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Custom aftermarket seats?

21K views 56 replies 27 participants last post by  ssundet 
#1 ·
I did a search and only found some guys that had their seats re-skinned. That's not quite what I'm looking for.

I don't have a problem with my cloth seats until it's time to take a long trip....and after a few hours they become uncomfortable. My other gripe is that they have ZERO lateral support.

Anyone know of a good company that makes custom seats? A friend of mine had customs put in his Silverado, and they were WAY comfy. I want better comfort and lateral support - and getting rid of that mesh wouldn't hurt my feelings either. Not a big fan of leather, but it would depend on what's available.

Thanks
 
#28 ·
I would not run 5 ways with out a cage. If you roll that thing and the roof comes down your head and neck are in a locked upright position.
Seats look cool though.
 
#31 ·
I'm not sure what the bottom of the recaro's looks like. Might want to try and find some pics of those seat bottoms and compare them to your rails just to be prepared. I would think the track width might be different enough that you may have to do a little but of fab to make them bolt to the Nissan rails.
 
#35 ·
With the factory seats removed, is a resistor needed to keep the SRS system from throwing any lights on dash?...And if so what value resistance? I can figure things out on my own if I have to. Can't take the stock seat anymore and will be custom fabbing mounting system for Recaro slider and using Recaro Sportster GT seats... I know they fit my body well being I have the Sportster CS version custom fitted as my FR-S drivers seat.
 
#36 ·
I cannot answer for resistance numbers. The air bag alarm light will flash. You would need to complete the circuit for it to turn off. I understand that the sensor is hardwired in the stock seat and when you remove the seat, there goes the connection. The SRS from the seat will not function as it is disconnected but, the head on collision will deploy the airbag I suppose. Do Not Crash.

If you can build a seat frame with the factory sensors connected properly, that would be an amazing feat!
 
#38 ·
Yes, mounting custom seats will be difficult.
I run Msdtercrsft seats. The floor had to have new sheet metal installed. The sliders are mounted to the cage tubes.
308120
 
#40 ·
Just no seats will fit the stock brackets. Many have tried.
 
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#41 ·
Understood... not using stock anything for the bracketry. I'm custom fabbing a bracket system to interface between the mounting location holes and Recaro slider and a suitable mounting point for the stock seatbelt receptacle.

Have done this before... custom design/metal fabrication is the easy part - bypassing the seat SRS system and allowing everything to work and see things nominally is really the more difficult part. A correct value resistor to the seat SRS airbag circuit should do the trick. Its really just a matter of knowing what the system is looking for and matching that value - not too terribly difficult if value is known.

A 3.3 ohm resistor is all it took for my '13 FR-S when swapping out the factory airbag seats with a Recaro Sportster CS. Need to dig more in the Frontier factory service manuals to see if there's any testing parameters for the seat SRS connections.
 
#43 · (Edited)
I finally installed Recaro drivers seat over this long weekend, but it was the one removed from the FR-S I sold not the one I actually bought to put in the Frontier. I guess I may need to sell the one I bought then....

4.7ohm resistor works great at keeping SRS system happy, and leaving the seatbelt plug disconnected works too... no beeping or seatbelt light.

I'll take some pictures soon, but this is the exact seat, just what it was formerly mounted in:



Reason I went with it is because I already had seatbelt receptacle welded onto it and the receptacle works perfectly fine with the Nissan buckle. Seat is at a slightly lower height than stock but could be dropped more with a redesign of the rear bracket if ever wanted (not much you can do with the front height unfortunately when using factory mounting bolt locations as it's dictated by the front tunnel mount hole.) Basically can change the rake angle/drop the back, which I did. Used aluminum angle/C channel and stainless fasteners along with JB weld for some reinforcement support.

Driving it around is much different now... can take turns while being firmly planted in the seat not having to do a thing while before with stock seat it felt like I was being thrown around and doing everything I could to brace myself for turns. The drivers side A-pillar handle now has a use... because it is now more awkward to get in/out with the tall thigh bolsters on the Recaro and taller than stock sized tires. So, hey, get to use something on the truck I never used before...LOL. Also definitely notice more feel from the truck, including vibrations at idle... so not for those who want a 'cushy, smooth'/vague feeling ride.

Would definetly do again for the comfort and firmly planted feel.
 
#44 ·
Made a different rear bracket this weekend so I could drop it 0.5" more and get a bit more needed rake angle... seating height in driving position is noticeably lower than stock, I can see intersection signals without difficulty now. Now can drive with steering wheel 3 clicks down from topmost position. Need to measure and compare with my notes on the stock seat (which I have at 8-3/4" to 9" for rear cushion surface from carpet at mounting bolt area and 12 1/4 to 12-1/2" for front cushion surface from carpet with seat slid all the way back).

Anyways, here's picture I just took of it installed, with seat slid all the way back and steering wheel all way up (because easiest to get in/out of the truck that way):

 
#48 ·
Yes 1/8" aluminum doubled up with component orientations strategically layed out to support and reinforce the structure along with epoxy to help provide more solidity to the structure. At least as solid as the stock steel mount, absolutely no movement.

Here's picture of mounting structure with seat and slider off, because I changed out seat to the new black cloth GT version one specifically bought for the Frontier:



I drilled hole in the Recaro base of new seat for the factory seat belt receptacle (which I cut a tab ear off of and reshaped) and now have the seat belt cable connected back up. Just had to get a 7/16" x 20 nut and found a nice thick washer in my collection which has nice tight ID fit (just required trimming off a bit of the OD on one side so it would fit in the frame) - stock bolt, wave washer, and split washer were reused.




