aftermarket seat heaters

[john112deere]

Thinking (though not terribly seriously) about adding a seat heater to my '09 Ranger. It's cold here for a lot of the year, and I've also learned that a heated backrest can work wonders on the stiffness that sets into my lower back on many-hundred mile drives.

I haven't done any research yet- I know the kits are out there and can imagine how they must get installed, but I have no idea what they cost or where to get them.

Anybody got any experience with this? Near as I can figure, there's two hard parts:
-Wiring it up. Gotta get it so it won't catch fire, the switch is accessible and looks factory, and with the minimum amount of hacking to original truck parts.
-Getting the heater element inside the seat. not a clue how to get the upholstery off my seats and then back on, and leave it looking like it never came off. (I've got the buckets, if it matters.)


(Before anybody calls me a sissy, know that I think refusing to shift your own gears is way, way sissier than wanting a warm seat when it's negative double-digits outside.)


EDIT: If I do pull my interior apart and start doing wiring...it sure would be nice to get my CB installed in this thing, too- so if anyone has any ideas where a Uniden 68 might fit in a stick-shift Ranger with buckets...lemme know. (Don't think I wanna go ceiling mount in this truck. Said that on the '97, too, and ended up doing it anyway. Different set of reasons for not liking it than I'd thought, but I still don't want to go that route- even if it does look cool as hell.)

 

[Fellro]

You can get some that hook up like seat covers too, rather than tearing it all apart. Had one some time back, even had the massage function in it, but that irritated my back more than it helped...

 

[DNFXDLI]

The only experience I have had is with bike and ATV seats. You remove the covering and place the pad on the seat and reattach the covering.
I would suspect that with a vehicle seat that having an actual upholstery person put things back together would be the ticket.
Most that I have seen are self regulating heat trace types..I'm sure some of the more higher end ones would have a built in thermistor to regulate the temperature.

 

[m78]

watch out you don't get yur balls shocked.

 

[john112deere]

I would suspect that with a vehicle seat that having an actual upholstery person put things back together would be the ticket.

Sounds expensive. Might not be, though- some things are only slow if you don't know what you're doing. I'll have to look into it a bit.

watch out you don't get yur balls shocked.

'Specially if I spill a beer all over my lap, right?

 

[DNFXDLI]

Sounds expensive. Might not be, though- some things are only slow if you don't know what you're doing. I'll have to look into it a bit.

I think a guy could probably do it with a pair of hog ring pliers and a pack of rings...although if would depend on what your local shop would charge.
Upholstery scares me...probably because I have never done it!

 

[john112deere]

Upholstery scares me...probably because I have never done it!

It scares me because I'm a fussy SOB- I expect I could take the seat apart and put it back together pretty well. Trouble is, if there's even the slightest imperfection, it'll drive me crazy for the rest of the time I own the truck.

 

[DNFXDLI]

That sums up my thoughts on it...I'd just as soon pay once than dick around with it and be annoyed every time I saw an imperfection.

 

[Fellro]

Since the seat is already stretched, it isn't so bad. I used to change the seat heaters in Audis when they failed when I worked at an Audi dealership.Since they had a tendency to fail regularly, I didn't really think that highly of them. However, the ones in my mom's Buick are still going with 366,000 miles on the ticker...