I’m gonna be doing a seat bottom leather replacement and looking for quality hog rings. Can someone point me in the right direction? Should I get them through the dealer or is there another good source? Amazon seems to have a lot of different materials and shapes.

The vehicle is a 2010 RX450h but I know there is a lot of experienced people here who would know this.

 

Search Amazon for copper hog rings the are the easiest to work with. You can re-use the originals if you don't mind spending a bit of time straightening them out. Get some hog ring pliers while you're at it.

 

I just got some cheap ones on amazon and they have been working well for 5 years.
Get a good quality Hog Ring Pliers
Also for the 2010 the back cushion stays in place while you pull the leather over the headrest holes. Took me a long time to figure that out.
Hope that tip saves you some time.

 

I believe the hog rings and the pliers I got came from harbor Freight originally. No issues and not expensive.

 

I went premium with hog ring pliers and got ones from Knipex.

I’m still struggling with the hog rings shopping. There are different sizes out there and different metals.

As mentioned previously, copper is recommended but I can’t find any on Amazon. I’m also seeing galvanized steel, carbon steel, and stainless. Obviously the copper is easy to cut and won’t rust, stainless wouldn’t rust but is very difficult to cut.

What about the size, is 3/4” aka 0.85” okay? And do I need a sharp end or a blunt end type? Seems like a sharp end would be best for upholstery but the Lexus OEM appears to be blunt on both sides.






Lexus OE hog rings





Leatherseats.com sells these basic sharp ones that look like 3/4" stainless.

 

Its not going to rust. You can get the 1/2 or the 3/4.
You will be bending the ends inward toward the foam anyway so you wont have any issues with the ends poking through through the leather.
The larger ones will be easier to work with.

 

This is why I re-use the originals it is a big pile of BS trying to find same replacements.

 

Yes get the pointy ends. Most companies use a fabric to slide over the metal rods. With the pointy ends you just simply pierce the fabric and crimp it onto the existing metal rod. Quick and easy. The larger hog rings will work just fine.
Keep in mind you may see smaller ones on the original seat but those were installed with automatic hog ring tool. I found the large pointy hog rings to work well especially when the rods were deep in the cushion and your basically going in blind.
On my SC I used zip ties and made sure the sharp ends were facing the cushion. They are still intact 10 years later.

 

Here is my post when I did my SC430:
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sc4...ed-thread.html

Multipack of hog rings:
3/4:

 

Some shots I took while doing my RX350

 

Well I ended up using the following products and the results came out very good. If I had to do it again I would splurge for original leather from Lexus, but this eBay kit is not bad if you’re in a budget. Here is everything I used: