Whether you use your F150 for hauling construction materials and tools, or mostly take it out for a quick trip to the grocery store, one thing’s for certain – your truck’s seats will get dirty at some point. All it takes is just a single coffee spill to mess up your seats and to lower the resale value of your truck. No bueno.
Luckily, you can easily avoid that by simply covering your truck’s seats with a nice set of seat covers.
However, depending on the manufacturer, seat covers can be tricky to install. But to help you out, here’s a brief overview of the whole seat cover installation process for both F150 and F250, as the seats on both models are the same.
How To Choose Seat Covers for Ford F150 & F250
Before we dive into the How-To, here are a few things that you should keep in mind if you haven’t purchased seat covers yet.
First of all, seat covers come in two styles: universal and custom-fit. Universal seat covers are easy to come by and easy to install as well. Custom-fit seat covers, as the name suggests, are specifically designed to fit your exact make and model, which means that they need to be ordered online. They are much more expensive when compared to universal seat covers, but they will look and feel ten times better. Another important benefit of custom-fit seat covers is that they are specifically designed to work with seat airbags (most F150s and F250 have them).
Now, in order to keep the cost down and to appeal to a broader audience, universal seat cover manufacturers leave the sides of the seat exposed. Depending on what you’re looking for, this could affect the look and feel of the seat cover in a negative way.
In most cases, universal seat covers tend to move around when you get in and out of your truck. This is quite annoying, but to prevent that, some manufacturers coat the underside with anti-slip rubber. Unfortunately, sometimes that rubber coating is uncomfortable to sit on.
On the other hand, custom-fit seat covers do not suffer from the same drawbacks. However, their main drawback is their price. More often than not, custom fit seat covers are made from premium materials, like faux leather and duck-weave fabric. This makes them more durable and more visually appealing, but it also increases their price.
In the end, it all comes down to your budget and the reason why you’d want them in the first place. Universal seat covers will get the job done for a fraction of the price, albeit, they won’t look and fit as good. On the other hand, custom-fit seat covers have the added benefit of fitting like a glove and upgrading the look of your F150’s interior.
How To Install Seat Covers on a Ford F150 & F250
The following steps are mainly intended for seat cover installation on the 2015-2018 F150 & F250, however, these steps are very similar for later models. Also, keep in mind that the installation process might be slightly different depending on your specific set of seat covers.
1. Start With The Front Headrests
Remove the headrests by pushing in the tabs and lifting the headrest up. If there are no tabs, push an end of an S clip inside the pinhole which is located on plastic headrest adjusters.
2. Install The Front Seat Headrest Covers
With the headrests removed, installing the headrest covers should be a breeze. They simply slide over the headrest and are secured by Velcro. Once the headrest covers are tucked in and installed, put them aside as the headrests need to be off in order to install the front seat covers.
3. Slide The Front Seat Cover Over The Front Driver’s Seat
Make sure you tuck the seat cover in around any plastic. If your seat covers have airbag flaps, tuck them inside and make sure that the airbag can easily deploy without obstructions.
4. Pass The Buckles Through The Seat
Do not pull on the buckles as they can rip the fabric. What you should do instead is pull the fabric itself to avoid tearing. Pass the straps under the seat while avoiding any sharp edges.
5. Connect The Buckles Under The Seat And Tighten
Make sure that the strap is clear from any sharp edges and is not pushing/pulling on any wires or connectors.
6. Tuck The Seat Cover In & Put The Headrests Back On
Place the headrests inside the retaining holes and push on the adjustment tabs. Slide down the headrests to your prefered height.
7. Once You’re Finished With The Front Seats Move On To The Back Seats
8. Remove The Back Seat Headrests
The headrest adjustment mechanism is exactly the same as the front headrests. Just push on the tabs and lift the headrest.
9. Install The Back Seat Headrest Covers
Just slide the covers on, tuck them in and secure them with Velcro. Put them aside while you install the back seat covers.
10. Slide The Back Seat Cushion Cover Over The Seat Bottom
To do that, you’ll have to lift up the back seat cushions by pulling on the underside plastic latch and lifting the cushion up.
11. Pass The Buckles/Velcro Straps Between The Seat & Secure Them Together
12. Fold Down The Rear Seat
Do that by reaching over the seat and pulling up on the metal latch.
13. Slide The Top Back Seat Cover Over The Seat
Remember to tuck the seat cover in around any plastic trim, for example – around the plastic headrest adjusters.
14. Connect & Secure The Top Back Seat Cover Straps/Velcro
Conclusion
Seat covers are a great investment if you like to preserve the look of your F150 and keep its resale value high. They, however, can give you quite a workout when it’s time to install them on the original seats.
Remember to take your time and if it feels like something is going to break or rip – then it likely is. In that case, take a step back, look for anything obvious that you or the manufacturer might have missed, and try again. The end result is definitely worth it.
Eddie is the co-founder of CarCareCamp.com, and the site’s primary contributor.
Under his belt, Eddie has a bachelor’s degree in Automotive Electronics Engineering and almost a decade of experience working as a semi-truck technician (specializing in electrics).
