tagle281
Senior Member
Finally putting leather in my car and the fleet mechanic at work said I may need to recalibrate the sensor on the passenger side if I remove this seat. Anyone know for sure before I tackle the fronts? 2012 base model
Front seat removal and airbag sensor
- Thread starter tagle281
- Start date
ixtlan
Senior Member
I just did my 2005 and added foam to the seat buckets.
The Factory foam was breaking down and really poor quality.
Looking thru the manuals for mine and 2011 and up there is nothing about recalibrating unless there is a problem encountered on re-powering the SRS.
(You MUST de-power the SRS before doing anything)
On a 2005 it means pulling the fuse #17 from the fuse box in the right kickpanel. Dont know about yours LOOK IT UP.
http://iihs.net/fsm/?dir=1052
I will tell you this though.
It is work and you will need some tools to do this, and help at times from a buddy.
The Hog Rings are not so bad to remove but putting back in is a bitcha.
I ended up using pull straps instead, and I had the hog ring pliers and rings available.
The Hog Rings tie the foam to the fabric in case you didn't know that.
Be careful taking them out or you will pull the tie bars out of the foam.
Two rows on the Back and One on the Bucket.
Gotta say an upholsterer must have the grip of a gorilla.
Also pay really close attention on dis-assembly how the cover attaches to the seat especially around the hinges. Take pictures!
And all those plastic trees you will need to replace. They break more than not.
Also there is a plastic rivet on the hinge itself that retains fabric over the metal of the hinge on the back. Your local Orielly's wont have them either.
Trees yes, rivet no.
I ended up using 3M 77 to just glue the cover in place. There is no tension on the rivet and all it does is retain the cover fabric.
One more hint.
The Headrest retaining tubes you get out after you roll the cover up the back.
Once you can get to the bottom of the retainers, use a hammer and tap them up and out of the seat frame.
The bottom of them looks like it should be squeeze and push out. But they aint. They are retained at the top of the seat frame by interference fit.
Look over the lumbar pad mechanism while you can. Fix it if needed, they have been known to break. Mine actually didn't have the spring on the fulcrum point installed and never did. So it only worked half the amount it should have, Does Now!
FYI the seat frame is built like a tank.
One well built ton of metal.
Good Luck and don't get discouraged.
The Factory foam was breaking down and really poor quality.
Looking thru the manuals for mine and 2011 and up there is nothing about recalibrating unless there is a problem encountered on re-powering the SRS.
(You MUST de-power the SRS before doing anything)
On a 2005 it means pulling the fuse #17 from the fuse box in the right kickpanel. Dont know about yours LOOK IT UP.
http://iihs.net/fsm/?dir=1052
I will tell you this though.
It is work and you will need some tools to do this, and help at times from a buddy.
The Hog Rings are not so bad to remove but putting back in is a bitcha.
I ended up using pull straps instead, and I had the hog ring pliers and rings available.
The Hog Rings tie the foam to the fabric in case you didn't know that.
Be careful taking them out or you will pull the tie bars out of the foam.
Two rows on the Back and One on the Bucket.
Gotta say an upholsterer must have the grip of a gorilla.
Also pay really close attention on dis-assembly how the cover attaches to the seat especially around the hinges. Take pictures!
And all those plastic trees you will need to replace. They break more than not.
Also there is a plastic rivet on the hinge itself that retains fabric over the metal of the hinge on the back. Your local Orielly's wont have them either.
Trees yes, rivet no.
I ended up using 3M 77 to just glue the cover in place. There is no tension on the rivet and all it does is retain the cover fabric.
One more hint.
The Headrest retaining tubes you get out after you roll the cover up the back.
Once you can get to the bottom of the retainers, use a hammer and tap them up and out of the seat frame.
The bottom of them looks like it should be squeeze and push out. But they aint. They are retained at the top of the seat frame by interference fit.
Look over the lumbar pad mechanism while you can. Fix it if needed, they have been known to break. Mine actually didn't have the spring on the fulcrum point installed and never did. So it only worked half the amount it should have, Does Now!
FYI the seat frame is built like a tank.
One well built ton of metal.
Good Luck and don't get discouraged.
dark steed
Resident noob
Where did you get the foam replacement? My drivers side bolster is starting to sag a bit...
tagle281
Senior Member
Nah, not discouraged at all. I did my '07 in leather as well but the '12 has headrests on the back. Pretty easy just time consuming. I have the backs done already. I have the hog rings and pliers already. On the removal of them you just cut them with dikes. I want to say so far the hardest was the front headrests. It was a tight fit. I will post pics when I'm done.
When I did my '07 I replaced the driver side foam as well. I want to say I ordered them from a dealer. They shouldn't be too much. You may try ebay as well.
When I did my '07 I replaced the driver side foam as well. I want to say I ordered them from a dealer. They shouldn't be too much. You may try ebay as well.
Last edited by a moderator:
ixtlan
Senior Member
I added a one inch pad to the existing foam and wrapped it in Dacron to protect and build up the sides. Then wrapped it all in muslin.
Actually the wife did all the sewing and pad work.
Much more comfortable then new ever was.
Actually the wife did all the sewing and pad work.
Much more comfortable then new ever was.
tagle281
Senior Member
Someone moved this to the wrong sub forum. I needed this to be in '12-up forum not 4.6L. 4.6L don't have side airbags that I know of.
dark steed
Resident noob
I'm pretty sure mine does...
ixtlan
Senior Member
If you do there will be a tag that says AIRBAG sewn into the edge of the seat where it would deploy.
bcb06gt
Senior Member
My 06 has side airbags. I removed my seats to install heaters.
tagle281
Senior Member
bcb06gt
Senior Member
Nope. Pulled the seats out. Removed enough of the seat bottom and back to install the heaters. Put seats back in. I disconnected the negative of the battery for the task. The seat back did not have enough of the leather lifted to expose the airbag module - not sure why that would matter, but fyi.
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