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djkeev
Samba Moderator
Joined: September 30, 2007
Posts: 32989
Location: Reading Pennsylvania
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 Posted: Tue Jan 11, 2022 5:55 am Post subject: Re: Front Seat Swap (Town & Country 2nd Row) |
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| 1988M5 wrote: |
| djkeev wrote: |
| MrPolak wrote: |
| djkeev wrote: |
Yesterday morning I was loading up the Van with furniture and boxes to run them out to Pennsylvania.
I'm taking out some buckets of gravel for my driveway too.
I filled a five gallon pail and lifted it to set it inside the sliding door.....
i could feel the pop as pain shot up my back!
Crap!
Of all days......
Gotta do it, no backing out so I endured the pain and finished loading, climbed in and took off for Reading.
These Stow and Go seats supported my sore back perfectly!
I could not have designed a seat better if I wanted to.
The drive was pain free...... getting in and out? Unloading? Well............
Dave |
Fit is highly personal. Glad they are magical for you.
My 2 cents: These are no Recaros, but they will do for the money. You can do a good number of hours in them. |
Absolutely correct!
Every body is a bit different.
Our needs are a bit different.
I've sat in Recaro seats.
They are indeed comfy but for me a bit too bolstered for easy access/egress in this application.
At my age you sort of slither wiggle slide in/out and onto/off of the seat. Climbing out of a depression simply ain't happening! 
Dave |
At the price Recaro is asking for their delicious seats, having a baby/mini parking brake devise included that dumped the thigh and side support flat or even negative (sloped downward) on the entry/exit side would be nice.
BK |
I cannot imagine climbing over the mountainous bolsters of a Recaro 10-20 times a day! (About normal for me in a daily work Van)
Sometimes the current Stow and Go is a formidable opponent for me!
I really need to do the A pillar grab handle mod!
Dave
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Robw_z
Samba Member
Joined: April 28, 2007
Posts: 994
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| Posted: Tue Jan 11, 2022 7:17 am Post subject: Re: Front Seat Swap (Town & Country 2nd Row) |
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| TopBud wrote: |
Robw_z- the upholstery guy said he could put heated elements into the seat, he stated that the kit I bought could not be cut or folded. I hope I didn't confuse you. The guy said he has done heat in the stow and go's.I am not sure how from your picture.
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Keep us posted if you get some in. I had a set of non-heated Stow N Gos that I gave up on once I found a pair of factory heated seats; it just seemed like too much trouble to put heat elements in the non-heated seats.
-Rob |
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Robw_z
Samba Member
Joined: April 28, 2007
Posts: 994
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| Posted: Tue Jan 11, 2022 7:17 am Post subject: Re: Front Seat Swap (Town & Country 2nd Row) |
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| TopBud wrote: |
Robw_z- the upholstery guy said he could put heated elements into the seat, he stated that the kit I bought could not be cut or folded. I hope I didn't confuse you. The guy said he has done heat in the stow and go's.I am not sure how from your picture.
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Keep us posted if you get some in. I had a set of non-heated Stow N Gos that I gave up on once I found a pair of factory heated seats; it just seemed like too much trouble to put heat elements in the non-heated seats.
-Rob |
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vwwestyman
Samba Member
Joined: April 24, 2004
Posts: 5838
Location: Wamego, Kansas, USA
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| Posted: Tue Jan 11, 2022 7:57 am Post subject: Re: Front Seat Swap (Town & Country 2nd Row) |
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I'm curious how you made your Vanagon seats fold flat? Weld in later (Eurovan?) seat adjusters?
| jordauto wrote: |
| And to Westyman, I think you’re talking about the relays that come with the kits I’ve used. They come with a hi/ low switch and two relays. The way they work is either power the two pads in series or parallel to give hi and lo heat settings. Basic ohms law stuff. Probably wouldn’t work quite right with the original Chrysler heater elements. |
Thanks for that info! I guess that makes sense on how it is set up, and explains why they work on high but the fuse blows on low.
I honestly had sort of forgotten about all that-later in the trip where I discovered that the fuse was blowing on low, the engine blew up! So the Bus, unfortunately, has been sitting in my driveway ever since. Waiting for me to decide what direction I want to go with it all and then source a donor.
| Robw_z wrote: |
I ended up getting Stow N Go’s that were heated from the factory, and powered them with some $10 PWM modules from Amazon. They work great.
