KP Texan

Toying with the idea of getting a 2018 XLT (wish I could justify a Lariat), so it looks like I'd be getting cloth. There are two particular trucks I'm interest in: one XLT with "Medium Earth Gray cloth" and one with "Black Sport Cloth". I've heard reports that the black cloth with the Sport Package seems to be OK durability wise, but I'm not sure about the regular XLT cloth. Is it awful as far as durability goes? I've also got kids and would really hate to regret the choice. If it matters, I'd also plan on applying 303 Fabric Guard immediately after buying the truck. Thanks!

i2oadi2unnei2

I have the XLT gray version and got two kids and a hair golden lol. I've had leather most of my life and this is my first real truck and me going back to cloth after 20+ years. I couldn't justify the cost of leather and all the bells and whistles I'll prolly never use but the cloth is pretty durable and I really like it. Dog hair sticks to it like white on rice but easy to get out w/ the proper dog/hair brush removal. My wife generally calls me a neat freak and after 11yrs of marriage, I've come to conclusion that I have to lower my standards a bit now that I have kids (golden older than the kids) and since I have a real truck, I don't care if it gets too dirty. Maybe one day I'll buy some those expensive as hell neoprene car seats from Wet Okole when the time calls for it

ClaKen13

I have a 17 with the black sport cloth seats and they seem to be holding up great. I haven't done any treatment to them and I probably should but after a quick vacuum they look brand new. Truck has about 5k miles and I'm not a small guy.

KP Texan

I know exactly how you feel! I used to be meticulous about my vehicles (and still am to an extent), but with two young kids now I've realized that I've got give up a bit on it in order to stay sane.

Nitrodoc

I also have the black sport seats and they are pretty good. With a dog in the back and just general use, they do show the dirt and are easy to clean. My next truck will have leather seats, as I miss them on this truck.

SPOAT

WFIW

I did the cloth (fabric) armrest conversion on my XL with 40/20/40 seats. In other words, I added the storage compartment with the flip lid that replaced my solid fabric armrest.

To install the flip lid - storage compartment I had to cut the fabric. I can tell you that fabric/cloth is very, very tough! The material they spin the cloth with is almost like Kevlar!

I would think the cloth seats would hold up very well. I would imagine the stitching/seams would go before the actual cloth would wear through.

On a side note, I drove my '95 F150 with cloth seats for 21 years. The seats still looked new when I sold the truck in '16.

Race Red Rob

I have the medium grey in my '18 XL w/ 5,000 miles and they are doing great. I had the cloth seats in my 2002 Mazda B3000 and after 16 years they were still in great shape. I treated mine with Scotchgard when I bought it and that works wonders. I do keep a towel on the top of the console to protect it from the oil on my forearm but that's just me being OCD.

5.Bro

storageman

I'll chime in on this one. My XLT had seat problems early on. It was obvious that I wouldn't more than a year before needed new seat covers. I believe some of the early builds had a problem because when I reported the issue to my Dealer, He got an immediate ok to order replacements. Took over a month for the special order to come in, but I've now had the seats for just under 3 months and they look like normal seats. Here are a couple of pics of the original seats after 2 months. This was happening on both the driver side and passenger side.

Ricktwuhk

I've never had anything but cloth seats in a vehicle, and they've always held up fine, through 2 kids and multiple mini-vans. Car seats went on a rubber liner that went on the seat and the seat back. No food in car except for Cheerios, drinks always in sippy cups. Ordered our first leather vehicle last week.