PSA: Use Vinyl protectants on your Lariat seat bolsters ASAP

[MichaelCA]

ford use cheap vinyl so for Lariat people take note. Clean and use vinyl protectants like Chemical Guys VRP or Carpro Perl on the grey parts on our seats. It’s vinyl, unlike the leather part in the seat bottom and the seat back(where your back touches). The plasticizer in vinyl will dry out/age from the sun/flexing with us sitting in it. I was a bit neglectful on my Mustang (2016) and the bolsters started to crack. Feel the grey vinyl area around the bolsters/upper part of the seat with your hands and give it a press, it may feel harder/stiffer than say the back seats which don’t get used as much. The stiffening is the plasticizer leaving the material. VRP will keep the plasticizer in and act as a barrier/moisturizer.

I believe in 2024, Ford as an “eco” move changed out the Lariats seats to full “ActiveX” vinyl too…

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[CD4TNF]

Timely. I was just thinking my side arm rest material was starting to get old and stiff feeling. Would the Chemical Guys VRP work for softening and protecting that?

 

[MichaelCA]

Timely. I was just thinking my side arm rest material was starting to get old and stiff feeling. Would the Chemical Guys VRP work for softening and protecting that?

It softened mine a bit. It’s needed regardless to keep it from further degrading. I see that people recommend 303 aerospace protectant as that’s more durable. I just had VRP around. There’s also Koch Top star that I’m also looking at as well.
My Tesla model 3 is older than the lightning but its vinyl is superior and still as soft as new. I hate that ford cheaped out on this

 

[CD4TNF]

Thank you for the confirmation and recommendation! That's the fun of car detailing. There's so many products! Time to buy something new to try out.

 

[MichaelCA]

Thank you for the confirmation and recommendation! That's the fun of car detailing. There's so many products! Time to buy something new to try out.

Koch seems to be the most nourishing so I’ll be getting that.
Also, I did two applications, second one after like a day it seemed to help more.

 

[P-38]

Just making sure I read this right. The black parts of my seat are leather but the gray parts are vinyl?

I have "leather" seats not active x on my 24, part way thru they switched over

 

[MichaelCA]

Just making sure I read this right. The black parts of my seat are leather but the gray parts are vinyl?

I have "leather" seats not active x on my 24, part way thru they switched over

Yep. Black parts of the seat is real leather. rest is vinyl. the center armrest is also vinyl.

 

[Henry Ford]

A sun screen in your windshield will help the cause. It reduces UV and sun exposure.

 

[MichaelCA]

Just making sure I read this right. The black parts of my seat are leather but the gray parts are vinyl?

I have "leather" seats not active x on my 24, part way thru they switched over

Made a mistake. I believe only the seat bottom and the seat back (the perforated section where your back rests on when sitting) are leather. The black part would be vinyl as well.

 

[MaintGrl]

Should you do this? No. Can you do this? Yes. It works great as long as you disconnect the ground prong on your suicide cord or it will trip the gfi in the trucks inverter. Works well as long as it’s done safely.

Huh?

 

[Rtashiro]

Huh?

Sorry wrong thread!

 

[majorgearhead]

On my 23 Lariat with advertised leather seats, the perforated part is grey and the side strips are black. That being said the majority of the seat is grey in mine. The grey surfaces feel and look like leather. Could it be that the opposite is true in my model where the grey is real leather and the black is the stuff made of murdered Naugah’s (Naugahyde)?

Or do I have a model with true leather seats?

Been using Maguiar’s Leather Conditioner on my seats and they are as supple as the day I bought the truck.

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