What Did You Do with Your 80 This Weekend?

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

20260125_125909.webp

20260125_125950.webp
 
Need to do this what heater pads did you use?
Where'd you source the switches
I used JDM Toyota switches. If your 80 is pre-wired for seat heater switches they are plug and play. Not all 80’s are pre-wired. Lots of good threads in the forum. I'll link some below.

The switches I bought on eBay. For the seat heaters you can use any you want - Amazon, eBay, whatever. I snagged a kit from leatherseats.com. The kit has everything you need, including switches and relays, to install in any vehicle.

IMG_0751.webp


Actually if you don’t mind using non-OEM switches, that kit from leatherseats.com would be the easiest path forward. It includes relays, switches and everything for any car / truck install and any seats. But I wanted to use the OE Toyota switches so I cut off all of the relays and re-wired them.

The threads below were all helpful to me for various reasons so I bookmarked them. My advice to you would be to remove your center console and look for the plugs for the factory switches. My understanding is this applies to 97 FZJ 80s, but not the LX 450s. If you have the plugs, then do what I did and get the factory switches, buy any set of seat heaters, and cut the relays off.

If on the other hand, you do not have the pre-wired plugs for a factory switches, then just buy a complete kit that includes switches and relays and install that instead. Don’t bother with the Toyota switches. They just add more complication if you’re not already pre-wired.

That’s my advice.

Helpful threads:
Seat disassembly / reassembly
Another seat disassembly / reassembly
Replacing seat bottom foam

Seat heater wiring
‘97 FZJ80 seat heater wiring
Seat heater installation
Seat heater switches
 
Went on a run with Wasatch Cruisers. Fun group. We camped at White Rock, and followed a portion of the Donner-Reed party trail via the Hastings Cutoff in the Utah west desert (Hastings Pass). Some of these photos were taken by club members, not me.

IMG_0749.webp

IMG_1442.webp

IMG_1445.webp
IMG_1446.webp
 
I used JDM Toyota switches. If your 80 is pre-wired for seat heater switches they are plug and play. Not all 80’s are pre-wired. Lots of good threads in the forum. I'll link some below.

The switches I bought on eBay. For the seat heaters you can use any you want - Amazon, eBay, whatever. I snagged a kit from leatherseats.com. The kit has everything you need, including switches and relays, to install in any vehicle.

View attachment 4074913

Actually if you don’t mind using non-OEM switches, that kit from leatherseats.com would be the easiest path forward. It includes relays, switches and everything for any car / truck install and any seats. But I wanted to use the OE Toyota switches so I cut off all of the relays and re-wired them.

The threads below were all helpful to me for various reasons so I bookmarked them. My advice to you would be to remove your center console and look for the plugs for the factory switches. My understanding is this applies to 97 FZJ 80s, but not the LX 450s. If you have the plugs, then do what I did and get the factory switches, buy any set of seat heaters, and cut the relays off.

If on the other hand, you do not have the pre-wired plugs for a factory switches, then just buy a complete kit that includes switches and relays and install that instead. Don’t bother with the Toyota switches. They just add more complication if you’re not already pre-wired.

That’s my advice.

Helpful threads:
Seat disassembly / reassembly
Another seat disassembly / reassembly
Replacing seat bottom foam

Seat heater wiring
‘97 FZJ80 seat heater wiring
Seat heater installation
Seat heater switches
EDIT:
All 2nd/3rd gen USDM 80s are wired for seat heaters in at least the driver's position. Only the leather interior equipped USDM 80s are prewired for passenger seat heaters. You can easily add the pigtail from the passenger seat to the tailight fuse circuit, just like Toyota did. The driver's seat heater is wired to the rear heater fuse circuit.

I've never inspected a 1st gen 80, so I don't know what's in the wiring harnesses.
 
Last edited:
Nice! Was this a pretty basic/straight forward install?
Extremely straight forward. There are two power switches. A hood detent and an inline on/off. I take a photo of where I drilled the hole for the hood switch. I wanted to make sure there were no a/c lines running underneath to conflict with drilling a small hole. I spent more time wiping down with acetone than I did installing.
 
Back
Top Bottom