Heated seats

Quick update before I finish, at which point I’ll make a fresh thread with full details/instructions.

I opted to run an 8 gauge wire to the center console. After waffling back and forth for for far too long I landed on the center console due to the size of the harnesses/relays for the heaters. Each one’s about the size of half a deck of cards and with eventually 4 of them, I couldn’t find a good place to secure them in the footwell. Got the fronts pre-wired and I’m making a false floor in the center console out of hdpe plastic. Traced the little carpet piece in there to make a rack to mount everything to. Got some long bolts and put a rivnut on each corner so that the false floor top bolts to the bottom.



Bottoms cut off under a tote, but the rear harness/relays will go down there. Power/front wiring comes in up top, ground/rear wiring on bottom through holes in the bottom of the console.

@RainMan_PNW I know you said the illumination is very low current, planning to slave the front 2 off that sonar wire, would it be safe/okay to slave all 4 switches illumination off that sonar wire?

 

You should be fine using that source for all four.

 

Awesome thanks. My installs probably overkill as far as the panel goes but was also kinda thinking for anyone willing to sacrifice a couple inches of depth in their center console, this panel makes for an easily accessible accessory power source. Suppose I could have maybe had better luck finding a spot on the passenger side.

 

It’s definitely well thought out!

 

@RainMan_PNW I was just looking at your RMF-001, any chance you know if it'd fit the rear of the center console? I took some quick measurements and it looks like the card holder/behind the shifter spot and it looks to measure about the same as the back of the center console panel, maybe a 1/4 difference or so on the 2" side. In thinking about pre-wiring the rear seats for heaters I'd love to swap out that panel and do a switch for each heater and a USB in the middle, rather than the standalone cigarette lighter back there now.

 

You want one of the flavors of RMF-003 - you cut out the appropriate size hole for the one you order (1-, 2-, or 3-switch) and anchor it from the back side.

https://www.tundras.com/threads/rainman-fabrications-switch-panels-and-more.135320/

 

Insert Homer Simpson doh! I’m an idiot…I was looking at that one as well and didn’t scroll far enough to read the “mounting anywhere else”. In looking for a panel I saw the dual cig lighter ones/saw the back of the panel has room for switch depth. Will order one shortly, thanks!

 

I

I’m about to order these but can’t figure out the difference between the universal or TOY version from Rostra.

 

The “TOY” ones come with switches that will fit perfectly in OEM switch openings, I had a couple blanks that I installed mine in and they look totally factory, the switches are also a ~5 position slider whereas the universal ones only have two settings. That said, the universal ones are about half the price of the TOY ones. Highly recommend M&R Electronics for ordering, ordered from them twice and both times they shipped/packaged super fast. They have the TOY ones for $105 and free shipping when I ordered. The manufacturer Rostra lists the 250-1870-TOY for $130 and the 250-1870 universal for $53.99. For some reason m&r has the universals listed for $85, but Summit Racing lists them for $50. At the end of the day far as I can tell they use the same heating pads, same quality wiring etc., might just wire up slightly different and have different switches.

 

“Part number 250-1870-TOY includes two seat heating elements (one for the seat bottom, one for the seat back) “ so ordering one kit comes with both driver and passenger seat top/bottom?

 

Also in theory couldnt you just get the universal ones and add an oem style switch for like $10?

 

Whoops yeah you’re right I was misremembering what I had ordered.

You could add an OEM switch in theory, but the TOY and universal ones also have different power modules from the looks of it which might be tied to the switches settings somehow although I’m not sure.

 

Ok so I would need to order two kits to do driver and passenger seats?

 

Correct. I know they’re twice as expensive but if you can swing it, I think the TOY ones are totally worth it, but either way they’ll perform about the same and Rostra makes great stuff!

 

Yeah.. I'm just wondering the difference with the harness besides the switch. Kinda hard to justify at 2x the cost when you can just wire up any toyota switch off Amazon/ebay. How have your seat warmers held up so far? I have a 17 pro with the leather seats and boy do they get cold during the winter.