-Rob |
Could you provide a link on this? And how they are set up?
Thanks!
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President, Wild Westerner Club
1978 Champagne Edition Westy, repowered to '97 Jetta TDI
1973 Wild Westerner
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DuncanS
Samba Member
Joined: October 17, 2013
Posts: 4583
Location: New Hampshire
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Robw_z
Samba Member
Joined: April 28, 2007
Posts: 994
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| Posted: Tue Jan 11, 2022 12:04 pm Post subject: Re: Front Seat Swap (Town & Country 2nd Row) |
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| TopBud wrote: |
Robw_z- the upholstery guy said he could put heated elements into the seat, he stated that the kit I bought could not be cut or folded. I hope I didn't confuse you. The guy said he has done heat in the stow and go's.I am not sure how from your picture.
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I'm not sure either. Keep us posted if you get some in there.
-Rob |
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Robw_z
Samba Member
Joined: April 28, 2007
Posts: 994
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| Posted: Tue Jan 11, 2022 12:09 pm Post subject: Re: Front Seat Swap (Town & Country 2nd Row) |
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| vwwestyman wrote: |
| Robw_z wrote: |
I ended up getting Stow N Go’s that were heated from the factory, and powered them with some $10 PWM modules from Amazon. They work great.
-Rob |
Could you provide a link on this? And how they are set up?
Thanks! |
I used these units from Amazon, I just rolled the dice with them there are probably better options:
https://www.amazon.com/Controller-DC10-60V-Steples...si_vtp_0_t
Chrysler uses a complex(because it interfaces with a CAN-bus like system) PWM module to heat the seats, I bypassed the need for that by using one PWM module per seat and adjusted the dial until "low" felt about right, and I left high going direct to 12V. I ran them through a universal heated seat switch in each seat:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07K2W6FTM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
One position is straight 12V, the other goes through PWM. I really like the setup I don't use my front blower that often anymore, just heated seats and rear blower.
-Rob |
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shagginwagon83
Samba Member
Joined: February 07, 2016
Posts: 4336
Location: SWVA
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| Posted: Tue Jan 11, 2022 3:37 pm Post subject: Re: Front Seat Swap (Town & Country 2nd Row) |
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This is awesome. I need to look to see if my seats are compatible. Anyone have pics of what the plug looks like? Damn I should have looked myself when the pulled the seat so I could take the plugs.
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"Jo Ann" - '83.5 Westfalia EJ22e w/Peloquin |
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Robw_z
Samba Member
Joined: April 28, 2007
Posts: 994
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| Posted: Tue Jan 11, 2022 6:03 pm Post subject: Re: Front Seat Swap (Town & Country 2nd Row) |
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| shagginwagon83 wrote: |
| This is awesome. I need to look to see if my seats are compatible. Anyone have pics of what the plug looks like? Damn I should have looked myself when the pulled the seat so I could take the plugs. |
I can only speak for the 2010-ish models, but if the seat has any plug at all coming down from it I believe it is heated (I don't think they put seat-belt or occupancy sensors in at this time).
I got two identical sets of seats, one heated and one not. The heated set has a very obvious two wire plug coming down from near where the seatback and seat base meet, the other set has nothing. The wires are not heavy-gauge, they are smaller than I would've expected.
-Rob |
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charleslabri
Samba Member
Joined: December 08, 2019
Posts: 649
Location: Nashville/Yosemite
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syncrodoka
Samba Member
Joined: December 27, 2005
Posts: 12346
Location: Santa Cruz, CA
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| Posted: Tue Jan 11, 2022 9:23 pm Post subject: Re: Front Seat Swap (Town & Country 2nd Row) |
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| charleslabri wrote: |
i slapped a pair of these in my van.. what have folks done for seatbelts?
Have you removed the T&C belts and just kept the stock vanagon ones?
or is there a belt that can plug/play on the B pillar? |
Remove the belt receiver as on page 5, it doesn't offer the structural integrity as the factory one on the pedestal. |
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charleslabri
Samba Member
Joined: December 08, 2019
Posts: 649
Location: Nashville/Yosemite
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| Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2022 7:23 am Post subject: Re: Front Seat Swap (Town & Country 2nd Row) |
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| syncrodoka wrote: |
| charleslabri wrote: |
i slapped a pair of these in my van.. what have folks done for seatbelts?
