Just wanted to let everyone know that GM puts vinyl rear seats in extended cab pickups with LT (leather) trim.

Found out 5 months after purchasing. Called 25 different dealers and only 1 knew the LT's were vinyl covered.

2004 2500HD Ext Cab, SB, Black, with Juice Attitude, Flowmaster Muffler, K&N air filter

Same with Crew Cabs, even your fronts are leather on seating surfaces only.


Most are done this way, even in Corvettes.

That was one reason I went with cloth seats. Vinyl still cracks when it gets really cold.

The crews have leather inserts. On both the driver and passenger side the center section is real leather. The rest is vinal. It's pretty easy to tell the difference if you take a close look at it.

Per the fine print in the Feb 2004 version of the brochure (pg. 33):

".... Custom Leather seating surfaces (rear vinyl on Extended Cab):".

The 2005 brochure does not mention the extended cab exception.

That was one reason I went with cloth seats. Vinyl still cracks when it gets really cold.
Same exact reason I went with cloth as well..........plus I think GM leather is not as durable as other car makers use...........it seems to develope a lot of cracks in it..........

T:cool: NY

The vinyl used now is MUCH more durable then in previous years. I have NEVER seen a rear seat in a GM pickup crack. As far as durability of the leather, ever see a Ford Superduty with leather after 50K?

Sorry -- this is a little http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/images/smilies/offtopic.gif, but I have a crack on the drivers side armrest (where my right elbow rides) -- can this be repaired/replaced?

-Jeff

Yes a good upholstery shop can fix it. If you are under warranty you should even be able to get it fixed under warranty.

I agree with you scott saleen.... FURD SD's leather goes to SHIAT after 50-60k ..... I noticed this trend whilst shopping for used diesels this past summer.

I down graded my truck to get vinyl seats and rubber mats. Cloth seats and carpeting don't belong in a truck.

Found a statement in the sales brochures to the limited use of leather back in 02 and acted accordingly.

Yeah, it is easy for me to distinguish leather vs. vinyl, and I traded a 1998 Z71 ext cab with leather, granted the back and sides were vinyl, but the rear seat was leather. The quality of the '98 leather was much better than the 2004 also. I purchased the 2004 LT December 2003, the brochures only said "Leather seating surfaces" nothing noted about vinyl rear in extended cabs. I assumed since my '98 had leather in the rear so did the 2004, WRONG!!! I learned a valuable lesson about vehicle changes, check out all aspects of the new vehicle, don't assume anything, right down to the brand of lamps used. You'll find some GM cost savings there also. But there again, all manufactures of any product will cut cost where possible.

Btw, GM did give me 24,000 oil and lube chassis in lieu of the leather seating dispute, but changing the oil myself at 3000-4000 intervals and using Delo 400 15w40 oil, might as well grease the chassis myself also. Needless to say, I haven't used the "exchange for the leather, oil and chassis" deal and don't plan on it.

"LT" isn't what it used to be.

All in all, the 2004 LT Extcab SB Duramax/Allison with the Edge/Attitude module is unbelievable, will smoke the Michelin LTX/MS 265x75X16 tires with ease, even at 45MPH. At 70mph on bumpy road, got to watch those high spots, will chirp tires not even at half throttle. Wet roads could be dangerous.

The Ford rear crew seats arent leather either.

It will smoke the tires with ease at 45mph? "LT" must stand for "light truck".

Hehe - this thread made me laugh because I bought the LT "vinyleatherific" and immediately covered it up with Covercraft covers after bringing it home.

That was based on my experience with my '97 LT that has cracks all over it. I figured this way when I go to sell it, it'll look like new. My wife cannot understand it but neither the sun, nor my 4 year-old will destroy these seats!

Reminds me of that "Everyone Loves Raymond" episode where Marie had the plastic covers all over her couches. Yeah, that's me. ;)

Same with Crew Cabs, even your fronts are leather on seating surfaces only.


Most are done this way, even in Corvettes.
According to the Chevy brochure the seating surfaces on the front seats are leather and the seating surfaces on the rear seats in CC are leather as well.

I have an EC 1500 SS and the rear seat is all vinyl and the brochure states that. My leather is perfect and the vinyl is excellent quality so much so that's it's very difficult to tell it's vinyl from the leather counterpart.

I just ordered a CC 2500HD and made sure from the dealer that what is stated above is so...

This practice has become common amoung auto makers. I remember a year or 2 ago, the Toyota plant I work at got a Honda Accord and dismantled it during a benchmarking exercise (also common among auto makers) and then sent out a survey on the results. One issue was that Honda was gaining profits by using vinyl on seat everywhere but seat surface and that they were going to go the same route.

I bought a 2004 2500HD D/A CC SB work truck package (vinyl seats and rubberized vinyl floor). The seats are as comfortable as those in my wife's Yukon XLT. They're not like those 70s Ford Torino vinyl seats! And, I saved ~$3000 which I spent on wheels (M/T Classics), tires (265 BFG MTs), hypertech chip, Linex, and a custom stereo system w/a Sirius tuner...

-McDermop