 

Had them in about a month now and they’re fantastic, they heat up quick and get super hot. Rostra has phenomenal customer support, I’d be willing to bet if you emailed them they’d be happy to elucidate any differences/if it’s possible to wire in a different switch without issue.

 

Interesting I found the same model on Sparks website. I wonder if these are similiar to the oem heated seats from toyota?

https://www.sparksparts.com/p-comfo...kPsBnX2fk6mLi496FqPjoXPkS2J_6EcXvoDJvPEu5c3g4

 

The OEM toyota ones have different looking heating elements with pre cut holes for attaching hot rings in the listing.

[Replacement] 2PCS Heating Switch Car Accessories for Toyota for Reiz 10-17 Left Seat 84751-0G030 Black 84751-0P050 84751-0G040 84751-0P060 Soggier

$29 [Replacement] 2PCS Heating Switch Car Accessories for Toyota for Reiz 10-17 Left Seat 84751-0G030 Black 84751-0P050 84751-0G040 84751-0P060 Soggier

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D9Y5QMNB

These are the switches in the TOY version just labeled L/R but then you’d have to source the connectors and pins, maybe from Corsa Technic, since it doesn’t look like the switches come with bare wire ends like some of the other switch options on like these on Ali Express: https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256...AvD_BwE&gatewayAdapt=glo2usa&_randl_shipto=US

 

I see. I just noticed you have a write up on it. The only thing I worry about is the reinstall of my factory pro leather. I have 150k+ miles so the driver seat is more worn than passenger but still in pretty good shape for its age. Do you know if the leather seats use the hog rings as well?

 

I can’t say for certain but I think pretty much all car seat covers fabric or leather use hog rings. I ended up taking my seats to a car upholstery shop and having them reinstall just the covers and it was $80 a seat. I tried doing it a couple times and ended up with some bunching/wrinkling in the listing that I wasn’t satisfied with, the upholstery shop got them back to factory finish in a couple days. Alas another added cost but all totaled I didn’t think ~$400 to add factory looking/functioning heated seats wasn’t too bad.

 

I will give it a go before I pay someone else. The only thing needed is hog rings and the tool?

 

Yep, and a decent pair of cutters to get the old hog rings off, I bought some mini ~8” bolt cutters. I know Knipex makes needle nose hog ring pliers and maybe some other brands do, the standard Amazon ones I tried using were kind stubby and hard to work with, not sure if it matters but I had ordered stainless steel hog rings.

 

I watched the video in your write up. Did you take apart the bottom and top seat as well? I saw in another video where you can leave the seat bolted together (out of the truck) and slide the heating element under the leather.

 

Yeah I just pulled the seats out of the truck, removed the plastic trim pieces, undid the wiring underneath as some of it is routed through the covers, and then the seat covers on my fabric seats are attached together with a plastic channel piece that’s part of the top or bottom cover, don’t remember which exactly, that runs the width of the seat, and then the other cover has a plastic piece that slides into it, once you undo that, you can pull the covers from the front, through where the top and bottom meet, off the seat belt part, and start peeling the bottom cover back to reveal the hog rings you have to cut and there’s a few plastic hook pieces on each side that snap over some metal bar attachment points. On mine the seat back covers have zippers on the sides, unzipping them reveals the back cover attached via velcro in the listing valleys and some fabric straps that i didn’t need to cut, and then on the bottom the cover is attached via hog rings you have to cut.

All in all I ended up undoing the velcro on the back cover, rolled it up on itself, and used a bungie cord to hold it up out of the way so I could attach the heating pad. On one side of each seat there are fabric straps that I didn’t cut or touch, the back seat cover ended up folding up on one side to the top of where the velcro ends, and on the other side, the strap prevented it from rolling up as far, but I still had plenty of room to attach the heating pad. On the bottom, I cut all of the hog rings off, and peeled the cover back towards the front, and in hindsight, I’d take care to not remove the velcro on the front corners of the seat as you’ll have plenty of room to get the heating pad on.