Let's be real, it is hard to keep your vehicle's interior looking great. Food, coffee, pets, kids and even the sun's rays can all take a toll on your vehicle's seats. If your worn and stained seats are in serious need of an upgrade or if you want to keep your seats in pristine shape (especially for resale or while leasing a vehicle), RockAuto has the perfect solution for you!

RockAuto is proud to offer Dash Designs' Custom Seat Covers. With 14 different fabrics and patterns in a wide range of colors, RockAuto has the seat covers you need to protect your seats, fit your lifestyle and showcase your unique style. By hand-fitting patterns to the actual seat and using state-of-the-art CAD-CAM machinery, Dash Designs' covers have a neat and custom fit. Installation (and removal) is a breeze with the included installation instructions, hardware and tool.

RockAuto also offers Dash Designs' line of Custom Dash Covers. Available in six different fabric options and installed using Velcro tabs, the cover protects your dash from the sun's harmful UV rays that can cause discoloration and cracking, while also reducing reflected heat and annoying glare.

All of Dash Designs' Seat Covers and Dash Covers are designed and manufactured in the United States. From the '17 Toyota Sienna, to the '06 Chevrolet Impala, to the '99 Dodge Ram 1500 Pickup, to the '09 Jeep Wrangler, to the '71 Chevrolet Chevelle, find the Seat Cover and Dash Cover options we have for your specific vehicle in the "Accessories" category of the RockAuto catalog. Be sure to click on the Info button in the catalog listing to view swatches, images and installation instructions.

Learn all you can about your Toyota FJ Cruiser and share your knowledge. FJCruiserForums.com is comprised of a great group of people who are always eager to lend a helping hand.

The Technical Articles forum has hundreds of how-to articles for virtually every modification and do-it-yourself maintenance task that you can think of. The Gurus and Mentors thread is where many of the members have volunteered their time and topical area expertise to give us all a hand with figuring out the mysteries in many of the popular categories where we often get a little stuck.

Join today. Registration is FREE, fast and simple!

If you are the administrator or member of a forum and you would like to see your website featured in an upcoming newsletter and receive a discount code to share with your members, contact megant@rockauto.com.

What makes this story worse is that I am not a novice mechanic at all. I have plenty of tools, restored older cars, and maintain and repair my own daily drivers. I even have a hydraulic lift in my garage. I would say I am reasonably competent and scientifically minded about repairs. I would call myself an advanced shade-tree mechanic. Or so I thought until recently...

I was working on a Toyota 4Runner that needed some front end work. I decided to save time and break the torque on the lug nuts for the front wheels, both left and right sides, while they were still on the ground before raising the truck up on the lift. I did that and got to work on the passenger side. It did not take very long before I figured out the source of the front end problem. Elated at how quickly and "expertly" I had found and remedied the source of the issue, I reattached the passenger side wheel and lowered the truck off the lift.

Several days later, driving at highway speeds, I noticed a slight wobble from the front end. I was near an old disused road so I decided to pull over. As I turned the wheel to the right, the truck lurched, dropped what felt like 10 feet and I saw the driver's side front wheel leave the truck, wobbling back and forth as if to wave goodbye to me. It sailed and spun off into the ditch...followed by several pieces of plastic trim and the grinding of the lower ball joint into the pavement. My beloved 4Runner now looked as if it was trying (and failing) to do a one-armed push-up.

I then realized the source of my mistake and felt immeasurable guilt about what could have happened (not only to myself, but to others on the road). I had loosened the lug nuts on both front wheels, but while reveling in my mechanical prowess, I forgot to tighten the other side that I did not work on. But it was useful, and what I call a "cheap lesson" as no one got hurt.

Fortunately, RockAuto was there with reasonably priced parts to replace what now may forever reside in that ditch, and the 4Runner is back on the road.

