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Operation Volvo Seats in a prius

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Accessories & Modifications' started by problemchild, Apr 10, 2008.

  1. problemchild

    problemchild New Member

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    OK Ive calmed down now. I will post the driver side swap I did today. Kind of a PITA for the brackets but you must consider I dont have a shop with a welder, grinder and cutter.

    Let me tell you its PURE freaken HEAVEN having Volvo 8 way (9 way w/lumbar adjust) heated electric seats in my car. Now my wife is complaining that she wants the passenger side swapped out this weekend (ugh). Both of us fell in love with these seats. Oh and Im 6'4" and can move the seat back so I cant touch feet or hands. Or I can move it forward so my tiny wife can be crammed into the steering wheel. It also moves up and down about 5 inches for her and I. I can sit on the floor and she can be jacked up high.

    One oddity of the seats is that the controls are on the left so they offset the rails a bit. It made the drivers seat 2 inches to the side(off center) of the steering wheel. I swapped the driver/passenger seat so now its centered again. I lost the memory functions but who cares. I drive the car 99% of the time anyway. The controls are on the inside now (R side) for driver and L side for passenger. One last thing if you take a look at the passenger shot you can see my head is even with the side post. I have to peek around it when turning left etc. No biggie really just an FYI. Now for the tele-scopic steering wheel mod.

    Heres a pic of the driver side swap.
     

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  2. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    I'm sincerely glad you decided to post the pics and share your efforts...I think we all are.
    That seat just plain looks so comfortable...it's a perfect match as well...what a bonus.

    Can you explain a few things....
    1) Why are the memory functions lost? You can't reprogram them for some reason b/c the seats are swapped? I don't know how the memory thing works, so that may be all that's needed explaination wise.

    2) What rail modifications, if any, were needed? Did you photography any of that that you'd be willing to share?

    Finally, and I'm NOT trying to set you off, just want to know...If it upsets you too much don't sweat it, but I think others will appreciate knowing what you did and why you decided to do what you did....
    3) What did you do about the air bags...do you have a warning light, did you terminate the wire, or did you connect the OEM wire to the trigger wire for the new seats? Can you tell us anything about why you made the choice you did?

    Again, the seats look great...I'd hire you to put some in my Prius too.
     
  3. rpiereck

    rpiereck Regenerator

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    I do! :( My wife is tiny while I am 6'00", I wish the memory function stayed operational, that would be a big selling point to me. My boss is 6'2", married to a 5'3" lady and the seat and mirror memory on his Chrysler Pacifica is one hell of a good feature when they swap seats.
     
  4. problemchild

    problemchild New Member

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    I can move the brain and controls over to the other seat. Its just more work. Only one seat has the brain which is the drivers seat. I would have to switch controls and the brain to the passenger seat. They are very easy to work on so maybe I will do it.

    Im going to finish wiring up the power and heater this weekend. Then Im going to swap my serius for xm. Im using an aux 12v and extension power wire to power the seat.. Im still not finished with the install.

    I bought the prius and never drove it the seats were so bad. Its brand new and been parked for 4 weeks.

    I had to track down the seats, fab the brackets and figure out the wiring. I actually had to go back to the junk yard and probe the seat harness with a multi-meter to figure out which wires were what.
     
  5. Boo

    Boo Boola Boola Member

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    Oh I think I get it. Memory was only on the Volvo driver's seat. And you put the Volvo passenger seat on the driver side of the Prius in order to center the seat with the steering wheel. Right?

    EDIT: It just occurred to me that if the Volvo passenger seat is in the Prius driver side, then the seat's side airbag is now on the wrong side. A loss, IMO. But as between a side airbag and a side curtain airbag, I'd rather have a side curtain airbag.
     
  6. Winston

    Winston Member

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    Wow, that seat is beautifull. Thank you for posting pics.

    BTW what is that furry animal sitting on the armrest?:rolleyes:

    Problem child, you chose the right avenue by just ignoring the airbag questions if you dont want to talk about it.

