Rear seat covers are the trickiest seat covers to install. Compared to the front bucket seats
which are usually very simple, rear seats usually have splits, levers, armrests, seat belt provisions, cup holders
and headrests.
In this guide we will be fitting custom made rear Esteem velour seat covers onto our 2010 Toyota Rav4.
1) Look at your rear seat configuration
First start buy analysing your rear seat. Figure out how each piece of your seat adjusts
as you will need to be moving these parts when fitting your seat covers.
For the Rav4, the rear seat has a 40/20/40 backrest, 3 adjustable headrests, a fold down armrest with
cup holders. The base is a 40/60 split.
Next step is to open up your seat covers and lay the seat covers in the same configuration as the seats.
This will make it really easy to fit the correct piece to the corresponding seat.
2) Remove and fit headrests
Start by removing the headrests as they will need to be removed to slip the rear back pieces on.
Then fit the headrest covers on like a sock and strap on the velcro.
3) Fit backrest piece
We first start with the 40 pieces of the back rest, noting that there are levers in the sides of the seats.
Once fitted, we feed the ties through the gap between the back and the base.
Then we fit on the 20% piece which is also an armrest cover. Note there is an allowance for the cup
holder and the material must be tucked underneath the cup holder frame.
4) Fit base pieces
The base pieces need to be fitted. Ensure that the seat belts fit through the allowances in the
seat covers to access them. Then feed the ties through the middle of the seat, and also underneath
the base of the seat.
5) Reattach headrests
With all the seat cover pieces now fitted, you can reattach the headrests.
7) Tie up the ties
Lastly tie up the ties. This can be awkward as you may need to reach under the seats to
find the correct ties to tie up.
Video: How to fit custom rear seat covers