Leather on Bucket Seat Too Loose?

[rdgallo]

I just got my 2020 lariat Crew Cab 4x4 the other day and now have 60 miles on it. I noticed today the the leather on the driver's side bucket seat appears to be stretched. In other words it is loose on whatever it covers. I have attached two pics of it. I am curious if anyone else has experienced this. It looks as if someone pretty heavy overloaded it. lol I am only about 150 pounds, so I am pretty sure I did nothing to it. Thanks.

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[Sandman Ranger]

Leather stretch to match object sitting on it. Heated seat use also helps this happen. Large panels of leather like this not good on car seat.
Better is small sections like the Audi diamond pattern.

 

[rdgallo]

Leather stretch to match object sitting on it. Heated seat use also helps this happen. Large panels of leather like this not good on car seat.
Better is small sections like the Audi diamond pattern.

Thanks for the reply. What you said makes a lot of sense. I guess this is something I will have to live with. I think I am missing my 2013 F150 lariat already. lol

 

[P. A. Schilke]

Leather stretch to match object sitting on it. Heated seat use also helps this happen. Large panels of leather like this not good on car seat.
Better is small sections like the Audi diamond pattern.

Looks like Tijuana upholstery shops of the late 60's...

best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retired

 

[rdgallo]

Looks like Tijuana upholstery shops of the late 60's...

best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retired

Hi, Phil. How are your leather seats holding up on your Lariat?

 

[P. A. Schilke]

Hi, Phil. How are your leather seats holding up on your Lariat?

At this time with about 10 months, they still look showroom new. We use the stepbars to get in and out and do not slide across the seats. I sent this to my former wheel tire engineer that transferred to Seat Comfort engineering in late 2003... Will see what he says...

Best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retired

 

[rdgallo]

At this time with about 10 months, they still look showroom new. We use the stepbars to get in and out and do not slide across the seats. I sent this to my former wheel tire engineer that transferred to Seat Comfort engineering in late 2003... Will see what he says...

Best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retired

Phil, I am about 5ft 2 inches tall and use the running boards to get in and out. I purposely try to avoid sliding on the seat. My truck has about 60 miles on it. I and my wife (who is only 4 ft. 11 inches tall and uses the running boards) are the only two that have driven the truck. The passenger seat is starting to show the same thing and my wife is the only one that has been in that seat and only for about 20 minutes. Please let me know whatever your guy says about it. Thanks and have a good evening.

 

[FULLSCALE]

I just got my 2020 lariat Crew Cab 4x4 the other day and now have 60 miles on it. I noticed today the the leather on the driver's side bucket seat appears to be stretched. In other words it is loose on whatever it covers. I have attached two pics of it. I am curious if anyone else has experienced this. It looks as if someone pretty heavy overloaded it. lol I am only about 150 pounds, so I am pretty sure I did nothing to it. Thanks.

Mine look similar to this, both front and back.

 

[P. A. Schilke]

Phil, I am about 5ft 2 inches tall and use the running boards to get in and out. I purposely try to avoid sliding on the seat. My truck has about 60 miles on it. I and my wife (who is only 4 ft. 11 inches tall and uses the running boards) are the only two that have driven the truck. The passenger seat is starting to show the same thing and my wife is the only one that has been in that seat and only for about 20 minutes. Please let me know whatever your guy says about it. Thanks and have a good evening.

Hi Ron,

Time to take it back to the dealership as this should not be happening. Something is wrong. The seats come into the plant finished by the supplier, so what ever is wrong happened at the supplier's operation, but you should not have to live with this poor performance. This should be covered by warranty, if if the dealer balks, then find another dealer if you can, and if not elevate this concern to Ford Customer Care. You would be amazed at the testing that is done for seats behind the scenes...They go through sever cyclic testing... It sounds like this seat has a supplier quality problem and need to be fixed, but more importantly, the supplier needs determine corrective action. Ford Supplier Quality Assurance needs to be informed as well. Do not "put up with it"....

Sad to see this happen. I have no idea of the supplier of the seats. I have a guess and if it is...not all that surprising. When we were producing the Mazda version, they had specific requirements and the seat manufacturer (who will remain unnamed). produced absolutely junk quality leather seats for the B Series...I suffered the complaints and wanted to change suppliers, but Ford Purchasing was in charge.

Good Luck!

