Toyota 4Runner Interior Fabric Replacement Options
Seats in your 4Runner looking a little shoddy? Here’s some member tips on finding the right materials to get them looking like new again!
Like death and taxes, it’s inevitable. Eventually, sliding your back side across the seats in your 4Runner is going to wear that fabric out. Soon, stitching comes loose and holes form. And even if that doesn’t happen, lighter colors will inevitably begin to show wear and dirt that you can’t get out. In most cases, this means you can simply go online and order replacement covers or fabric. But it isn’t always that easy.
It sure isn’t for owners of the first and second gen Toyota 4Runner, anyway. So when you can’t find suitable replacement fabric for your seats, what do you do? Give up and try to ignore (or hide!) those shoddy seats? It’s a question posed by Yota Tech member Charles4x4 in this thread following his own failed search.
“My ’87 4Runner SR5 seat structure and cushioning are in great shape. Small quarter sized tears and flaws in both the driver and passenger seats along with a big blue stain on the rear seat. Does anyone offer SR5 fabric replacement options (I know they have these in leather for my 80 series) to put all new gray fabric on the seats? Or am I stuck looking for better seats at a junkyard? Or asking a local trim shop to do the repairs, which sometimes costs as much as a full replacement? What options do we have?”
Luckily, this isn’t anything new to Yota Tech members. Unfortunately, the answer to the problem isn’t so simple. Nobody makes replacement logo fabric for these early 4Runners any more. So as highonpottery points out from a previous thread, you’re basically stuck with two options. Either find an upholstery shop capable of matching the fabric color and doing some custom stitching, or locate a set of used seats in good condition. So the OP starts his search with the former suggestion.
“Update. I dropped my seats off at our local trim shop a couple weeks ago. The owner spent two hours looking through automotive fabric books, but said the ’87 SR5 4Runner was not in any of the books she has access to. Their only solution at this point is to use some grey side fabric from a replacement Chevy seat kit to replace my worn out side pieces (not touching the middle). Does anyone have any other ideas to find the right side fabric for grey SR5 seats? Or is a “close match” from a Chevy fabric seat kit the best I am going to find?”
For a simple fabric color match without worrying about logos, gandude suggests checking out bulk retailers.
“I would take a swath of the original fabric to Joann Fabric, Micheal’s Crafts, Hobby Lobby, Beverly’s Crafts, etc. You may be surprised.”
In the end, the OP wound up going with a closely matched grey Chevy fabric seat replacement option from his local shop. Which, unfortunately, is probably his best option at this point. On the bright side, since it’s a common part, it probably won’t be too expensive.
Do you have any suggestions on where fellow 4Runner owners can find replacement fabric for their rides? Head over here and chime in, because there are plenty of folks that would love to get their hands on that information!