Have you removed the T&C belts and just kept the stock vanagon ones?
or is there a belt that can plug/play on the B pillar? |
Remove the belt receiver as on page 5, it doesn't offer the structural integrity as the factory one on the pedestal. |
Thanks! Missed that in my read-through
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veloandy
Samba Member
Joined: December 04, 2010
Posts: 362
Location: Fort Collins, Colorado, USA
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| Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2022 8:05 am Post subject: Re: Front Seat Swap (Town & Country 2nd Row) |
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| Robw_z wrote: |
Keep us posted if you get some in. I had a set of non-heated Stow N Gos that I gave up on once I found a pair of factory heated seats; it just seemed like too much trouble to put heat elements in the non-heated seats.
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I transferred this Dorman 628-040 Universal Seat Heater Element from my Eurovan seats to my Stow and Go seats. I had to trim the fabric on the seat heater elements a little bit, but it was easy to see/avoid the heated wires and just cut the fabric.
Leather stow-and-go seats are by far the easiest I’ve ever installed heating elements into. Just pop off the back plastic panel, unbolt the arm rests, undo some screws on the trim pieces, and the upholstery is just held on by buttons, clips, and industrial velcro — each element took like 15 minutes to install.
Fabric stow-and-go seats are almost impossible to install heated elements in because the upholstery fabric is glued to the foam — I ended up virtually destroying the junkyard fabric seats I got to play with.
I’ve had great luck with Dorman seat heater kits in 2 vehicles - they get nice and hot and have lasted for 5+ years on multiple vehicles for me. A cheaper generic seat heater kit I started with had lighter gauge wiring, chintzier switches, more anemic heat output, and died after a year. |
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veloandy
Samba Member
Joined: December 04, 2010
Posts: 362
Location: Fort Collins, Colorado, USA
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| Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2022 10:54 am Post subject: Re: Front Seat Swap (Town & Country 2nd Row) |
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| veloandy wrote: |
Leather stow-and-go seats are by far the easiest I’ve ever installed heating elements into. Just pop off the back plastic panel, unbolt the arm rests, undo some screws on the trim pieces, and the upholstery is just held on by buttons, clips, and industrial velcro — each element took like 15 minutes to install.
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I should have mentioned a couple of additional things re: installing seat heaters in the leather stow-and-go seat:
1. You only need to minimally disassemble the seat to slip the heater elements between the upholstery and the foam. This means:
* No need to separate the seat bottom from the seat back (you can tuck the wires/pull the fabric through between the cushions), so no need to mess with the hinge/spring/release/folding mechanism.
* No need to mess with the headrest or the upholstery around it
* On the bottom, all you need to do is free the upholstery from around the perimeter of the base to slip the heating element in.
* On the back, all you need to do is free the upholstery from around the plastic back, un-tuck up the cover between the bottom and back to free it, and un-velcro the cover from one side between the back and bolster.
2. I don't really worry about the double-sided tape on the heating elements
* Getting the tape stuck just right is challenging if you're just slipping in elements instead of starting with a totally un-upholstered seat. Using double-sided tape that comes with the universal kits is not necessary IMHO
* The upholstery holds the heating element in place against the foam when the seats are reassembled. All I worry about is getting the heating elements tucked in, smoothed out, & not wadded up before reassembling the seat.
* I worry about the heating elements bunching up like I worry about the factory upholstery bunching up against the foam (i.e. not one little bit) |
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mmadore21
Samba Member
Joined: December 18, 2015
Posts: 4
Location: Maine
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| Posted: Sat Feb 26, 2022 1:56 pm Post subject: Re: Front Seat Swap (Town & Country 2nd Row) |
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I’m installing my stow and go seats tomorrow but wanted to give folks a side by side with originals. These are cloth, $125 for the set on FB marketplace (still looking for leather ones) but you can really see the height difference and @ss room difference. The arm rests are also about 1” higher. These seats came out of a 2016 Grand Caravan. Exactly the same as the ones on page 25 of this thread, just cloth (not leather and no heat).
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1986 2.1 2WD Auto Westy Weekender $hit brown "Coco" - Sold Her 
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DuncanS
Samba Member
Joined: October 17, 2013
Posts: 4583
Location: New Hampshire
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| Posted: Sat Feb 26, 2022 3:53 pm Post subject: Re: Front Seat Swap (Town & Country 2nd Row) |
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Really interested to see how it feels to sit an inch or so higher in terms of visibility, reach to pedals and so on.