    I would like to know a bit more about how long it took you to install the seat? and do you have any pics of the rail atttachment that you had to modify?

    This would be a great tag line for the thread;

    "It is PURE freaken HEAVEN having Volvo 8 way heated electric seats in my car!":cheer2:
     
  7. problemchild

    problemchild New Member

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    I still might have some one fab. some pro looking seats brackets but for now I had a metal supply shop cut 4 pieces of metal. The front two were just rectangle steel plates with 2 holes drilled in them. One hole for the oem mount and one hole to put a bolt and nut through for the seat. The backs were more trouble. I had them cut 3 inch sq. steel tube 3" long. I tipped the sq. tube on its side edge and shoved it under the rear seat foot. The volvo seat feet in the back bend down at a 45 angle. So the bent foot grips the slope of the tilted sq. tube. I drilled holes in the side of the tube and mounted the rear of the seat. I had the metal shop cut some 2" wide steel plate to weld to the front of the sq. tube to bolt to the oem bolt holes. It looks OK and is barely noticeable. If I go over a 1000' cliff and Im rolling all the way to the bottom Im not sure the seats will hold. :)
     
  8. problemchild

    problemchild New Member

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    Rodge that. The seats are identical except for seat belt and controls so I should be able to move over both.
     
  9. problemchild

    problemchild New Member

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    EDIT: It just occurred to me that if the Volvo passenger seat is in the Prius driver side, then the seat's side airbag is now on the wrong side. A loss, IMO. But as between a side airbag and a side curtain airbag, I'd rather have a side curtain airbag.

    The seat backs could be swapped to retain the AB.
     
  10. Boo

    Boo Boola Boola Member

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    Thanks. Now I officially have Volvo Seat Envy.
     
  11. Danny

    Danny Admin/Founder
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    That looks really good, problemchild! You're definitely the envy of the PriusChat neighborhood now.
     
  12. Hybrid Effects

    Hybrid Effects Junior Member

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    Is this the Modifications forum section> :fencing:

    Changing the seat backs sounds cool.

    To bad you can not just change the seat tracks around.

    Seats are pretty tough and weak they will bend a lot if a lot of weight is put on them as long as they are bolted to the floor good or at least the seat belts.

    Are you gonna get some Hybrid Volvo emblems now?

    Do they have the MOD of the year award? Awesome job very cool.

    Franklin
     
  13. SparrowHawk60

    SparrowHawk60 Happy to be green!

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  14. Jack66

    Jack66 Kinda Jovial Member

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    Those seats are things of pure beauty. It makes me curious what other seats people have thought of putting the Prius and size/design challenges that might ensue.
     
  15. Wildkow

    Wildkow New Member

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    !!SWEET!!

    Wildkow

    p.s. Hey! Wait a minute which model seats are you using or did I miss that?
     
  16. brick

    brick Active Member

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    Well, that does it. Now I know what I want for my birthday.

    **EDIT**
    Brainstorm: I wonder what it would take to install the entire Prius side airbag system in the Volvo seat, ending the side impact safety question? A lot more effort than just swapping the seats no doubt, but remotely possible? If so, count me in for a project.

    And another side note: Volvo head restraints are top-notch. I would feel much better if I had that feature back.
     
  17. problemchild

    problemchild New Member

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  18. problemchild

    problemchild New Member

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    S60 seats 8 way electric + lumbar + seat heaters
     
  19. problemchild

    problemchild New Member

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    More pics of the install. The bent legs are rears. The green dots are leg mount positions.
     

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    Robert Holt likes this.
  20. Seamus

    Seamus Grumpy old man

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    Did you drill straight through the floor at those points? Reinforcing plate and nut below the bottom of the car? Tough to drill?

    That right front mount only appears a bit behind the original position where you could have used the original mount and bolt. So are you tall and needed the seat further rearward or didn't want to drill the right front into that reinforced area?