Do Silverado/Tahoe seats fade in the Sun?

[Malathion]

Trying to plan out my build. I want to upgrade the seats in my 74 to Silverado seats in the front and Tahoe seats in the rear so I can have the integrated shoulder belts.

Since the vehicle is topless, I'm assuming leather would be a bad choice due to fade and heat from the sun. How does the cloth hold up to the UV light? I'm sure there will be times when I go completely topless and others where I'm partially covered with a canvas top with no sides. Based on this I'm not sure if I should buy good cloth seats or just so so seats and get UV resistant covers.

Any experiences with these seats on the sun?

Also what about rain? Again, I'm assuming cloth is better but will the seats get wet, maybe stink and get ruined?

Thanks.

 

[76zimmer]

I have leather buckets in my 99 2500 that sits out most of the time...no fading that is noticeable.
My 95 burb had cloth split bench and same there, even the dash/door panels held up good.
I think most glass has some level of UV protection in it now, leaving directly in the sun would probably take its toll on them eventually.

 

[4xcrazy]

Depends on where you live and how intense that sunlight is.

Had a '76 Nova with cloth seats, the back seat top area was under the rear glass. A few years after we took it to Arizona, the sun beat the heck out of it, deteriorated it and eventually started ripping and flaking apart.

It'll fade eventually, everything does under sunlight. Just take care of it and keep up on it. Keep it covered if not being used for decent amounts of time and whatnot.

 

[Malathion]

Thanks guys. I think what I'll do is go for the non leather versions for now. Between the hot, cold and summer sun we get it will probably be the better choice. Honestly, if I have to throw new covers on every 5 years it's fine. I may even go aftermarket covers before then with something that is a little more weather resistant.

Thanks!