If you own your very own custom golf cart, chances are you have some pretty nice seats already. Golf cart seat customization has become quite popular in the golf cart community, and with more and more custom golf cart shops opening, your seat options keep growing. In this Golf Cart Seat Covers: A Complete Guide, we will explain to you all of the options you have when it comes to golf cart seat covers, and the advantages they may have over buying brand new customized seats for your cart. Let’s get right to it.
What are Golf Cart Seat Covers?
Unlike custom designed and upholstered seats, seat covers can be a great way to keep your nice custom seats protected, or add some style to those old, dull, hole-ridden leather seats.
Seat covers are generally a cloth-like material that can be stretched over your old seats. In some cases you may need to do a bit more than stretch some cloth over your seats, which we dive deeper into later in the article.
Now that you have a better idea on what exactly a seat cover is, let’s check out some of your options.
Golf Cart Manufacturer Seat Cover Options
If you’re currently in the market for a new seat cover for your golf cart, then you’re in luck. There are a plethora of companies that make custom seat covers for pretty much every golf cart brand. Below we go more in depth on each seat cover manufacturer, and the different kinds of seat covers that each company offers.
Yamaha Golf Cart Seat Covers
If you have a Yamaha golf cart, and you aren’t looking for anything fancy, then you can always buy a pre-made seat cover from the Yamaha manufacturer.
EZGO Golf Cart Seat Covers
EZGO is one of the most popular golf cart brands that you can buy. If you have an EZGO golf cart, and are looking for basic seat cover options, then purchasing from the manufacturer is always a safe bet.
Club Car Seat Cover
Club Car may be the most popular golf cart brand today. Their golf carts are scattered over thousands of golf courses all over the world, and have been a trusted brand since 1958
The nice thing about ordering a seat cover from the manufacturer, is that you know you’re getting the right product, and there is usually little to no struggle when it comes to installing.
Custom Golf Cart Seat Cover Options
Lazy Life Seat Covers
Lazy Life Seats is one of the most trusted seat companies in the golf cart industry, and for good reason. They have a huge selection of seat options for your golf cart, which you can learn more about in our Lazy Life Review.
For now, we’ll just touch on their seat covers. Lazy Life makes seat covers for most of the well-known golf cart brands such as E-Z-GO, Club Car, and Yamaha.
The seat covers from Lazy Life will cost you around $189, they are super easy to install, and can even be customized to your liking.
MadJax Seat Covers
MadJax is another popular brand in the golf cart industry, offering parts for every aspect of your custom cart. When browsing their inventory, you’ll notice a huge selection of seat covers for every popular brand including Yamaha, Club Car, EZGO, and Universal.
The seat covers from MadJax will cost you about $180. This is a little bit cheaper than Lazy Life, but you don’t get the customization.
In MadJax defense, they have a massive selection of seat covers for each make and model of golf cart, so even if you can’t design your own, chances are you’ll find a really cool option.
As long as you purchase the right model of cover for your specific golf cart, then installing the seat cover is pretty straight forward. Most seat covers can be put on in minutes, with very little effort.
Seat Covers Unlimited
Seat Covers Unlimited is another big brand with a great deal of options to choose from when purchasing new seats for your custom golf cart.
Believe it or not, Seat Covers Unlimited has 15 different seat styles to choose from. That’s right…15!
All of their seat covers are manufactured for any of the popular golf cart brands such as EZGO, Club Car, and Yamaha.
What we really love about Seat Covers Unlimited, is that their golf cart seat covers cost significantly less than Lazy Life or MadJax.
Most of the seat cover options start around $88. Not too shabby.
Red Dot Seat Covers
Red Dot is one of the most popular golf cart seat cover brands you’ll find on the market. They have options for all of the popular makes and models of golf carts from EZGO to Club Car to Yamaha.
RD has a huge variety of options to choose from, and will cost you around $175 to start. These may seem a little pricey, but we can assure you that their quality is well worth it.
Options include speciality seats for specific brands of golf carts, and even universal fits, so you don’t have to worry about buying the proper model of seat.
The color options, and quality make Red Dot one of our top choices for golf cart seat covers.
DIY: Installing Custom Golf Cart Seat Covers
We understand that not everyone is a carpenter, and installing custom seat covers, or even basic universal seat covers may seem a little overwhelming. Don’t worry, we’re here to help.
Installing custom seat covers is a straightforward process. To put it quickly, you’re basically stretching out the seat material over the base of the seat, and then attaching the material.
There are definitely a few tricks you should know in order to make the seats have that custom look you’ve always wanted. In this section we will breakdown the necessary steps you’ll need to take in order to install seat covers on your own. Take a deep breath…it’s not that hard.
Tools Needed for Installing Seat Covers
Every job needs some tools. These are the basic tools you’ll need before installing your custom seat covers.
- Staple Gun
- Heat Gun
- Flat Head Screwdriver
- Wire Cutters/Pliers
Work Area
Your work area will determine how smoothly this process is going to go. You should make sure that you have a nice large surface in order to easily move the seats around.
You’ll also want to make sure that the area is clean of debris or dirt. A nice smooth and sturdy workbench, or kitchen countertop will do the trick. The last thing you want is a dirty or damaged seat cover before it’s installed on the golf cart.
