HaHa...Make sure you bring your truck...Your Goin Home With less than you BROUGHT!

 

When you get those installed let us know how they work for you....I am definately contemplating them for myself.

 

I received the heater kits the other day. Very fast turn around and they look to be fairly simple to install. The instructions are very thorough and they have a help line available if you need it. I am planning on installing them tomorrow, so will see how it goes. I think the hardest part will be taking the seat back off of the seat, to install the back warmer.

 

I wish they were easy to install. It's going to take you a while, and those clips can't be unforgiving.

 

Do the seats use hog rings?
Any pics of taking a seat apart Jason?

cracker_1, it would help others alot (myself included) if you take pics when you do yours if possible.

 

Yup. If you block the back of the seats (i.e. have a ton-o-crap on the floor) the heat really builds up under there!

Electric is still faster though.

Mike

 

I attempted to install the seat heater in the passenger seat last night, but decided against it until I contact the company. Our leather seats have a foam backing sewed to the leather to give the seat its contour. I do not think the heater will work very well underneath this foam. Plus, there is a mounting bar installed in the middle of the seat back and bottom that secures the leather to the seat frame. This would have to be bypassed as well to have heat the whole length of the seat. You can install the back heater about half way up the seat before you hit the bar though. To have the entire bottom cushion heated is more difficult, as I have three different sections that have the contour foam installed. So, until I hear back from the company, this is on hold. As for a little background, I have installed seat upholstry before and I have the necessary tools to do it, i.e. hog ring pliers and hog rings. I would not trust using the zip ties that come with the kit to re-attach the seat cover to the frame.

 

O.K., after talking with the Tech support. They verified that the heat will pass thru the contour foam, so no problem there. As for the mounting channel, they suggested running the heater pad under the wire, but DO NOT re-attach the front loop with the hog rings. Only re-attach the sides of the loop. So, this should be pretty staright forward. You will need to use hog rings to re-attach the mounting wire, as they suggested. You could use zip ties, but I am not comfortable with that. So, that being said, I will install the heater seats tonight. I am estimating 1.5 hrs per seat to install the elements and another 1 hr. to hook everything up......... Hopefully, 4-5 hrs. to have them in and working

 

I installed the passenger seat heater and the wiring for both seats in less than 1.5 hrs. It is very easy to do and they work very well. My wife loves the heater very much. Thye only draw back is, the heater does not start working until you are sitting in the seat, so you cannot pre-heat the seat. This is a fail safe item, so you cannot leave the heater on if it is connected directly to the battery. The wiring was very easy to do, I ran the hot leads off of the cigarrette lighter that we do not use very often. I mounted the switches in the cover panel in front of the shifter. They look very good and even "professional" mounted in the cover. I will finish the install tonight when I do the drivers seat. Also, we have sheepskin covers over the seats and you can feel the heat thru them as well.

 

Any Pictures?!

 

I will take some pictures when I do the drivers seat.

 

Thanks Cracker. Your post made me get off my arse & order a couple sets myself, planning on installing them in the Land Cruiser first, then the Runner presuming all goes well.
Some sort of pressure-activated switch? How does it know?

 

This is a great thread! This topic has barely been brought up and seat heaters are a life saver in the early morning. I might give these a try!

Nakman...I think it uses machanical noses to smell the seat. It's pretty neat actually.

Haha, well, all joking aside, I think it uses a system similar to the one found in lawn mowers, where a spring holds the seat up, until someone with x weight sits on it. Then, the spring compresses, allowing two contacts to touch and either enable electricity to go through and therefore turn on heat, or tell some kind of chip that someones butt is there and it should start heating or else... Well, in lawn mowers, it's not heat but ignition...you get the point

 

There is a pressure sensitive switch that is installed on the lower heater. The switch must be placed on a flat surface of the seat when installing the heater, so that it will be activated when you sit on the seat. I installed the drivers seat heater last night in 1 hr. So, it is very simple to install. I took pictures of the installation if someone needs a guide, but the heaters are very simpe to install. Plus, the company has tech support for any questions you may have. A very good upgrade and not oo overly expensive.

 

Can you post those pics?
.....I can't be the only one that wants to see.

 

I will try and get a couple of the pictures up tomorrow, as I have a meeting tonight. Anything specific you need to see?

 

Does anyone know up to what year they came w/ the rear diff lock? I looked at the faq and it says something in 01 about the center diff lock and I notice when i look at pics that some of the newer 3rd gens have an icon w/ a light in the center for the instrument cluster that is a drawing of the axles and a corresponding button under the headlight switch where the rear diff lock used to go. Is this still the diff lock or is it the center diff lock?

 

......is this the right thread for this?

 

Well other people were talking about other things besides the heated seat the whole time... excuse me for getting of track for one second. But never mind i found the info anyways..

 

It's all good, man.. they're all just buttons on the dash, and they all lead to more comfort while wheeling! You're in the right thread.