88-94 vs. 95-98 Interior Debate

@Fireball5657 @hot_rod4


Look what google found for me. Man that's awesome. My guess is they were maybe planning on doing it, but with the new interior on the way it was scrapped, and whatever few kits that they had supply of were just cleared off wherever they could. @Fireball5657 you're right on every feature it looks like

Nice score, for whoever bought it! I hadn't seen the early models with leather seats....

TreeGeared said:

I have mixed feelings on both.

On the 88-94 I like the simple radio and my 88 actually has cable control heater functions. No AC from the factory. It also has floor vents like the square bodies. The digital climate controls on the 94 are pretty cool, especially back in the day when the truck was new. I am also partial to the moon guages but mounted a tach after the manual tranny swap. Cup holder also became more of a hinderance after the swap. The red panels have started to fade on this truck. The grey ones on my 94 seem to be holding up better. I for one like the glove box.

For the 95-00 my 95 probably has the most comfortable seat out of all my trucks. Maybe I got a left over 94 seat. The back support on the 99 is not so great. I do like the earlier 95-96 dash that is more open without the passenger airbags found on the later trucks. Another plus for the later trucks is the dome light override. Nice to turn it off if your door is going to be open for awhile.

Some not so nice things are that they rarely if ever offered vinyl sun visors. Seat back folding release can be finicky on some trucks. Like others have said cup holders are not the best but they do function.

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All of the 88-94 GMT400 A/C trucks had digital controls, not just 94. Yours having the cable sliders is of course a non-A/C thing.

The 88-94 accessory cupholder position with a manual trans moves over a little bit for shifter clearance. Installation instructions from GM indicate a different position for it.

On your 95 seat, if it's a base model with the regular cloth full bench (sort of looks like tweed material), it's essentially the same seat for almost the entire GMT400 run other than they added headrests to it at a certain point, and somewhere along the line they revised the seat with a more sculpted appearance.

Richard

The amount of knowledge people possess on this board never ceases to amaze me.

I vote for the '88-'94. Here's my '94 ECSB Z71 in Victory/Fire Red. At first when I bought the truck, I wasn't too fond of the red interior. I'm more of a tan interior kind of guy. But after a year of owning this truck, the red has grown on me. Now I couldn't see it any other way . . . bright red truck with even more red inside.

I also like the early red interior, but I like the seats that have a tweed weave look, rather than the more velvety look.

Acidic Sweat. Isn't that a metal band out of Arizona?

98chevy2500SS said:

Power mirrors were standard on these trucks, unless it was a W/T.

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Nope. Neither of my trucks = W/T.
My '97. A Silverado. No power anything. No tilt. Stickshift.
My '98. A Sierra. Tilt, cruise & air. No power windows or mirrors.

OutlawDrifter said:

Old seat is more better.

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I've collected a few of those early seats. Among a fair amount of other 400 parts & pieces.
(NO! Not hoarding! It's a 'collection'! A division of the 'GMT400 Preservation Society'! It's a taxation thing.)
My favorite bench seat of all is the early one with the small driver side fold-down armrest.
Those later '95+ bench seats? A couple of hours driving & I'd be searching for the nearest chiropractor!

TreeGeared said:

For the 95-00 my 95 probably has the most comfortable seat out of all my trucks. Maybe I got a left over 94 seat.

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Bench seat? With the 3-scooped backrests? That's '95+.
The flat backrest benches are '88-'94.
'88-'91 benches have no headrests.
'88-'91 have two styles of buckets. High-back & low-back.
'88-'91 low-back buckets have no headrests.

hot_rod4 said:

I actually have this exact truck, never knew what package it was. It has tan pleather but time has not been kind to the drivers side. I will probably have the front two recovered some day because I feel I will never find covers for them.

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Truck or Suburban? Only the burbs got the leather in that year. Every other 400 got vinyl.
You will never find covers for them.
'Pleather' is a marketing term for vinyl.

HotWheelsBurban said:

These seat bases were not covered with good material! Houston humidity and acidic sweat are not good for these " leather" seats.....

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The leather is of a basic minimum standard.
The most basic of leathers in my sample books are an upgrade.
...and I don't even like to sell that stuff.
The labor rate is the same no matter the quality of the materials.
If putting out that kinda cash for a recover, why use a lesser grade of material?

sewlow said:

Nope. Neither of my trucks = W/T.
My '97. A Silverado. No power anything. No tilt. Stickshift.
My '98. A Sierra. Tilt, cruise & air. No power windows or mirrors.



I've collected a few of those early seats. Among a fair amount of other 400 parts & pieces.
(NO! Not hoarding! It's a 'collection'! A division of the 'GMT400 Preservation Society'! It's a taxation thing.)
My favorite bench seat of all is the early one with the small driver side fold-down armrest.
Those later '95+ bench seats? A couple of hours driving & I'd be searching for the nearest chiropractor!


Bench seat? With the 3-scooped backrests? That's '95+.
The flat backrest benches are '88-'94.
'88-'91 benches have no headrests.
'88-'91 have two styles of buckets. High-back & low-back.
'88-'91 low-back buckets have no headrests.

Truck or Suburban? Only the burbs got the leather in that year. Every other 400 got vinyl.
You will never find covers for them.
'Pleather' is a marketing term for vinyl.

The leather is of a basic minimum standard.
The most basic of leathers in my sample books are an upgrade.
...and I don't even like to sell that stuff.
The labor rate is the same no matter the quality of the materials.
If putting out that kinda cash for a recover, why use a lesser grade of material?

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Yup. That's one reason why I want to transplant the seats from the '06 Yukon XL Denali; they're covered with better stuff and I already have them!

1500z71 said:

@Fireball5657 @hot_rod4

https://www.hemmings.com/auction/1994-chevrolet-silverado-704918

Look what google found for me. Man that's awesome. My guess is they were maybe planning on doing it, but with the new interior on the way it was scrapped, and whatever few kits that they had supply of were just cleared off wherever they could. @Fireball5657 you're right on every feature it looks like

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That seat's had work done. Poor color match.