The immediately above picture is just the seat belt receptacle with bolt loosely pinning it in place for picture as I was still trying to find the right threading the bolt used at that point. Also wrapped up the cable to the receptacle like stock but with better, wider tape.

The Recaro Sportster CS and GT are every bit as comfortable as the Ergo line models I've had before, but provide more lateral support. Very tied into the chassis and feeling is very secured down and planted going around corners... absolutely no flopping around in the seat and trying to brace with your left foot like you would with the stock seat. Just the shape of the seat is enough to hold you solidly in place... seat belt is just in case of accident, doesn't do anything to keep you secure in corners. Not a simple slide into the seat affair... use stock grab handle on A-pillar to help lift up and over the outer seat bolster then drop and meld into the seat. A bit of effort, but once you are in... it's absolutely supportive and comfortable.
 
#49 ·
Someone on here installed 370z seats, they appeared to fit and function well, could be another viable option. Honestly I don't think the Pro4 seats are that bad, driven 12 to 14 hr days multiple times and wasn't super-sore, though I have a bad back and knees from a wreck in 2006, so I know about what constitutes good seats.
Still haven't found anything at any price to compare to the 14 way power-adjustable Lear Seiglars in my 92 Grand Prix STE though. That'd be a seat I would completely reengineer the Nissan mounts for ( triple pneumatic lumbar and individual thigh bolster adjustments ), for those seats it'd be worth it but finding a set of those in a salvage yard's pretty much about the same odds as randomly opening a car trunk in the same salvage yard and finding a suitcase full of $1000.00 bills in it.
 
#50 · (Edited)
I wouldn't have minded the NISMO Recaros... which are the Sportster CS. Everyone has a seat that fits them best... I know most all stock seats are no good unless they are in REALLY nice cars that I can't afford. I do think the seats in Jaguar F-Type, newer top of the line optioned Lincoln Continental Black Label, and Lexus LC500 are some of the nicest and most comfortable of a stock car for the limited time I've sat in them.

Personally I stick with seats I know works for me and put it in every vehicle. Recaro Ergo/Sportster has been the one for me and my bad lower back. Have done many 1,400+ mile one way road trips in them and they are never tiring... a drive all day only stopping for fuel non fatiguing seat. I've driven from Daytona Beach, FL to Houston, TX in a straight shot before in my FR-S, about 12.5 hours. Most stock seats start really hurting me after 30 minutes of driving...
 
#51 ·
Very good write up for your seat project Vracer111. It has been a few days since I have viewed the forum. The west coast page has been pretty quiet for awhile now....

I just knew the stock seats were uncomfortable for long hours in the chair. It is unfortunate that our friends at Nissan are not able to offer better seat options for the truck. I know it is a huge engineering and manufacturing production question for seats that most people could care less about. I have not seen much about the latest and greatest version of the Frontier. I would be impressed if the operator seats were improved- They did not get my input but, that is another day to soapbox.

I do like the Vracer111 seat custom build. Your machining and fabrication is excellent.
 
#54 ·
I do really like the idea of being able to access the storage from the side of the under seat, I always have to slide my seats forward and it can be a minor annoyance. That being said, aftermarket racing seats like this aren't really my cup of tea(not comfortable for me).

I do have one question, what are you doing to protect your calves from the front of that frame? I don't see that being too fun to catch your legs on when entering, or god forbid you get in an accident and get jostled around. I'd recommended some good dense seat cushion foam (for example, from Joann's fabric) getting attached to it, with either cloth/carpet or vinyl/leather glued to it and covering it for a nice fancy and safer solution.
 
#56 · (Edited)
Have not had any issues - follow a procedure and legs are not close enough for any concern when getting in - lower dash under the steering wheel is much more of the issue. All the ends and edges are beveled and rounded as well. With a seat like this you can't get in 'normally' anyways because of the high thigh bolsters. Literally back over and in kind of a sideways 45 degree angle and controlled fall into the seat then rotate around to face forward. Grab handle used to steady getting in but not much force needed on it. When adjusted to driving position, my legs/knee would most likely have to break for my calves to be able to touch the frame. Just like factory seats, I'm 100% more concerned with the lower dash causing injury in the most likely fender bender scenario than the seat bracket system.

See post #46 for seat in actual driving position... much more forward than all the way back it is in picture directly above.

Will not be covering any part of the seat bracket system with anything... if any structural fatigue signs come up I don't want them concealed in any way.
 
#57 ·
I did a search and only found some guys that had their seats re-skinned. That's not quite what I'm looking for.

I don't have a problem with my cloth seats until it's time to take a long trip....and after a few hours they become uncomfortable. My other gripe is that they have ZERO lateral support.

Anyone know of a good company that makes custom seats? A friend of mine had customs put in his Silverado, and they were WAY comfy. I want better comfort and lateral support - and getting rid of that mesh wouldn't hurt my feelings either. Not a big fan of leather, but it would depend on what's available.

Thanks
I read on this site that others have found Pathfinder and Xterra seats to be direct bolt ons. That's one option.

Unfortunately, no one makes seat brackets so you'll have to make some.

Check out Scheel-Mann seats.
 
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