hey all, i'd really love to add heated seats to my truck, and rather than finding a set out of a newer vehicle, i was looking into some of those kits to add to seats. Ive got the zebra SR5 seats in good shape and love them, and was wondering if anybody has attempted or successfully used a kit to add heat to our factory seats?

 

I have been on numerous threads on here and have never seen it done. If it can be done, it would be interesting to see.

 

It is possible. There are many kits on Amazon/EBay that you can use. The wiring is pretty simple. You will need a good set of hog ring pliers. Get some new hog rings too, reusing is possible but a PITA. I always laughed at heated seats until I started driving a car with heated seats. I see them as a very nice luxury comfort. I'll be adding them to my Land Cruiser and 4Runner the next time I pull my seats.

 

Yea, would love to have that creature comfort in my truck, especially since im currently daily driving it.

Hopefully some has tried one of the kits out already and can report back on how it works and the quality.

 

I've done it. I used 2x Dorman 628-040. RockAuto has the best price. One for each seat. Each box comes with a harness, switch, and two seat heater panels (seat bottom and seat back). The switch has a high and low setting. I put the switches in the blanks above the radio. I've had them in about 6 months and only just started using them, obviously. The low setting is comfortable to leave on. The high gets too toasty for me but my girlfriend loves it. I use the high just to heat up faster. You'll need a set of hog ring pliers and a bunch of hog rings to remove and replace the seat covers. My seats are SR5 seats from 87. Since they were apart I took the chance to swap the seat bottoms from driver to passenger so that the bolsters on the outside of the seats were like new.

 

I'd be interested in seeing where you wired it to. That's the part that everyone glosses over. I have a set of SR5 seats I just cleaned and was considering doing it. The seats are in great shape but the hog rings have rusted so I know they'd need to be replaced. Did you do an add-a-fuse or whatever they call it?

 

The wires come out the seat at the back by the hing and go through the carpet in a small slit I cut. They run under the center console to the switches I put above the radio. Power is drawn from a fuse box I installed after a big relay triggered by the ignition so you can't leave them on after the truck is shut off.

 

i've been collecting vibrating/heated back massage pads i find at thrift stores for $1-2.
when i get time, i'm going to take off the seat covers & wire up the best luxury seats you will ever find.
all for maybe $10.
that dorman kit looks nice, but this vehicle isn't worth that much to me.

 

Alex,
Im looking at the dorman kit you mentioned and it says it includes hog rings. Did you use the hog rings that were supplied or did you use different ones?

 

It does include hog rings and pliers, but there are not nearly enough hog rings and the pliers are worthless. I bought this kit from Amazon and it made it way easier.