Any ideas on How to fix this headliner bubble?
 

Hey everyone. 03 suburban. The headliner Was perfect but the other morning the temperature dropped into the 40s and I noticed above the passenger front seat the headliner fabric was loose, looks like a bubble. The foam is still in place just fine but it’s like the fabric lost the glue or whatever adhesive is used and dropped down. How can I fix this? Tried searching the internet and havnt found much

Re: Any ideas on How to fix this headliner bubble?
 

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Re: Any ideas on How to fix this headliner bubble?
 

It’s just time.
The material comes loose from the foam.
You can have it recovered or do it yourself.
Lots of videos on YouTube.
The biggest hassle is getting it out of the truck.

Re: Any ideas on How to fix this headliner bubble?
 

This is the one I watched to do mine.
https://youtu.be/mnd6EiXHicc

Re: Any ideas on How to fix this headliner bubble?
 

Do I have to redo the entire headliner or can this one section be fixed?

Re: Any ideas on How to fix this headliner bubble?
 

Unfortunately you need to do the entire headliner.
It won’t get better.

Re: Any ideas on How to fix this headliner bubble?
 

Once the foam has started to come loose from the fabric the party is over. It'll come the rest of the way down in a year or two. You'll need to re-cover the headliner.

The saving grace is that the headliner boards in the SUVs, regular cab trucks, and extended cab trucks can be taken out the back of the SUV or sides of the pickup cabs.

You can thank your lucky stars it's not a crew cab.
The Crew Cab pickup trucks look to be more than a little miserable to jockey out of the vehicle without resorting to removing the windshield. I'm not sure it can be done without that kind of major surgery. Possibly removing the seats would gain enough space in a Crew Cab to jockey out one of the back or front passenger doors.

Re: Any ideas on How to fix this headliner bubble?
 

To me the worse part is removing all the plastic trim that surrounds the headliner, without breaking the plastic that the metal clips attach to.
There’s also all the wiring for the dome light and third brake light that’s glued to the headliner board.
Watch some YouTube videos and take your time.
You will save a lot of money if you can remove it yourself.
Even if you have someone else recover it.

Re: Any ideas on How to fix this headliner bubble?
 

Careful to pry the proper direction on the plastic trim. My truck was missing the A pillar pieces but still had the snapped off plastic towers and metal clips in the slots.

You may be able to disconnect the overhead harness from one of the junction blocks in the dash.

Re: Any ideas on How to fix this headliner bubble?
 

Ok everyone I just got an estimate from the upholstery shop. To put in a brand new headliner, and fix the two front tan leather heated seats with new upholstery on the bottoms and backs, would cost me 1,800 dollars. 600 for headliner and 1200 for the seats. Does this sound right expense wise at a shop??

Re: Any ideas on How to fix this headliner bubble?
 

I'd get another quote just to compare, but that's a lot of work for 1800 bucks. Drop it, pick it up, done, no headache.

Re: Any ideas on How to fix this headliner bubble?
 

Check the price on the seat covers from The Seat Shop. The leather I just put in a flip truck was a little over $200 for the drivers butt foam cover.
Their seat covers clips and latches are exact factory fit and finish. They are made with better quality leather than the original and the color was a very good match.
https://www.theseatshop.com

If the passenger side leather seat back isn't split and cracked I'd clean and condition it. It's amazing what a bath will do for pretty nasty looking seats.
Look up LSX Matt Tahiti Project on Youtube for what he was able to do with some fairly abused T800 Tahoe seats.

Re: Any ideas on How to fix this headliner bubble?
 

the headliner quote sounds really high to me. I've had the same issue - had mine replaced by a home-based auto upholstery shop for under $200 if I recall (a long time ago, still looks brand new, and the truck has about 300k on it) - I'd call around a bit before committing.

Re: Any ideas on How to fix this headliner bubble?
 

I did a regular cab headliner myself to get some experience.
I had $85 in material and two cans of adhesive.
There’s no way I would do this work for $200. (I know you said it was a long time ago.)
If time is money, I think $500 is a fair price.
Extended cabs and crew cabs would be more.
These headliners are like a giant fiberglass sheet.
Easily damaged on the edges.
And removing the old foam is no fun.

Re: Any ideas on How to fix this headliner bubble?
 

This is LSX Matt doing the seats in his Tahoe.


I've done headliners in a 76 Chevy K20, 84 VW GTI, a 2004 GMC K2500HD, '98 Volvo Wagon, and several others. It takes a great deal of patience and care to do it but it's not impossible.
This is M539 Restorations replacing the headliner in a BMW E38 750il. He's fairly entertaining. His cloth is a wee bit more expensive than the napped cotton used in our GM trucks but it's the same job as any other cloth covered fiberboard headliner.
Pay attention to whether the headliner material is folded over the edges or tucked under the trim.