The Installation Process
This section is a step-by-step process on removing and attaching your new custom golf cart seat covers.
Removing the Old Seats
The first thing you’re going to want to do is remove the seat base and cushions from your golf cart.
- Remove the front seat hip restraints or handles. You’ll also want to remove any seat hinges or HSA (Hydraulic Shock Assistant).
The next step involves deciding whether you will cover the old seats, or remove them completely. This can honestly go either way, and is going to depend a lot on the shape of the old seats. Is the cushion faded from the sun, but still structurally sound (no tears or rips)? I would say it’s ok to apply the new seats right over the old.
If your seats do have tears or rips, then you’re going to want to replace them completely. If you leave the old seats on with holes or rips, then applying the new seat covers will bring out the contour of the old seats. With more use over time those old holes or rips will become apparent in your new seat cushions.
Removing Trim
After you’ve decided on your seat installation method (over the old seats, or starting new), you’ll need to remove all of the plastic trim from the underside of the seat. Make sure to save these pieces for reinstallation after the new covers are in place.
These plastic pieces are used to protect the golf cart seats from damage when rubbing up against the golf cart body, or seat base.
Removing the Staples
The next step involves removing all of those pesky staples holding your old seats to the base. Use your flat head screwdriver, or a small sturdy pick to remove all of the staples from the old seat.
Cleaning the Area
After all of the staples are removed, and you’re left with just your seat base, you’ll want to clean your area.
Make sure that all of the staples are swept up, and that your work surface is clean of debris or dirt. The last thing you want is a rusty staple through the front of your brand new custom seats.
Installing the New Seat Covers
Now that you have your work area nice and clean, you’ll want to get that heat gun plugged in. As the heat gun comes up to temperature, you can pull out those brand new seat covers. Find the top/bottom and left/right on the new seats, and lay face down on your work surface.
Then take the old seats that are getting covered, and lay them down on the new seat covers. You can find the dead center by measuring the old seats and the new seat cover, but a quick eye should do the trick if you aren’t a perfectionist.
The heat gun is going to be used to warm up the material so you have a much easier time getting the new seat covers over the old seats. You’ll want to start from the top of the seat, and work your way down to the bottom.
Stapling the New Seat Covers
Now that you have your new seat cover centered under the old seats, you can slowly use your heat gun to warm material over the top portion of the seats.
I like to staple the top portion of the seat in a few places first, then wrap the bottom part of the seat cover over the seat and staple again in a few places. These are mostly to help you to keep the cover aligned while working your way around the seat.
Once your stabilizing staples are in place, just slowly work your way around the old seat with the new seat cover, heating and stapling as you go.
Below is a quick video on how to install custom golf cart seat covers if you still need a little more help.
Custom Installed Golf Cart Seats VS DIY Golf Cart Seat Covers
I’m sure you’re wondering what the difference is between having a custom golf cart shop customize and install your seats, or doing it yourself with a seat cover. In this section we’ll explain to you the main differences between DIY and Shop Customization.
The Price
Ok, so I think this one is pretty obvious. The price for a golf cart seat cover when you install yourself is going to be significantly cheaper than taking it to a custom shop.
Some companies, like the ones we listed above, have golf cart seat covers starting around $80, which is, or could be hundreds of dollars less than taking it to a custom shop.
The Quality
This one is tough to compare, considering most of the products you can order for your custom golf cart, are the same products the custom golf cart shops are getting.
This means there is no advantage to having a custom golf cart shop order and installing your seats if you have any kind of knowledge of reupholstering seats.
The Look
This is where some people get discouraged, and we get it. If you aren’t looking to install your new custom golf cart seats yourself, or you’re worried about screwing it up, this is where the custom golf cart shops have the advantage.
Custom golf cart shops have trained staff on hand to complete a new custom seat job quickly and effectively, that way you know you’re going to get the look you want.
If you don’t have the skill to install yourself, or you want a professional hand in your custom seats, then we recommend contacting a local custom golf cart shop for help.
Customization
Unfortunately, if you want something a little fancier, then taking it to a custom golf cart shop is going to be your best bet.
There are still plenty of customizable seat covers available for you to order, but again, if I were ordering a custom seat cover from a reputable manufacturer, I would want those seats installed correctly.
You may end up paying more money for installation fees, but the end result will be well worth it.
Final Thoughts
Golf cart seat covers are a great way to add some customization to your old golf cart without spending a ton of money.
In this article we touched on a variety of aspects of golf cart seat covers including some of the top seat cover manufacturers, and the best companies to order your set covers from.
We even did our best to describe the necessary steps you need to take in order to install custom golf cart seat covers on your own, without any hassle.
Lastly, we compared the differences between installing the seats yourself, or taking it to a custom shop. This shows you the amount of money you could save with a short and easy DIY project.
We hope that this article has helped you to have the confidence in choosing the right golf cart seat covers for your custom cart. We also hope it’s given you the knowledge to install the seat covers on your own.
If you have any information to add, or have any questions involving golf cart seat covers, please leave us a comment below! Thanks for reading!
