'01 Lexus ES300 Power Bucket Seat Retrofit Build Thread

Ah darn. How hard is it for passengers to get into the back?

Did you manage to wire everything up yet? I'm still figuring out where to find a wiring schematic for my chairs. Still figuring out where to fit the heated seat switches. Did your chairs have an airbag? I want to remove the one in mine since I won't be using it, don't think it'll be easy.

 

Oh boy!!

 

They're good looking seats. Aren't the controls in the door or center console?

 

In the seat! The switches for the heat I'm planning on putting on the sides of the transmission shifter trim. They're comfortable too. Can't wait to put them in.

I was going to use Mercedes-Benz seats, but the switches are in the doors and it would be harder to wire it all up.

 

It kind of sucks getting into the back.

I didn't wire up the heated seat switches yet. May not ever. Never had heated seats and don't really feel the need for them.

For the power adjustment I just ran an inline fuse from the power/ground wires of the seat to my amp's distribution blocks right under the seat.

Didn't remove the airbags from the seats, don't need to, just don't connect the airbag wiring to anything. Airbag wire harnesses are always yellow.

 

How did you figure out which wires did what? I'm having trouble finding a wiring diagram. I reallllyyy don't want to activate the airbag by accident. It looks like each chair has several yellow wires.

Also, how do your passengers get in the back? Do you scoot the seats forward or what?

 

i just got a visual of the airbags being deployed accidentally.

Yeah i was wondering about that with that photo of you holding up the clipped end of the loom. Do the seats also have all the switches on them? not too familiar with the car you pull them from but i know some have the switches all on the center console or sometimes the door.

If need be you might be able to go to the dealer and get a wiring diagram printed out for you. the guys in the parts depo are always super helpful and friendly by my house. Worth a shot if the interweb doesn't have anything to offer.

 

One of the biggest reasons I went with these Lexus seats and not Mercedes seats is because in Mercedes seats the switch adjustments are on the door panel, on these the switches are fully contained in the seats. I will have to put the heated seat switches somewhere else though since they were originally in the Lexus transmission shifter trim.

I think I'm going to end up renting access to the Lexus FSM database. I'd rather pay $8 rather than deploying the airbags in the seat and having to buy a new chair and a new pair of pants.

 

The bottom of my seats still had the wire harness clips attached. The yellow ones are for airbags.

 

aIR BAG WIRES ARE IN THE YELLOW LOOM.

 

There ya go. Don't touch the yellow shit lol 8$ saved and however much gas it would have taken to go to the parts depo. Now you just need to play with a battery to see what works with what.

 

Sub'd.

 

Nice Tyler. Not wasting any time on turning this taco into a comfy daily driver. Got my eye on this, my 60/40 is just plain uncomfortable. Liking you kept it in the Yota fam

 

I plan on driving this thing until the engine falls out or the frame breaks in half. Might as well make it comfortable because this truck will probably outlive me.

 

Bailing wire wrapped with duct tape is the best. Then zip ties around the duct tape for good measure.

 

Nah I used what I find around, no need to be wasteful. Rusty barbed wire and used scotch tape is the best way to go.

 

That's my outlook these days. My mom has a 2001 Subaru Forester with grey interior. I find those seats pretty comfortable. And the bolsters make for a snug fit, which is nice when things get rockin'.

 

My dad was a big proponent of carrying duct and bailing wire in the truck at all times.

 

So I was on Craigslist the other day and noticed someone was selling OEM seat brackets with the sliders, but they were modified in a way to fit racing seats and keep the sliding mechanism intact.

Originally I was just going to grind down the Tacoma rails until just the bottom was left so I could weld it on to the Lexus rails, but now that I can see keeping the sliding mechanism intact I'm going to attempt to replicate what this guy did with 90 degree flat iron and some strategic grinding and welding. It'll make it much easier to get into the back seat.

 

Working on wiring all this up!