get in and out of it my belt must rub the bump in the lumbar area and it has worn through the cloth and foam padding. There is a metal bump on the outer edge of the seat that is starting to surface. Maybe I will just put some foam padding and a piece of leather over that hole, sew it up and call it good.

Jim W. says he added pads to his seat, I have used cushions on mine to keep my right leg from hurting but it has limited success. Putting the truck on cruise control and stopping occasionally and walking around seem to help me the most.

I do appreciate the input from other truck owners, that's what makes this site great.

 

[jhenderson]

I guess I'm the odd man out on this. I wish I had leather. Leather is much easier to care for, and wears like iron compared to fabric. It may be hot at first in summer and cold for a few minutes in winter, but my buddy has a 2000 gasser with 150,000 work miles on it. The leather gut looks almost new, and he doesn't take very good care of it.

 

[Grizzly]

I have heated leather on my 05. I like them better than cloth, however they are much harder on my butt on a long trip than the cloth on my (now sold) 95. To make the trip to Alaska in 06 on my 05, I purchased two thick gel cushions. To make the Alaska trip on my 95 we didn't need cushions. When I sold the 95 in 05, the cloth seats were just as good as when I bought the truck. No damage, no wear.

 

[BIGNASTY]

To protect the seats from a multitude of different things from critter crap (of all kinds) mud, blood (both mine and animals) moisture I installed these, they are hard to beat

http://www.wetokole.com/mm5/merchan...ategory_Code=DODGE&CpField=vmodel&CpValue=Ram

On the wifes side of the truck I put this on under the seat cover ( a real B***H to do) my hands aren't what they use to be but we worked at it and finally got it under the above seat cover, the reason is the wife weighs in at 125 lb wet, she doesn't have enough weight to make the seat give and her fanny just bounces on the seat. With this it gives her some give to the seat.

http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/sto...g-seat-cushion-for-home-and-office/1014256911

Hope it helps out

 

[Wingate]

Leather is the only way to go for me. I currently have cloth in the 06, but in the middle of getting it replaced. get the heated version.

 

[Gonzo 1066]

My 04 has leather, 140,000 towing miles on it and the seats still look great, and sit as good as they did new.

 

[TFucili]

I was very pleased with the leather in my '05 Laramie. With minimal cleaning and occasional application of conditioner they still looked new when I(regrettably)sold the truck. If I buy another truck I'd probably go Tradesman just to keep the $$$ down. Money aside, I'd go leather again.

 

[04blackcherry]

I got stuck with leather when I bought my truck used. I love them. No need for seat covers unless you are going to be wet all the time. My favorite reason, is being able to eat Little Debbie Swiss rolls while driving. No chance I do that with cloth seats. My brother told me that once I had heated leather I would never go back. He was right.

 

[Larry Willard]

I am on my 3rd truck with leather, wears better than previous cloth seats. The wife also says she wants her leather seats with heat, and now also cooled.
Larry

 

[Prairie Dog]

I don't like leather for the hot and cold aspects. I also don't like it for how bad it wears. At 86000 miles my cloth seats show almost no wear at all but a fellow member here that I met up with years ago showed me his then almost new 03 Ram with 6000 miles on it and the leather drivers seat was noticeably worn and had the early signs of cracking. Since he was solo most of the time the passenger seat looked much better but called attention to the condition of the dr. side.
Visit a junk yard and you'll find the leather seats are typically in far worse condition than the cloth units.
Just my experience.

Scott

 

[Dutch & Di]

All the talk about heated leather seats is good only if you live where it is COLD! Dutch & I follow the sun and warmth. Oo. I do not like to get into a hot car with leather seats; waay to squishy if you know what I mean! The cloth seats in our 96 looked really good when we traded her in. We had only one repair and that was because the seat under the cloth had worn down from 17 years of continual use. Hugs, Di

 

[Shadrach]

I bought my 03 used and since it has the Laramie package I got black leather. I immediately put FIA Westerner seat covers on. Altho I like the heated part for me when it is -20 ( on either scale ) it takes too long to warm up. In the summer you stick to it. My 03 Jeep has cloth and is much easier on the old butt even in -20. If you have young kids then leather cleans up better, but give me a good quality cloth any day. David

 

[mbirch]

Everyone makes a pretty good argument on both sides. It's hard to fathom how one guys leather seats last forever and the next guys can wear out so fast though. I am getting the impression that the leather seats may not be quite as comfortable as the cloth.

Rob has a very good argument that I guess you might call the " Little Debbie argument" that is hard to disagree with though. One problem I have with my cloth seats in the summer is that when I am baling hay and keep getting into my truck, the hay sticks to those cloth seats like they are made out of velcro.