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sooperxtool
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jan 13, 2010
- Messages
- 230
- City
- Colorado Springs
- Vehicle Year
- 1997 1993 2004
- Transmission
- Manual
The upholstery in my 04 is in impressively good condition, so I'd like to keep it that way if possible. I knew a few requirements I was looking for :
- Durable, I like camping and hiking and dirt bikes so I knew I wanted something to withstand abuse
- Mounting options, I realize there are seat back MOLLE panels but by the time you add them up with a set of decent covers you end up paying more going that route
- Decent fit, I knew that there would be a compromise just based on the materials that are available but I didn't want a generic 60/40 seat cover that would be annoying
So I concluded that these Coverking Tactical Ballistic covers were the best option I could come up with. They took a couple weeks to arrive being a made to order item, but I can accept that. I ordered from autoanything on 1/21 and they just got here yesterday, 2/13. Not bad.
The first thing I looked at when I opened the box were the included pouches. I wasn't expecting a whole lot but I was pleasantly surprised. They appear to be well constructed and should serve their purpose just fine being mounted to a seat. I haven't decided on a use for all of them so far, but one of them I have settled on jumper cable storage which it should handle well. Its roughly 9x11x3, plenty of room. The other pouches include a draw string closeable, and roll up sowable ''dump pouch'' about 8x12. This has a hard plastic hoop around the opening which should hold it open quite nicely. Its lined with a relatively soft material and I wouldn't want to put trash or anything dirty directly in, but that could potentially be resolved with a grocery bag. The other 4 pouches are smaller, ranging from about 8x3 to 2x2 with some including elastic on the inside for organization.
Installation was relatively straight forward, and I did go ahead and watch the installation video Coverking has on their website, which was concise and well done and was specific to a Ranger. Impressed. It wasn't specific to this particular cover model, but the principles all applied.
I went ahead and removed my seats for installation because after inspecting the under side of them, I figured it would be much easier to route the straps how I wanted them. I do recommend this for saving yourself from inevitable expletives.
With the seats removed, install was pretty straightforward and pain free. Speaking of pain, they include one kevlar glove to protect against the sharp edges you can find under the seat. I didn't end up using it, but its a nice touch. They also include a set of safety glasses. I opted to use the squint method which complies with OSHA regulations. Again, nice touch albeit a little excessive perhaps.
The last bit of included extras were some rubber non-slip pads to reduce the potential sliding on the lower cover, and an installation tool. The tool was very effective and well designed. It passes straps between the seat halves with great ease. The other end is intended for tucking some of the cover material into the trim on the seat sides which was effective.
I would say the biggest trouble of the entire process was the removal and installation of the trim pieces on the rear feet of the seats. Overall, it went quite smoothly and took me roughly an hour and a half I think. The longest portion of that being the extra steps involved in pulling the seats. I think doing that likely saves a lot of awkward positions and flashlight batteries.
I haven't mounted anything to the MOLLE system yet, but it appears well constructed. Something to note - the entire seat back minus the head rest is compatible with hook Velcro, but not actual loop so I probably wouldn't trust it with any significant load. Patches and similar items should be fine.
On to the negatives.
I personally am pleased with the fit, although they aren't ''skin tight''. I find this to be acceptable given that the material does not stretch whatsoever. If it were, I would expect a tighter fit. There are obvious wrinkles but not to the point where the material doubles over. The upper portion of the cover on the seat back does ''bubble'' a bit but it seems to have mostly gone away on the driver side after just a few miles of driving.
There are some holes where some Ranger models have a cupholder, mine does not and I didn't see an option to not have holes. Again, not a huge deal for me but a nuisance all the same.
There are a couple hooks attached with elastic that dont really have a clear spot to hook them to. They are just glazed over in the video with no real instruction. I just had to use my best judgement. If one were to leave the seats in the vehicle, these would be an extreme hassle. With there being no written instruction, this was a bit of a letdown.
The center console cover is pretty sub par. It is functional, but is pretty unsightly. To their credit, I think it is about as good as you could realistically do with it. It does create some extra pockets that I could see finding a use for. But it looks like crap.
Overall, I am pleased with these seat covers and I would purchase them again for a truck. I would not enjoy them as much if looks were important. But I think they are very fitting for a pickup truck.
