Pix of the seats would help.
Upholstery is like bodywork.
Without pix, it's like someone phoning a bodyshop & asking "How much to fix the dent in my truck?"
Too many variables.
Anyways...
1. New foam cushion buns may or not be required depending on the condition of the ones in the seats right now.
It's a good idea, considering the minimum age of these trucks is at least 17 or 18 years old, now. Next to the frame, they're the foundation for the covers.
But if you're being budget conscious, those are pretty expensive for what they are. A good upholsterer could fix up & build up the existing foam that's in the seats now. That $225.00 would be equal to 4.25 hours here in my shop. Even if there was $100.00 in foam needed, there's still over 3 hours that could be put towards fixing the existing.
2. Backrests take a lot less wear & tear than the cushions. Unless they've been gnawed on by a dog, the foam is usually in fairly decent shape. 99% of the time, much better shape than the cushions. If they do need repairs, most times, it's more financially sound to repair/rebuild what's in there now.
3. $699.00 for those covers? That's a good price. For me to make up those covers, just to purchase the leather would damn near equal the cost of those finished covers.
Small shops don't have the buying power to reach 'The Good Guy' price levels available when buying in larger quantities. Leather can only be purchased by the hide. Most hides are in the 45-50 sq.ft. range. I've seen smaller & I've seen much larger (91sq.ft! Big F'n cow!)
The cost of such is based on price per square foot. That price per sq/ft, can vary greatly depending on the quality & the various dyeing methods used.
I can get you leather for $6.00/sq/ft., but I wouldn't recommend, nor would I offer any warranty on that. You'd be better off with vinyl. It'd last longer!
A 'good' quality hide, (servicable grade, certainly not 'top-shelf') would start in the $12.00-$14.00 sq/ft. level. This is in the range of the original OEM quality.
That $$$ per sq/ft would be my cost when buying one to 5 hides. The price break would occur after that, but would only drop the cost down to maybe $2.00 less per sq/ft.
So, if a hide averages 50 sq/ft, one hide would cost $600.00-$700.00.
It takes 18 sq/ft to make one linear yard of fabric. (54"x36") So, that 50 sq/ft of leather only equals approx. 3.75 yards of roll stock. Now when that cost per sq/ft is translated into a linear yardage cost, you're looking at someting like $175.00+ per yard! Good vinyl is in the $25.00-$30.00 per yard price range.
And...with leather, there's a lot of waste. Holes & scars (barbed wire) have to be worked around, plus, only certain parts of the hide can be used for certain parts of the seat covers. Therefor, the cost per sq/ft consequently goes up, when compared to the actual useful amount of leather in a hide.
Not only that, but do you realize that only the faces of the seats, (the part you sit on) is the only part of the seat cover that is actually leather. The bands & the outer backs are vinyl. GM & 99% of all auto manufacturers do this. It's a cost per unit thing.
Then there's the labour to make up the covers.
From the minute they hit the bench, to the moment they go out the door, barring any major repairs to the frame, foam &/or electrical, there's going to be around 20 hours of re-&-re, fabrication & stitching time.
That's for a straight up recover. A duplication of the original covers. Anything custom would be charged out at straight time, over & above. $50.00/per.hr.
Now, these guys offering up pre-made covers are working off of patterns that they have already invested the time into making. That cuts down their time to manufacture them. I work on an individual projects at a time. It's always something different. Not often do I see the same job over & over enough to justify the time into actually making & consequently having to store & catalogue patterns.
But! (but...but...but!) I make $$$ on materials. Not a lot. But I do.
Sometimes, that's the only part of the job where I actually do make money.
I'm fussy. The last job is my standard for the next one. I'm only as good as the quality of the last one, even after damn near 40 years of doing this.
It's in my own best interests to the best job I'm capable of. And because I am so fussy, there are very few projects where I actually do make that $50.00/hr. I'd rather the job be perfect & the customer happy.
It's not like I'm making stuff & then sending it away, never knowing if the ability of the installer is up to the quality of the cover. Or, if a cover is supplied by the vehicle's owner, if the construction of the cover is up to my standards. Many come close. A lot don't.
For instance, I just waited 6 months for an interior kit to be made for a low-production Canadian-built Pontiac. Only the one Co. has the original materials for that car.
...and, what a joke. Instead of recieving some nice pre-made covers that should of fit the seats with no problems & an installation that required me to do nothing more than close my eyes & throw them on the frames, I had to spend 2 days making them 'right'. Like, tearing them down to the basic parts & resewing it all back together. There were glaring mistakes in the construction that were sooo wrong, the owner would of been better off just ordering the roll-stock & having me make up those covers. The way that they were constructed would never have resulted in a quality finished project.
That Co. is selling covers that had so many mistakes & were so wrong, that if any of my students, (Yea, I teach this stuff.) even with minimum experience, offered up something like those covers that that Co. charged good money for, they'd recieve an outright fail grade & would be starting the project over. Absolute crap!
Besides, I'm face-to-face with the customer.
I have a personal connection not only to the job, but to the customer too. And he knows where to find me if there is ever an issue within my offered warranty period. I offer that for one year on my workmanship.
Be prepared for a run-around if you ever have to make a warranty claim on those pre-made covers. They'll cough up enough caveats & disclaimers to discourage you from getting any kind of satisfaction towards getting the issue resolved.
Now, if someone is to bring in pre-made covers to me to install, you can bet that I'm going to add-on a hidden upcharge in order to make up for the $$$ I didn't make on the sale of the materials. Sorry, but that's business. I have overhead costs to cover at the end of every month. I have to keep the doors open somehow.
4. See above.
5. Lol! No.
Apologies for the mumbled ramblings.
I got on a roll! Lol!
