Heated Seats, anyone done it?

[darkl4805]

http://www.heatedseatkits.com

I searched the forum but couldn't find anyone who had actually had them installed.

Oddly enough I'm under budget on everything I am doing to my VX so I have some extra cash and would love these.

Any suggestions? Anyone had them installed or done it themselves?

[PHO2GR4]

I second the motion. I'd love to hear from anyone who's done this mod.

I'm giving up a cushy FX35 for this VX, and I'm gonna MISS the cushy heated seats!

::snapping fingers impatiently::

[PHO2GR4]

I just sent a lengthy email to their sales department, asking for specifics regarding their kits + our VXs.

I promised them that if they had good news, I'd get them a lot of sales from vehicross.info!

Regardless, I'll let everyone know what they tell me...

[Ruflyf]

looks like a pretty decent product, however if I am gonna mod my seat where I live it will be for cooling.

[darkl4805]

I sent an email to them earlier asking for details on the differences between all their products. I'll post it when I get the response.

$80-100/seat and a possible self install could make this a really affordable upgrade...

[darkl4805]

I got impatient and called...

The cheapest model, H1 was the original version they came out with. The H2 is newer and heats up in about 1/2 the time. The H3 is identical to the H2 except it is not as wide. You can trim the length of the pad but you cannot trim the width. I spoke with the Tech Support guy and he said for the Recaro Trend seats the H3 is probably best because of the width.

I also asked which is better, the Innovative Heat or the H series. I was told the Innovative Heat series is a little more budget minded and not as durable.

Might have to try these out... the problem is that I cannot find much competition in this market so it is tough to really gauge who is better. Searching for 'heated seats' or 'seat heaters' results in about 5-6 different web pages which all sell the same products....

This place ships from California, Washington, or Vancouver depending on inventory in each warehouse.


Other aftermark seat heaters:
http://www.katzkin.com/
http://www.rostra.com/
http://www.sportsimportsltd.com/heatelcarsea.html

[rowhard]

I've redone Volvo heated seats before, (heard it was a Recaro), piece of cake, but that was cloth. Not sure about leather. Anyone know how to remove the head rest?? Thought I would ask,...AGAIN :confused: :confused: :confused:

[Ruflyf]

I wonder if they are wired to remain at the current on/off/low/high position when the battery is off. If so, they would work very well with remote start feature.

[djkymar]

I would be interesting too

[kpaske]

Wow, that Katskin site has some nice interior upgrades...

Imagine my VX with two-tone Aussie tan/black leather heated and cooled seats and wood tone interior panels... Wow... ;Db;

Although if I were to spend that much money, I'd want electric seat control too. I don't suppose anyone has ever seen that as an add-on kit, have they? Is that an available option from Recaro?

[thedutchguy]

porsche has an heated seat option.
since these seats are the same as the vx's it could be worthwile checking out how these are fitted?
http://www.axoy.de/files/privat/active/0/144_small.jpg

[iamjacksadrenalgland]

that picture is of a gemballa modified porsche. gemballa is a famous hi-end tuner of porsches. it is more likely that gemballa had those seats custom ordered from recaro, because i'm almost positive that porsche does not use our seats in any of their vehicles.

[thedutchguy]

because i'm almost positive that porsche does not use our seats in any of their vehicles.
Wanna bet? Audi uses them in their sport models too!(developed by Porsche)


http://www.channel4.com/4car/media/A/audi/rs6-plus/03-large/05-int.jpg

[PHO2GR4]

I just received this email. How much you wanna bet we're in the sad 1%?

---------------------------------------------------------

Hello Eric,

Unfortunately I have never heard of the Isuzu Vehicross, but our seat
heaters will fit 99% of the vehicles in the market today. You can visit
this link below...

http://www.heatedseatkits.com/products.php

for a list of vehicles that are not compatible with our product line. I
would recommend you to purchase the seat heaters today and try to install
them to your vehicle. You can always return them if you cannot remove the seat covers from your seats. Isuzu never glues their seat covers on, so I'm positive it will work.

If you wish to purchase our products today, please visit the URL link
below...

http://www.heatedseatkits.com/products.php

Thank you for your interest in our products!

Best Regards,

Stephen Dunhill
Corporate Sales Manager
Tel: 1-877-651-2822
Fax: 1-877-642-3046

"The Future is Warm"

[etlsport]

you should let him know that they are not isuzu seats, they are Recaro seats and see what he says about that

[JAFO]

porsche has an heated seat option.
since these seats are the same as the vx's it could be worthwile checking out how these are fitted?
http://www.axoy.de/files/privat/active/0/144_small.jpg


I contacted Recaro, 2 years ago, about the heated/cooling option for our Trend seats.

"They said that it takes too much work to install the option on existing seats and that they would only include it on new seat purchase. Do they now sell kits?

I have had the seats out and it does not look that difficult to do. For those that do not know our seats already have air ducts that run from the bottom of the seats into the back and vent out the top of the plastic back that ends about the middle of the seat back.

On the bottom there is mounting that looks similar to a personal computer case fan mount. Side note: PC accessories like case fans and neon lights are 12 volt. And PC accessories are sometimes cheaper than the same thing packaged as "Auto Accessories"."http://www.vehicross.info/forums/showthread.php?t=8244&highlight=seats


I said it before, all say it again... F.B.