Michael in Kansas

Tell us about your most infamous auto repair blunder or unconventional fix. Use your woe to help others avoid similar mistakes or share off-the-wall solutions that worked (at least for a while!). Please email your story to flamur@rockauto.com. Include your mailing address and if you would like a RockAuto T-Shirt (please let us know your shirt size) or Hat if we publish your story. See the T-Shirts and Hats under Tools & Universal Parts in the catalog. The story will be credited using only your first name and your vague geographic location (state, province, country, continent, etc.) so you can remain semi-anonymous!

Which region of the USA had vehicles with the highest average mileage in 2017?

A. Northeast
B. South
C. Midwest
D. West

Answer below

RockAuto.com has sold Coverlay dashboard covers for years. Customers love them (watch for the little heart icons next to popular parts in the catalog). Installation is simple and the results look great in Coverlay's videos. I have been recommending these dashboard covers for years, but I am embarrassed to admit that I personally did not get to see one installed until last week. Now I am exponentially more excited about dashboard covers!

The vehicle was a '72 Dodge Charger. Its old faded dash pad was a collage of cracks and gouges. Repairs had been attempted over the decades with various goops. Those repairs subsequently aged badly and created their own cracks and bumps. The new Coverlay dashboard cover looked beautiful when it was pulled out of the box. However, I could not help but wonder how it would work with a dash pad that probably did not fit all that well when it was new and now was a cracked, uneven mess.

Neither the Charger's owner or his helper had ever installed a dashboard cover before. They did some scraping and cleaning work on the old dash pad, washed off the back of the new dashboard cover, applied dabs of the silicone that came with the cover, and then simply laid the dashboard cover in place. Instantly the top of the Charger's dash looked like it was fresh from the factory! The texture matched the Dodge's original dash pad.

The whole project took about twenty minutes. After this easy restoration project with dramatic results, the Charger's owner was more enthusiastic about tackling the car's other needs. I nearly shed a tear!

Coverlay dashboard covers are durable ABS plastic like the dashes in most brand new cars and trucks. There are 15 colors to choose from. RockAuto.com has Coverlay dashboard covers for dozens of late-model daily drivers as well as for classics; everything from a 1970 Pontiac Firebird, to a 1991 BMW 318i, to a 2003 Ford F-150, to a 2008 Acura TL. Find Dashboard Covers, Instrument Panel Covers, Door Panels, Kick Panels and other restoration parts under the “Accessories” and “Interior” categories of the RockAuto.com catalog for specific cars and trucks.

Tom Taylor,
RockAuto.com

To read more of Tom's articles, click this link and choose from story titles on the Newsletter Archives page.

I bought this 1999 Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder three years ago in Florida. It was in rough shape. The sun had baked away the paint and turned the interior crunchy. My plan was to completely rebuild the car in six months and present it to my wife for our 25th wedding anniversary. It was an ambitious timeline, but I knew I had RockAuto to help me out.

After I stripped the car's exterior and interior, I went to work on my list of parts to order. When the paint was done, I started to reassemble the car. It was an opportune time to replace the water pump, oil pump, all the belts, spark plugs and wires, as well as the fuel filter and brake pads. It was a relief that RockAuto had all of these in stock and shipped them right to my door.

I made the deadline of our anniversary by mere hours. I could not have met that timeline it if I had to search for parts from too many sources. My wife was thrilled to have a convertible.

Thanks RockAuto!
Steven in Minnesota

Share Your Hard Work
Do you purchase parts from RockAuto? If so, RockAuto would like to give you the opportunity to have your car or truck possibly featured in one (or occasionally more) of our publications such as the monthly newsletter, collector magnets or RockAuto social media. New, old, import, domestic, daily driver, trailer queen, classic, antique, we want to see them all! Please email flamur@RockAuto.com with your vehicle's history, interesting details, your favorite images (tips for taking pictures of your car) and what parts from RockAuto you have used.

Which region of the USA had vehicles with the highest average mileage in 2017?

A. Northeast
B. South
Answer: C. Midwest (The average vehicle mileage in the Midwest was 137,981 miles (222,058 km). The average vehicle mileage for the entire USA was 102,251 miles (164,557 km). Source (2018, May). Undercar Digest.)
D. West

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