- Thread starter
- #41
Long overdue (and long-winded) update:
I decided to go with the wide Sport Seats, in the gray cloth/vinyl combo, with seat heaters installed, and the double-locking sliders with adapter brackets.
Total cost (including tax, 'cause SPS is local to me) is $1124 shipped to my office. I ordered on 3/20, received them on 3/26, and got them installed sometime around mid-April.
Sadly, life has seriously gotten in the way, and I still have a few items to take care of:
Installing the wiring for the seat heaters. I finally got the connectors and pins from CDAN to connect to the OEM heater connectors under the console, I just need to get them wired up and snapped into place along with the switches. The switches look identical to the ones in Shane’s kits, I ordered some switch blanks to install them in place of the center console coin holders.
The Corbeau adapter brackets have been a real pain, actually the driver’s side was nearly painless, but the passenger side one has been a complete son-of-a-bitch. I had to add about 1/2" or so of washers under the inboard rear leg of the bracket for it to sit properly and clear the rear heater’s plastic outlet. I plan to make a solid spacer to replace the washers at some point, but that isn't the only issue. The overall "fit" of the adapter bracket to the truck’s floor is just poor. It's almost as if the jig they used to make the adapter bracket was out-of-whack, and I had to work to get all the holes lined up, which results in the bracket being under tension when installed. I assume this will be OK over time, it's just an unnecessary pain when installing something you paid good $ for. There is also the fact that they apparently did not make a different version of the bracket for the "Wide" version of this seat, which has raised two other issues:
1) The seats are pushed about 1/2" too far outboard from stock. It's not as noticeable on the driver’s side, but it kind of puts you up against the door handle on the passenger side. The fix is easy, but should not be necessary, IMHO. The attachment points for the seat base to the adapter bracket are just two stays made from 1 1/2" x 1/4" strap steel which bolt to the underside of the seat and have nuts welded to them to accept the bolts from the adapter bracket (the adapter brackets are also made entirely from the 1 1/2" x 1/4" strap steel). I purchased a matching piece of steel strap, cut 4 new stays, and have drilled it so that when mounted the seats will be centered again. I even bought a can of black wrinkle-finish paint to match the stays/adapter brackets the seats came with.
2) I have yet to install the plastic hinge covers, as the inboard ones would interfere with the seat belt mount portion of the adapter brackets when sliding the seat back & forth. To fix this I am going to cut the seat belt mounts off the brackets, and either mount the seat belts to the seat hinge plates (like the stock configuration), and modify the hinge covers accordingly, or preferably, I’d like to find some early FJ80 floor mount belts, assuming that my '95 has the proper mounting points for them.
At this point, knowing what I do about the quality of the Corbeau adapter brackets, It's kind of a toss-up between what I did and buying used OEM cloth seats and Shane's leather kit and heaters. Going the way I did, I got cloth which I actually prefer, larger seat heater elements and the whole seat is new, had I gone the other route, I'd have likely needed to spend extra $ for new foam, but would have had to do no fabrication work. I will say that if I were to buy the Corbeau seats again, I would save myself the headache and money, and fab-up the adapter brackets myself.
Apologies for the crappy quality of the pictures, low-light garage and cell phone don't mix well. I'll probably take some "real camera" pictures and post them once I've totally finished my to do list above.
Boxes:
Underside of passenger's seat with adapter bracket installed:
View from the driver's door:
View from the passenger's door:
Passenger seat, front:
Passenger seat, rear:
Passenger seat, slid forward & seat folded forward:
Another, wider angle:
Passenger seat, slid back & reclined:
Another from the rear:
Close-up of seat fabric:
Having been using them daily for a few months now the comfort is much better than the stock electric leather seats, and the seating position is more to my liking, even though I haven’t “re-centered” them yet. I love these seats, if I had to nit-pick the seats themselves (not including the adapter brackets) I would have liked storage pockets on the backs of them, but otherwise they’re great. One thing I have noticed that is both a pro and a con at the same time is the lower seat bolsters. They make the seat bottom feel secure and comfortable, but you really have to use the running boards (which will be sliders, eventually) and a-pillar handle when you get in the truck to avoid sitting down on the “point” of the bolster, which is a bit hard when sat on directly, and could lead to premature wear of the fabric if you don’t avoid it (much like ever-present wear points on the OEM leather seats).