[JAFO]

I wonder if they are wired to remain at the current on/off/low/high position when the battery is off. If so, they would work very well with remote start feature.

www.arizenracingsports.com also sells dual level seat heaters. Also if you look at the switch it is a mechanical three possition switch (high/off/low) therefore you can use it with your remote start.

Also the only reason why any of these would not work, is if the seat covering is glued to the seat foam. Because you have to be able to slide it inbetween the material and the foam.

Or I guess, "If your seat contains flammable material, do not use!" would be another.

[rowhard]

PHO2GR4, when you contact them, they are Recaro Trend. See if that helps

[darkl4805]

I spoke with their support department and said we had Recaro seats. At first he said no because the leather was sewn to the pad but then I explained that they were trend and that the cover was removable. After that he said 'ohh we fit those just not the racing seats.'

[PHO2GR4]

Well, searching online, I found a lot of Recaro Trend seats with heating and electric height/recline adjustments for about $1575 EACH.

So, for $3150 plus shipping, you could get some killer new seats.

Ahem.

[Mark Miller]

I've installed the katzkin heating elements before, not in a vx.
Not a hard job took less than a days work.
Remove seats, strip them partial, then lay in the elements held in by tape, put seats back together, run the wiring, reinstall the seats.

So if you can remove the seat cover should be no problem at all.

[kpaske]

Well, searching online, I found a lot of Recaro Trend seats with heating and electric height/recline adjustments for about $1575 EACH.

So, for $3150 plus shipping, you could get some killer new seats.

Ahem.Ahah! Are they aftermarket replacement seats, or did they come stock in something? I'm thinking "junk yard search". ;Db;

[PHO2GR4]

Good question. I found them as aftermarket replacements, but I wonder if a junkyard might have some of those Porsche or Audi seats collecting dust?

Also, I couldn't find ANY aftermarket Trends with the exact same red-n-black layout as my stock VX seats...

[kpaske]

But there ARE companies who make "Seat Skins" - there was another thread a while back where we discussed this option. If we could find some old Porsche or Audi seats with the motors and switches intact, we could recover them ourselves (and get custom materials and colors to boot!). Even if the seats weren't originally heated, it sounds like it would be pretty easy to add the heaters in at the same time.

The next question is, if we find some old seats, will they bolt up to the same mounting points? Can we hybridize our existing seats (i.e. install the old motorized parts in our seats or pull the mounting base off our original seats and use them to install the recovered seats)? It would be nice if we could find a set of seats that were plug and play, but that's probably wishful thinking.

[darkl4805]

http://www.rostra.com/seat-heater.htm

After doing some research I found positive reviews of Rostra products but couldn't find any detailed reviews on the Heizgerat that heatedseatkits.com sells.

Just ordered 2 of these. I spoke with the manufacturer and oddly enough they told me one of their distributors sells for a cheaper price than they do.

I bought them for $103.33 each + shipping (actual UPS rate, was told I'd get a call back tomorrow with the shipping cost). Part #250-1802.

For those of you interested, I ordered from Brandon Distributing (877-402-3944). They are located in MN.

I'll do a write-up and take some pictures for those interested. Hopefully I get these in time for next weekend and can get everything installed/working.

I'm thinking the best place for the buttons will be next to the Power/Winter buttons. Any better location suggestions?

[etlsport]

i took my mirror defroster button, put it in the space of the blank on the face of the dash, which leaves two blanks in the center console.. maybe get some stock buttons and put em in the blanks on the console

[darkl4805]

Okay, I got everything today. I have the seat mostly disassembled but need to remove one more part before I can take the cover off.

Does anyone know how to remove the reclining knob? Pretty much stuck until I can figure this out. I'm afraid to just pop it off without knowing if that's the proper way...

The workshop manual is very helpful... The line for removing the knob is as follows:

Disassembly:
Step 3. Remove the reclining knob.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

[darkl4805]

Well I finished installing the heated seats on my passenger seat. Was relatively easy (but time consuming). The most interesting part is that there is not one single hog ring in the entire seat... It made it very easy to fool around with and easy to disassemble / re-assemble.

Tomorrow, err later today, I am going to do the drivers seat. I'll do a write up w/photos on the driver's seat install now that I've gotten the experience from the passenger seat.

I haven't installed the switch yet. Right now it's hanging out the bottom of the seat... Still can't decide on placement...

[PHO2GR4]

Cool! I can't wait to see your final write-up.

Good job!

[IndianaVX]

so how did you remove the recline knob???? been looking at doing this myself......

[darkl4805]

The thing pops right off. I took two flat heads and put one on opposite sides of the knob then twisted them and it popped right off.

I finished the write-up today and have all the pics taken. Tomorrow I'm putting it all together then posting it.

[kpaske]

I can't wait to see your writeup! This sounds like a fairly inexpensive, worthwhile mod for those of us in the cooler climates.

So how difficult would it be to remove the leather completely for reconditioning or replacement?

[darkl4805]

http://www.mothermary.com/vx/recaro_disassembly/index.html

It's really not difficult at all. Just time consuming. I'm not sure how to post this so it is immortalized. I can send the html + imgs to an op to post in the how-to section.

This should really be classified as a Recaro Trend Seat Disassembly How-To more than a Seat Heater install.

Let me know if anything needs clarification.

[PHO2GR4]

:cool:

:)