I plan to keep this post updated since this is really only a first impressions post. I would not call this a review since I have hardly had any significant amount of time with them.
You'll have to excuse my photography skills.
- Durable, I like camping and hiking and dirt bikes so I knew I wanted something to withstand abuse
- Mounting options, I realize there are seat back MOLLE panels but by the time you add them up with a set of decent covers you end up paying more going that route
- Decent fit, I knew that there would be a compromise just based on the materials that are available but I didn't want a generic 60/40 seat cover that would be annoying
So I concluded that these Coverking Tactical Ballistic covers were the best option I could come up with. They took a couple weeks to arrive being a made to order item, but I can accept that. I ordered from autoanything on 1/21 and they just got here yesterday, 2/13. Not bad.
The first thing I looked at when I opened the box were the included pouches. I wasn't expecting a whole lot but I was pleasantly surprised. They appear to be well constructed and should serve their purpose just fine being mounted to a seat. I haven't decided on a use for all of them so far, but one of them I have settled on jumper cable storage which it should handle well. Its roughly 9x11x3, plenty of room. The other pouches include a draw string closeable, and roll up sowable ''dump pouch'' about 8x12. This has a hard plastic hoop around the opening which should hold it open quite nicely. Its lined with a relatively soft material and I wouldn't want to put trash or anything dirty directly in, but that could potentially be resolved with a grocery bag. The other 4 pouches are smaller, ranging from about 8x3 to 2x2 with some including elastic on the inside for organization.
Installation was relatively straight forward, and I did go ahead and watch the installation video Coverking has on their website, which was concise and well done and was specific to a Ranger. Impressed. It wasn't specific to this particular cover model, but the principles all applied.
I went ahead and removed my seats for installation because after inspecting the under side of them, I figured it would be much easier to route the straps how I wanted them. I do recommend this for saving yourself from inevitable expletives.
With the seats removed, install was pretty straightforward and pain free. Speaking of pain, they include one kevlar glove to protect against the sharp edges you can find under the seat. I didn't end up using it, but its a nice touch. They also include a set of safety glasses. I opted to use the squint method which complies with OSHA regulations. Again, nice touch albeit a little excessive perhaps.
The last bit of included extras were some rubber non-slip pads to reduce the potential sliding on the lower cover, and an installation tool. The tool was very effective and well designed. It passes straps between the seat halves with great ease. The other end is intended for tucking some of the cover material into the trim on the seat sides which was effective.
I would say the biggest trouble of the entire process was the removal and installation of the trim pieces on the rear feet of the seats. Overall, it went quite smoothly and took me roughly an hour and a half I think. The longest portion of that being the extra steps involved in pulling the seats. I think doing that likely saves a lot of awkward positions and flashlight batteries.
I haven't mounted anything to the MOLLE system yet, but it appears well constructed. Something to note - the entire seat back minus the head rest is compatible with hook Velcro, but not actual loop so I probably wouldn't trust it with any significant load. Patches and similar items should be fine.
On to the negatives.
I personally am pleased with the fit, although they aren't ''skin tight''. I find this to be acceptable given that the material does not stretch whatsoever. If it were, I would expect a tighter fit. There are obvious wrinkles but not to the point where the material doubles over. The upper portion of the cover on the seat back does ''bubble'' a bit but it seems to have mostly gone away on the driver side after just a few miles of driving.
There are some holes where some Ranger models have a cupholder, mine does not and I didn't see an option to not have holes. Again, not a huge deal for me but a nuisance all the same.
There are a couple hooks attached with elastic that dont really have a clear spot to hook them to. They are just glazed over in the video with no real instruction. I just had to use my best judgement. If one were to leave the seats in the vehicle, these would be an extreme hassle. With there being no written instruction, this was a bit of a letdown.
The center console cover is pretty sub par. It is functional, but is pretty unsightly. To their credit, I think it is about as good as you could realistically do with it. It does create some extra pockets that I could see finding a use for. But it looks like crap.
Overall, I am pleased with these seat covers and I would purchase them again for a truck. I would not enjoy them as much if looks were important. But I think they are very fitting for a pickup truck.
I plan to keep this post updated since this is really only a first impressions post. I would not call this a review since I have hardly had any significant amount of time with them.
You'll have to excuse my photography skills.
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