Do you have plans for the old seats?
Duncan |
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shagginwagon83
Samba Member
Joined: February 07, 2016
Posts: 4336
Location: SWVA
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| Posted: Sat Feb 26, 2022 7:08 pm Post subject: Re: Front Seat Swap (Town & Country 2nd Row) |
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| veloandy wrote: |
Leather stow-and-go seats are by far the easiest I’ve ever installed heating elements into. Just pop off the back plastic panel, unbolt the arm rests, undo some screws on the trim pieces, and the upholstery is just held on by buttons, clips, and industrial velcro — each element took like 15 minutes to install.
I should have mentioned a couple of additional things re: installing seat heaters in the leather stow-and-go seat:
1. You only need to minimally disassemble the seat to slip the heater elements between the upholstery and the foam. This means:
* No need to separate the seat bottom from the seat back (you can tuck the wires/pull the fabric through between the cushions), so no need to mess with the hinge/spring/release/folding mechanism.
* No need to mess with the headrest or the upholstery around it
* On the bottom, all you need to do is free the upholstery from around the perimeter of the base to slip the heating element in.
* On the back, all you need to do is free the upholstery from around the plastic back, un-tuck up the cover between the bottom and back to free it, and un-velcro the cover from one side between the back and bolster.
2. I don't really worry about the double-sided tape on the heating elements
* Getting the tape stuck just right is challenging if you're just slipping in elements instead of starting with a totally un-upholstered seat. Using double-sided tape that comes with the universal kits is not necessary IMHO
* The upholstery holds the heating element in place against the foam when the seats are reassembled. All I worry about is getting the heating elements tucked in, smoothed out, & not wadded up before reassembling the seat.
* I worry about the heating elements bunching up like I worry about the factory upholstery bunching up against the foam (i.e. not one little bit) |
This is awesome! I am sold on upgrading my seats then. I checked the other day and I do NOT have the electric heaters built in.
Any recommendations on heater kits?
On a side note, I am going to have heated seats and heated truck mirrors soon 
_________________
"Jo Ann" - '83.5 Westfalia EJ22e w/Peloquin |
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veloandy
Samba Member
Joined: December 04, 2010
Posts: 362
Location: Fort Collins, Colorado, USA
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| Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2022 8:47 am Post subject: Re: Front Seat Swap (Town & Country 2nd Row) |
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| shagginwagon83 wrote: |
Any recommendations on heater kits?
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I’ve had good luck with Dorman kits. I started with a cheaper kit, but it died after a year or so. The Dorman kit had heavier duty wiring and switches, gets super hot, and I’ve run them in 3 vehicles for close to 5 years and they’re still going strong! |
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weekendr
Samba Member
Joined: August 18, 2021
Posts: 64
Location: Halifax NS Canada
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| Posted: Sun Jun 26, 2022 7:47 am Post subject: Re: Front Seat Swap (Town & Country 2nd Row) |
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I think I found a simpler, cheaper way to mount my Stow and Go seats.
I have a swivel on the passenger seat, removed my drivers seat swivel to lower the seat and access the area underneath.
1. For the passenger side I used parts from the base of the donor seat to extend the donor slider rails forward, attached crossbars using existing bolts, and bolted those to the top of the swivel base, lining up the bolts with recessed areas for clearance. I mounted the swivel top backwards for easy access to the battery without turning seat. Installed swivel mechanism and bolted at corners, plenty of room to access bolts with seat partially swivelled. Easy peasy.
2. For the drivers side I didn't need to extend the donor sliders. I bolted on longer crossbars and attached upper slider rails (with hinges ground off) from my factory seat. I adjust the seat with the stow and go slider mechanism and use the factory sliders to remove the seat for access to the stuff underneath. I drilled holes in the factory sliders at the front for easy access to 1/4" pins which lock the factory sliders securely. Sits as low as you can go, folds flat easily,
and adjusts all the way back to the jump seat for leg stretching on long drives.
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shagginwagon83
Samba Member
Joined: February 07, 2016
Posts: 4336
Location: SWVA
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| Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2022 6:41 pm Post subject: Re: Front Seat Swap (Town & Country 2nd Row) |
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Has anyone tried the Covercraft x Carhartt seat covers for their town and country seats?
My dad had these for his F350 and they fit like a glove. A set is roughly $450.
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"Jo Ann" - '83.5 Westfalia EJ22e w/Peloquin |
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