Just in case "You" havent thought of doing it, its not too difficult. I noticed a small little tear on my seat today so thought I'd see if they were swappable since the inside passenger bolster was perfect

Ill post some pictures later but here's the jist of it.

1. Pull the seats
2. Pull off the sliders, 4x T20 (or something like that) torx screws
3. Pull the tilt crank off and cap from other side off
4. Gently hammer (with a rubber mallet or something softer) the shaft to the opposite side.
5. Pull off the plastic covers near the tilt crank from one seat to put on the other (It has a relief for the seat belt arm). Only held on with one screw plus a loop around the crank shaft.
6. Dremel off the spacers on the seatbelt side rail (There's a spacer for each side, one side has it as part of the rail and other other its part of the seat. Obviously easiest to cut the spacer off the rail for the other side, pics will make more sense)
7. With plastic covers swapped and spacers dremelled off, bolt on the rails with the spacers on the other rail (You can figure it out, you're a smart guy ).
8. Using a deepwell socket and a heavy hammer to back the shaft, tap the retaining clip on the new crank handle side in all the way.
9. Pop the crank handle on one side and the cap on the other.
10. Re-install the seats.

Not to difficult to do and gets you a fresh bolster to wear out for another 60k miles .

 

There's a thread about repairing the bolsters by grinding down the plastic mounts and riveting sheet stock in as new mounts. If you're going to disassemble the seat already why get to the second-to-last step only to half *** it?

 

great thread. was thinking of doing this. pics will be nice

 

Because its easy and looks perfect. Unless you drag our *** all over it, it should last at least 60k

 

+1 my current DD has ~130k on original seats, no broken bolsters.

The blue center section on the other and, more than a bit worn. If anyone has any seat covers to sell...... :P

 

My bolster isnt broken, their is a small ~1/2" tear on the outside in the leather. I get pics up this week to show the leather fatigue and the tear. I know you can get those section repaired for a couple hundred locally at a good leather upholstery shop but this makes for an easy second option. The inside passenger leather has nearly no wear so its basically a fresh surface

 

To the OP: Have you actually done this yet? The reason I ask is because I got to step 2 and found that the torx screws must have some sort of thread locker on them. There are posts where others have tried to remove these fasteners but only succeeded in tearing up the screw head. So, I am wondering if you got them out and if you did then how?

 

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Right now Im at step 9, just need to put the cap back on and bolt them in. I just used a torx T20 3/8" socket and my electric impact. They do have some thread lock on them, but for me they zipped out without too much fuss and my gun isnt strong enough to break lug nuts loose.

 

Okay, thanks, I may have to go back and give this another try.

 

There is an M5 Allen screw on one of the rails but that is for the seatbelt and doesn't need to be removed. That one at first I tried to remove cause I wasnt sure and it seemed to be more "stuck" than the torx.

 

Seats are back in and as expected fit perfect. Bolsters are definitely stiff on the new outside driver side (old inside passenger).

 

Very nice trick. Good write up.

 

I gave this a try but didn't get far. The screws that you list as a T20 torx on the sliders are a 5mm internal hex on my car. I got a 3/8 drive hex for my hammer drill but all I accomplished was rounding the center of the screws as others who have tried this have reported.

The other route one can go is swapping the upholstery and padding. DIY looks to be a horrible job although possible. There is post on this site where someone did it.

 

Ahh, sounds like its an IX vs VIII difference. I looked at what it would take just to get the frame off the bottom of the seat and it would have been quite the pain. Thats why dremeling was a better option for the issue I ran into.

 

Yeah, it about breaks my heart as I can see how switching would put new material in every place where wear is showing. I have a buddy (or had a buddy - I haven't laid eyes on him in 10 years) that is into auto upholstery and liked oddball jobs like this. If I can find him I'll see if he is willing to try a seat cover swap. Otherwise, it won't be too long before I am looking for seats out of wreck.