My guess is that this has been discussed before. I didn't bother to search, however, because there's enough of us newbies around here that I think the discussion is worth having again.

Anyone got an opinion on whether or not the heated seat option is bad for your Castano leather? I jumped in the truck yesterday while it was still snowing and blowing to run to the bank (well, er, the local neighborhood watering hole is along the path back home). The interior was freezing and the seat was down right COLD! Why not? Kicked the heated seat right on. MAN, does that thing get hot quick. But I have to admit it was cozy! So, of course, being truck obsessed, I began to wonder if I was cooking my leather into the grave? Thoughts on this folks?

 

You may not like my response, but anyway....

Use it like it's a stolen.

I have this attitude with all my cars/trucks.

I sit on the leather, touch everything with my bare hands, put my feet on the floor, and I don't much care what happens to it. I'm not going to save this stuff for the next owner. I paid for this stuff, and I'm going to enjoy it.

If it wears out, or breaks, I'll get it fixed/replaced.

I'm not saying be careless........just use and enjoy the stuff you paid for.

Not using this stuff is like leaving the plastic on the sofa, or the lamp shades.

 

Well, I think I pretty much share your view on that, philosophically, and I like your response just fine. If you look at my posts and pics here, you'll see I punish this truck pretty dang good (probably more than most). It's a truck; drive it and use it like one. But man did that seat heater get TOASTY! And that's leather we're talking about here. So the question really is whether or not a few minutes of toasting the ol' buns is worth it? Probably the consensus will be yes, but I thought I'd throw it out there and see what comes back.

And on the flip side of your example, would you buy new lamps to put out for your summer garage sale? Only if you had more money than sense.

There is something to be said for driving trucks like trucks. I'm mystified by people who own them for no good reason (don't even get me started on lowering trucks). But there's something to be said for taking care of your investment. I enjoy taking care of my KR as much as I enjoy driving it. Weird, maybe, but true (and don't even get the wife started on that!).

 

I have used the heater on mine extensively in the last few months because of a health issue and the heat helps make driving more comfortable. I haven't noticed any signifigant changes in the leather. The only thing I can think of is it makes the leather conditioner softer and more easily obsorbed by clothing against it.

I guess the other thing is down here in Florida the seats get hotter than that when it's parked out in the sun all the time when not at home. The seats in the back are holding up fine. Front seats show fading a lot faster since they get used more. The best way to preserve the seats is to keep a regular conditioning regiment.

 

One thing that you may see out of it is that it may cause you to need to condition the seats more often with extensive heater usage, because naturally it will dry the leather out. However, unless you abuse the leather and don't condition it anyway, you shouldn't really notice the difference. I use mine all the time since I'm from Florida and now live in NY, and my wife uses the passenger one even in the summer (when she gets her cold flashes). My leather is still in far better condition than most of these used KR's you see on ebay, and mine is a 2001 with almost 60000 miles on it.

 

Roger that. Conditioning is an easy way to protect the investment. And I even enjoy doing that.

Sometimes you see a certain "loosness" to well-worn seats. I just didn't want to speed that process along for a very minor convenience. But I do think ya'll are right. Just get out that Connolly Hide Food and some elbow grease and everything'll be alright...

 

Hey, and cows are internally heated
right?

 

yup, and they spend all day standing out in the texas sun. i was in dallas/ft worth last july and if that dont screw up the leather on them cows my seat heater aint gonna hurt it. could have used one of those girls from one of those gentlemens clubs rubbing a little conditioner on my back though.

 

OK, OK

But in fairness guys, those hides are presumably still alive when firmly attached to cow! Once leather ceases to be a living organ, it's up to the owner to keep it in shape. I may be a little obsesive because I just love it so darned much (I was in fact just noticing that the driver's side is already breaking in and wondered if I'd be able to switch it with the passenger's side after four or five years -- yes, I need professional help on this one guys). I had someone ride in it yesterday and they described it as "saddle leather." It is very beautiful like a saddle. I think that's what they were angling towards to begin with.

 

I too have not researched with the search option, but has anyone had any problems with the driver seat heater not working? I have a 2001 KR and it worked when I bought it 3 or so months ago. Now that we've had a 'little' cold snap, my seat warmer does not work. I've looked at the wiring, fuses to no avail. Any suggestions to what it may be?...

 

QUOTE]But in fairness guys, those hides are presumably still alive when firmly attached to cow! Once leather ceases to be a living organ, it's up to the owner to keep it in shape.[/QUOTE]

another 1/2 hour under that texas sun and i dont think i would have ben a living organ. which goes to show how tough this leather is. the only thing that saved me was the coronas.

 

Yeah, I hear ya. I lived in Dallas for a short while and spent a lot of time working in a huge aircraft hangar down in Waco. Wore a full flight suit a lot of the time. I know all about that Texas sun. And those Coronas

 

That aircraft hanger wouldn't happen to have been at TSTC (TSTI)?

 

It was called CTAS (for Chrysler Technologies Airborne Systems). It had multiple hangars, each of which was capable of housing multiple wide body aircraft (I can recall there being a US military 747 and a Middle East royal’s play toy 747 in a single hangar at once).

Back in the '80s, all the car manufacturers got the idea that in down cycles for the car-buying economy, there would likely be armed conflict going on somewhere. Basically, diversification was their goal. It was pretty silly. Major manufacturers knew nothing about the defense industry. But I digress.

CTAS is no more, so who knows what it's called know or who owns it. It could very well be one and the same as what you mention above.