After market seat heaters in an FJ40?

[Chamba]

I've done a little searching but have not found much on this topic. I am about to recover the seats in my LX and want to add seat heat to the factory seats. I have looked at the Champion heater kit http://www.championseatheaters.com/content/order.html?gclid=CMz93d6isbUCFQ84nAodPUUABw and heatedseatkits.com http://www.heatedseatkits.com/heatedseatkits/iheat2/index.html

Both are carbon fibre and both look to have decent hardware from the limited photos.

Has anyone used either of these products or know of another brand which is good? Obviously I don't want to be pulling my seats apart ever few years to replace the element, so I'd rather spend a bit more to get a good product. Any thoughts will be appreciated.

Josh

 

[UZJ40]

I just installed Dorman seat heaters in my girlfriend's Corvette... They work excellent and I'd recommend them. I believe they were about $60/seat on amazon. Usually Dorman is a good brand for automotive electronics.

http://www.amazon.com/Dorman-628-04...1360691277&sr=8-1&keywords=dorman+seat+heater

 

[myquestoyota]

Shane sells them. http://shop.metrictlc.com/

 

[Chamba]

Thanks for the link. I can't tell from the Amazon photo but were the switches good quality?

 

[UZJ40]

Yes, they are about 3/4" round. Each has 3 positions- hi lo off, and 2 lights. Amber for low setting, red for high. They look nice in her car (although it doesn't take much to make a Corvette interior look nicer than factory )

 

[Chamba]

Ordered. Thanks for the input. Looking forward to my luxurious heated factory seats.

 

[apeterson]

will you post up in there pics when you put it together. I been thinking about doing this also

 

[Chamba]

Yes, I'll post here if you'd like. I had planned to put 4 Runner seats in Lexie like I have with other cruisers, but they are getting harder to find. I also like my LX zebra-stripped interior and bench seat, so I thought I'd just replace the foam and heat these.

 

[Chamba]

G'day lads,

I received my seat heaters. I got the pair of them delivered from www.sportsimportsltd.com for $89.16. They look like very nice quality and the switches seem very well-made. They came with the relays, wiring, etc. I'll post up pics when I get the seats redone..... just in time for summer top-off cruising!

Josh

 

[Chamba]

Whoops, sorry. I forgot I was signed in under Chamba. This is HJ47. I started the tread.

 

[apeterson]

ever get this done??

 

[Chamba]

I have the heaters on the bench in my garage and an FJ60 passenger seat to replace the cushion and rear frame on my rhd driver's seat, but have been too busy to take the stuff to the upholsterer....lame excuse, sorry.

I do plan to do it soon before it starts getting cold and I'll post up on this thread when I do it.

 

[Chamba]

Ok, diver's seat recovered with the heaters installed. Next step wiring up the heaters and installing the switch. Then installing the passenger heater. Time is in short supply but I hope to do this over the next few weeks.

The upholsterer did a passable job: not show quality, but good enough for this daily driver. Warm bum for me this winter!

I used the seat cushions from a 1987 FJ60 (thanks BarryS and Dans-HJ45), which are just a tad bigger than the 40 series equivalent, but much more comfortable. Being a passenger seat, of course they had very little wear (not that Barry in unpopular, mind you). I also used the seat back and springs from the FJ60 seat, so I now have, in effect, a new driver's seat. I now sit about 1" higher than before, which is an odd (though not unpleasant) feeling given it is the same car in all other respects. I am 6'6", so didn't really need the added height for visibility or anything. However, the seat also sticks further forward by about 1.5" and gives more support to my legs. I wish I had done this seat before going to Denver for the Rising Sun Swap Meet!

The only drawback is that the 40% driver's seat no longer has the same profile as and the LX stripes no longer line up with the 60% passenger seat, but I can live with that: as I said, this is a daily driver, not a show car.

 

[Chamba]

There is one drawback I had not thought of. Because the heaters cover the whole cushion, you can't attach the flap through the middle if the back and bottom which sucks it down slightly in the middle. This does not really bother me but we'll see if longevity of the upholstery is affected. From a comfort perspective I don't notice a difference.

 

[apeterson]

they look good. how difficult to set up the wiring?

 

[Chamba]

it looks fairly simple and street forWard. the kit comes with a relay and fuses so it will simply be a matter of extending the wiring with the appropriate gauge and hooking everything up. the only part I have not yet decided is where I will mount the switch. if I had a u s version with bucket seats and a centre console the decision would be easy. with my bench seat however it means I will have to mount it to the dash. Bracket? Not sure.

 

[ARCTICMUTT]

Post a pic of your switch. I've installed a few sets and they came with micro-rocker switches. If this is the case we used a uni-bit and mounted one set in the plastic hinge cover area since they are such a low profile there was no interference and they were out of the way enough to not hit when you get in and out.

 

[Chamba]

I will post when I get home. They are quite small but not sure if they are that small. I'll need about a 1/2" hole for the rocker but if I recall correctly the switch is about 3/4" long. That is a great idea though if I can swing it.

 

[Chamba]

The electrical hardware seems to be very good quality. I think the switch is too big to mount on the seat so either on the dash where the lower dash pad is in US spec cruisers or in a bracket mounted to the bottom of the dash. Thoughts?

 

[Chamba]

The relay mounts to the seat it seems, so I'll need to extend the wiring to the switch and the battery. I could mount driver and passenger to the left of thesteering column-not ideal, but....thoughts/suggestions?