I redid my 2012 seats. Went with roadwire and sold my original. in the end out of pocket around 200 in total. The original padding and heated seats work fine. I went with 2 tone, emblem and custom stitching. It was still less than a grand to purchase and 2 weeks to deliver.

 

To stain them would be a bad idea (this is coming from a third generation leatherworker) even an experienced person can't guarantee the outcome you want. The quickest and easiest would be swapping with some one else. Leather is still one of the best materials as long as you take care of it. Splitting in extreme cold does sound unlikely if the leather has been well taken care of but not if it was allowed to dry out or was exposed to things that would dry it out.

 

Just my phat a$$. My guess is there was a small tear under the surface.. Got super cold and more brittle.. Then I sit- thus stretching it when there was no natural give.
I suppose I'll see what the dealer says. Hopefully they're understanding. (Antioch Jeep)

 

You're no worse than so many others who have sat on leather and not had an issue. You're right, there might have been an underlying stress already but considering how the companies that make leather seats commercially get first pick and have guys who could write volumes on leather selection I would he surprised. I'm not questioning your care, it's just there is a lot of misinformation out there on leather care and some idiots would rather sell you snake oil than something you truly need. I hope they replace them for you as well. The majority of serious leatherwork has gone south of the border with the art dying out up here (that just means that those who do it and know what they are doing charge more than your doctor, dentist or lawyer per hour). I accepted the teaching of a dying grandfather who wanted to pass it on and don't regret taking the years to apprentice with him but have other plans in life than leather wrangling. Like I said, hopefully they will take care of you and if not, there's some great options on the market that are competitive even for those of us who know how to do it.

 

I happen to like the orange myself..
maybe you could contact a recycler like daveys jeeps and see if they happen to be parting out a JKU sahara that had leather seats.. then you could ebay the current ones.. they are nice seats and likely someone would want them.. I believe the seats from 11-14 are all the same.

my experience with dying seats in classic cars is that trying to go from something like an orange to a dark color will end up in failure.. the best dye jobs are from people simply wanting to restore their original color thats faded or go within the same color family.. (ie a light tan seat to a darker tan seat)..

-Christopher

 

I think for now im gonna get some trek armor seat covers

 

A guy around here has a full set of sahara front and rear seats for $150.00. Covering these would be perfectly logical. Covering those awesome leather seats is like putting carpet or linoleum flooring over hardwood floors... Look at Porsche, BMW, Mercedes, even Rovers are using these leather colors in all their top of the line models.... But hey, it's your jeep. Just make sure to treat the leather well before putting crap over them.

Here, mercedes, bmw and porsche...

 

How do people find the leather in the sun when running topless? I have grey cloth and am thinking about replacing with tan leather, but the missus thinks it'll be unbearably hot.

What do you guys who have them say?

 

Leather does absorb a lot of heat but even that varies depending on color. The simple answer to hot leather seats is no short shorts or bikini tops (I'm talking to you mister, wear your bikini top some other time!). Leather seats are long lasting and beautiful (in my opinion which often turns out to be fact, even if I'm the only one who realizes it). A hot leather seat remedy would be a simple cover, not to disgust purists as if you're carpeting a tiled floor, but as a temporary shield to keep the seats from heating up so much as well as insulation for when they are warm/hot. I hope this answers the new question, my smart ass response would be "if you can't handle the heat, get out of the kitchen"... Good thing I have more than one voice in my head

 

Leather seats are nowhere as hot as vinyl seats. And as said, the lighter color the better.