Best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retired

 

[rdgallo]

Hi Ron,

Time to take it back to the dealership as this should not be happening. Something is wrong. The seats come into the plant finished by the supplier, so what ever is wrong happened at the supplier's operation, but you should not have to live with this poor performance. This should be covered by warranty, if if the dealer balks, then find another dealer if you can, and if not elevate this concern to Ford Customer Care. You would be amazed at the testing that is done for seats behind the scenes...They go through sever cyclic testing... It sounds like this seat has a supplier quality problem and need to be fixed, but more importantly, the supplier needs determine corrective action. Ford Supplier Quality Assurance needs to be informed as well. Do not "put up with it"....

Sad to see this happen. I have no idea of the supplier of the seats. I have a guess and if it is...not all that surprising. When we were producing the Mazda version, they had specific requirements and the seat manufacturer (who will remain unnamed). produced absolutely junk quality leather seats for the B Series...I suffered the complaints and wanted to change suppliers, but Ford Purchasing was in charge.

Good Luck!

Best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retired

Thanks for checking into this for me. I will take the truck to the dealer to see what he will do about it. I really appreciate you taking the time to help.

 

[dmeyer302]

My driver seat is doing this too. I’m not going to worry about it unless it gets worse.

 

[CompDude]

I just got my 2020 lariat Crew Cab 4x4 the other day and now have 60 miles on it. I noticed today the the leather on the driver's side bucket seat appears to be stretched. In other words it is loose on whatever it covers. I have attached two pics of it. I am curious if anyone else has experienced this. It looks as if someone pretty heavy overloaded it. lol I am only about 150 pounds, so I am pretty sure I did nothing to it. Thanks.

Did yours get worse? Mine are doing the exact same thing. I have a case open with Ford and pictures were taken then sent in attached to the case.. Waiting for a response..

 

[Porpoise Hork]

This sort of deformation and wrinkles is pretty common in leather seats that were not made with pre-stretched leather. As you sit on the seat the leather will stretch and form to the contours of the weight of your body. For those of us who keep a wallet in our back pockets the deformation is going to me more apparent on the side the wallet is kept. There are few things you can do in a few min to remove the wrinkles from the seats. Just know that this is not a permanent solution as leather is a skin and it will stretch over time.

First use a good quality PH neutral leather conditioner regularly to clean, protect and moisturize the leather. I am quite fond of Bick 4 as it is easy to apply, does not leave behind and residue and has a pleasant non-overpowering fragrance.

If you have access to a fabric steamer, then you can use it on the leather. This is what upholstery shops typically use to tighten the leather back up. The moist heat of the steam penetrates the leather pores and as it cools the leather will tighten up removing the deformations and wrinkles. If you don't have a fabric steamer (something most of us don't have) then you can use a steaming iron and damp cloth, but you want to be very careful as to not burn the leather.

If the thought of taking a clothes iron to your leather seats makes you cringe then you can use this old upholstery shop trick instead. I have done this several times and it does work very well and only takes a few minuets. Just remember to treat the seats with your leather conditioner afterwards.

 

[CompDude]

This sort of deformation and wrinkles is pretty common in leather seats that were not made with pre-stretched leather. As you sit on the seat the leather will stretch and form to the contours of the weight of your body. For those of us who keep a wallet in our back pockets the deformation is going to me more apparent on the side the wallet is kept. There are few things you can do in a few min to remove the wrinkles from the seats. Just know that this is not a permanent solution as leather is a skin and it will stretch over time.

First use a good quality PH neutral leather conditioner regularly to clean, protect and moisturize the leather. I am quite fond of Bick 4 as it is easy to apply, does not leave behind and residue and has a pleasant non-overpowering fragrance.

If you have access to a fabric steamer, then you can use it on the leather. This is what upholstery shops typically use to tighten the leather back up. The moist heat of the steam penetrates the leather pores and as it cools the leather will tighten up removing the deformations and wrinkles. If you don't have a fabric steamer (something most of us don't have) then you can use a steaming iron and damp cloth, but you want to be very careful as to not burn the leather.

If the thought of taking a clothes iron to your leather seats makes you cringe then you can use this old upholstery shop trick instead. I have done this several times and it does work very well and only takes a few minuets. Just remember to treat the seats with your leather conditioner afterwards.

Interesting we have a steamer from harbor freight to clean fabric seats and floor mats.. I may have to try this..

 

[rdgallo]

Did yours get worse? Mine are doing the exact same thing. I have a case open with Ford and pictures were taken then sent in attached to the case.. Waiting for a response..

My covers were replaced, and the replacements were a little bitty bit better. I now have about 6000 miles on the truck and the seats still look bad, but are no worse than when the new covers were put on. The fact is...whoever makes these for Ford does a really bad job, and Ford apparently has a weak QC department. I hope you have a better experience in getting them fixed.

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