Overall consensus: Love the seats, hate the adapter brackets.
I decided to go with the wide Sport Seats, in the gray cloth/vinyl combo, with seat heaters installed, and the double-locking sliders with adapter brackets.
Total cost (including tax, 'cause SPS is local to me) is $1124 shipped to my office. I ordered on 3/20, received them on 3/26, and got them installed sometime around mid-April.
Sadly, life has seriously gotten in the way, and I still have a few items to take care of:
Installing the wiring for the seat heaters. I finally got the connectors and pins from CDAN to connect to the OEM heater connectors under the console, I just need to get them wired up and snapped into place along with the switches. The switches look identical to the ones in Shane’s kits, I ordered some switch blanks to install them in place of the center console coin holders.
The Corbeau adapter brackets have been a real pain, actually the driver’s side was nearly painless, but the passenger side one has been a complete son-of-a-bitch. I had to add about 1/2" or so of washers under the inboard rear leg of the bracket for it to sit properly and clear the rear heater’s plastic outlet. I plan to make a solid spacer to replace the washers at some point, but that isn't the only issue. The overall "fit" of the adapter bracket to the truck’s floor is just poor. It's almost as if the jig they used to make the adapter bracket was out-of-whack, and I had to work to get all the holes lined up, which results in the bracket being under tension when installed. I assume this will be OK over time, it's just an unnecessary pain when installing something you paid good $ for. There is also the fact that they apparently did not make a different version of the bracket for the "Wide" version of this seat, which has raised two other issues:
1) The seats are pushed about 1/2" too far outboard from stock. It's not as noticeable on the driver’s side, but it kind of puts you up against the door handle on the passenger side. The fix is easy, but should not be necessary, IMHO. The attachment points for the seat base to the adapter bracket are just two stays made from 1 1/2" x 1/4" strap steel which bolt to the underside of the seat and have nuts welded to them to accept the bolts from the adapter bracket (the adapter brackets are also made entirely from the 1 1/2" x 1/4" strap steel). I purchased a matching piece of steel strap, cut 4 new stays, and have drilled it so that when mounted the seats will be centered again. I even bought a can of black wrinkle-finish paint to match the stays/adapter brackets the seats came with.
2) I have yet to install the plastic hinge covers, as the inboard ones would interfere with the seat belt mount portion of the adapter brackets when sliding the seat back & forth. To fix this I am going to cut the seat belt mounts off the brackets, and either mount the seat belts to the seat hinge plates (like the stock configuration), and modify the hinge covers accordingly, or preferably, I’d like to find some early FJ80 floor mount belts, assuming that my '95 has the proper mounting points for them.
At this point, knowing what I do about the quality of the Corbeau adapter brackets, It's kind of a toss-up between what I did and buying used OEM cloth seats and Shane's leather kit and heaters. Going the way I did, I got cloth which I actually prefer, larger seat heater elements and the whole seat is new, had I gone the other route, I'd have likely needed to spend extra $ for new foam, but would have had to do no fabrication work. I will say that if I were to buy the Corbeau seats again, I would save myself the headache and money, and fab-up the adapter brackets myself.
Apologies for the crappy quality of the pictures, low-light garage and cell phone don't mix well. I'll probably take some "real camera" pictures and post them once I've totally finished my to do list above.
Boxes:
Underside of passenger's seat with adapter bracket installed:
View from the driver's door:
View from the passenger's door:
Passenger seat, front:
Passenger seat, rear:
Passenger seat, slid forward & seat folded forward:
Another, wider angle:
Passenger seat, slid back & reclined:
Another from the rear:
Close-up of seat fabric:
Having been using them daily for a few months now the comfort is much better than the stock electric leather seats, and the seating position is more to my liking, even though I haven’t “re-centered” them yet. I love these seats, if I had to nit-pick the seats themselves (not including the adapter brackets) I would have liked storage pockets on the backs of them, but otherwise they’re great. One thing I have noticed that is both a pro and a con at the same time is the lower seat bolsters. They make the seat bottom feel secure and comfortable, but you really have to use the running boards (which will be sliders, eventually) and a-pillar handle when you get in the truck to avoid sitting down on the “point” of the bolster, which is a bit hard when sat on directly, and could lead to premature wear of the fabric if you don’t avoid it (much like ever-present wear points on the OEM leather seats).
Overall consensus: Love the seats, hate the adapter brackets.
