Mojave Premium Fabric Versus Leather

[Dewyaw]

I’ve always been a leather guy, just defaulted to leather. Every vehicle I’ve ever owned I had leather. (Except the Tacoma). I too am about to pull the trigger on a Mojave, and thought long and hard about the choice. My conclusion....

I’m going cloth.

First is cost obviously. $1500 is a lot of money, and for me I’d rather put that towards a RTT, rack, compressor, you name it. The list is longgggggggg.

Second, leather does get hot and sticky. My work truck has cloth, and in the sweltering Houston summers, I absolutely notice a difference in the heat.

Third, leather is slick. Good for getting in and out of the vehicle, bad for actually driving. This is most important for me. In the Mojave we plan on doing some fast desert running in the Chihuahuan desert in Big Bend NP area. Cloth keeps you planted in your seat, not sliding side to side during cornering as you would with leather. As a driver, I want to be planted in my seat.

Those are my main reasons I’m going cloth. If I want a change, for half the cost I can put in a good set of seat covers.

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[GladiSD]

I’ve always been a leather guy, just defaulted to leather. Every vehicle I’ve ever owned I had leather. (Except the Tacoma). I too am about to pull the trigger on a Mojave, and thought long and hard about the choice. My conclusion....

I’m going cloth.

First is cost obviously. $1500 is a lot of money, and for me I’d rather put that towards a RTT, rack, compressor, you name it. The list is longgggggggg.

Second, leather does get hot and sticky. My work truck has cloth, and in the sweltering Houston summers, I absolutely notice a difference in the heat.

Third, leather is slick. Good for getting in and out of the vehicle, bad for actually driving. This is most important for me. In the Mojave we plan on doing some fast desert running in the Chihuahuan desert in Big Bend NP area. Cloth keeps you planted in your seat, not sliding side to side during cornering as you would with leather. As a driver, I want to be planted in my seat.

Those are my main reasons I’m going cloth. If I want a change, for half the cost I can put in a good set of seat covers.

IMHO, I’m in agreement with you. The Mojave I ordered wears a $60k window sticker but I opted for cloth. Right now, some internet warriors are about to rip their hair out(if they have any left.)

I had cloth in my JK that sat in the sun for years and was abused and beaten. It stood the test of time with a doorless/roofless setup. If I had leather, it would have been in terrible shape at that point as the Jeep would sit in direct Utah/California/Arizona sun for days on end on trails and in campgrounds. Cloth is just the wiser choice for those that are gonna really use the vehicle in the outdoors WITH the doors and roof off all the time.

 

[SloW8]

I went with cloth for comfort in the heat. I like to run with the top and doors off, even when its 90+ (32+) degrees and find the breath-ability of the cloth works way better for my sweaty backside. If they had cooled/vented leather seats, I would have opted for that.

My JKU had cloth and it wore really well. I am generally cognizant of the bolster and try to give a little extra hop over the top of it to help it wear longer. I don't like seat covers as they usually have pretty sloppy fit. The new ones from PCP seem to fit well and not have that problem.

 

[Dewyaw]

The new ones from PCP seem to fit well and not have that problem.

**Paging Dr Freud...**

 

[SloW8]

**Paging Dr Freud...**

PRP, PCP, toe-may-toe, toe-mah-toe...

 

[kickingaz]

I do a lot of off-roading (like many of us here on the forums) and depending upon the time of year, I will have the top off. I find the leather much easier to clean and the Arizona dust does not get into the fabric like it would with a cloth interior.

 

[skinnercreature]

Even more great input. Thanks again to you guys. I cannot ask my wife one more time what she thinks......Ideally the screwdriver WOULD stay in the toolbox, if the owner wasn't an absent minded idiot...

Heads leather, tails fabric.....

 

[capercrew02]

When I ordered my rubicon I had the same dilemma. I’m Usually a leather guy, but really liked the premium cloth. So I decided to get the factory cloth, and then got custom seat covers from PRP, they look factory, are easy to install, saved money, and I have the best of both worlds now. And you can make it your own. After a year of hard use and abuse they still look amazing. First picture is day of install, second is today, 16k miles later.

 

[hayasa]

Question - when you chose leather on the online builder, it appears to change the back seats and adds a fold down armrest with cup holders. What is back there for the cloth seats? Do you completely lose the armrest?

 

[kickingaz]

Question - when you chose leather on the online builder, it appears to change the back seats and adds a fold down armrest with cup holders. What is back there for the cloth seats? Do you completely lose the armrest?

Correct. You only get the fold down armrest with the leather interior, otherwise the seat back is solid with no fold downs.

 

[skinnercreature]

IMHO, I’m in agreement with you. The Mojave I ordered wears a $60k window sticker but I opted for cloth. Right now, some internet warriors are about to rip their hair out(if they have any left.)

I had cloth in my JK that sat in the sun for years and was abused and beaten. It stood the test of time with a doorless/roofless setup. If I had leather, it would have been in terrible shape at that point as the Jeep would sit in direct Utah/California/Arizona sun for days on end on trails and in campgrounds. Cloth is just the wiser choice for those that are gonna really use the vehicle in the outdoors WITH the doors and roof off all the time.

Thanks very much for this. I was leaning leather but now cloth probably the direction. $1500 is a lot of money, but the bigger thing is comfort. I love the look of leather, but I just think cloth is more comfortable. The Mojave I will order will have the premium soft top also.....I will definitely be using outdoors.

 

[skinnercreature]

When I ordered my rubicon I had the same dilemma. I’m Usually a leather guy, but really liked the premium cloth. So I decided to get the factory cloth, and then got custom seat covers from PRP, they look factory, are easy to install, saved money, and I have the best of both worlds now. And you can make it your own. After a year of hard use and abuse they still look amazing. First picture is day of install, second is today, 16k miles later.

Thanks for the pictures. They look great.

 

[rvillano8188]

I went leather with my Rubi, mostly because I feared what would happen with cloth seats when getting stuck in a rainstorm. Took me exactly 2 weeks of ownership before that happened. Generally I'm a cloth guy, but I love the Tan leather, and also the cupholder in the back not being there was an issue for me.

 

[Redjk07]

In all the jeeps I have owned I don't want Leather even though I prefer leather but if you have the top off in the summer even driving down the road in 95 plus heat its going to be hot! I have always put seat covers on just to protect the OEM seats and to give it a different look. And then if they do get dirty you can take them off and wash them a lot easier than factory! It also depends on what you are going to be doing and where your going to be running at! So good luck with your choice! But that light grey leather looks SWEET!!!!!!!!!

 

[firemedic2714]

I've got the standard Rubicon fabric and a set of Smittybilt ballistic waterproof seat covers. They're fantastic and also machine washable.

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