Just takes my seats out for a good clean and I did not expect these seats to be so heavy.
I was also hoping that I could swap the back of the seats over to save wear on the drivers bolster but they look quite complicated compared to most.
Has anyone done this or found a reasonably priced lighter seat.
As o/e car seats go, they're not heavy. I'd guess if you buy an upmarket 'exotic' that's designed for lightness you'll get light seats.
The weight is in the seat rails. An option might be Rogue mounts, - I'm sure they'll know the weight-saving.
Quote from: Jared on July 22, 2025, 15:39Just takes my seats out for a good clean and I did not expect these seats to be so heavy.
I was also hoping that I could swap the back of the seats over to save wear on the drivers bolster but they look quite complicated compared to most.
Has anyone done this or found a reasonably priced lighter seat.
Heavy I guess is relative, but from what I understand from reading on here the seats can be exchanged from driver to passenger and v.v.
Reasonably priced again is relative but for anything to do with lightness you should refer to
@Petrus thread Southern Belle.
Quote from: Joesson on July 22, 2025, 16:24Heavy I guess is relative, but from what I understand from reading on here the seats can be exchanged from driver to passenger and v.v.
Reasonably priced again is relative but for anything to do with lightness you should refer to @Petrus thread Southern Belle.
You dont happy to remember where you seen that thread do you about swapping the seats.
If I can great if not will clean up and do some light renovation to to them as is
Remember, these oem seats give roll over protection due to the metal frame so that was weight I didnt mind personally!
<img src="https://i.imgur.com/t6MxzpV.jpeg"/>
If you look in the "how to" section there's at least one write up about how to dismantle the seats/swap the backs.
Del did a lovely one about removing the fabric covers for cleaning them.
s2000 seats are lighter.. but you will pay a lot for them.
Cheers guys just got both backs off i found a video on YouTube but what the video doesn't tell you is after you have taken the plastics off and 2 bolts both sides!!! That's right, 4 bolts per seat you need to put a flat head screwdriver between the seat back mechanism and the bar on the seat itself and prize the seatback out.
Will try and give them a proper clean and reassemble tomorrow.
Hopefully all will go to plan 🤞
Quote from: Joesson on July 22, 2025, 16:24Heavy I guess is relative, but from what I understand from reading on here the seats can be exchanged from driver to passenger and v.v.
Reasonably priced again is relative but for anything to do with lightness you should refer to @Petrus thread Southern Belle.
Thanks Joesson. Best not tell you I bought a 350 kg BMW motorcycle O:-)
The seats are not thát heavy and there is basically no cheap lighter option.
They are also well made, durable and ok comfortable.
It does imo only warrant the outlay if you go full blown lightweight kit car seats or such.
I kept the OEM seat rails (LHD and RHD driver) for the angle adjust and thought the weight penalty over custom rails worth it.
Quote from: jvanzyl on July 22, 2025, 17:39s2000 seats are lighter.. but you will pay a lot for them.
Yes about 2kg per seat from what I've seen
Do read up. The reassembly can be nightmare.
Think both
@Call the midlife! and
@bobbe have been down this path.
Quote from: Ardent on July 22, 2025, 18:54Do read up. The reassembly can be nightmare.
Think both @Call the midlife! and @bobbe have been down this path.
Your a real confidence builder Ardent
Normally I'm the first person to encourage anyone to get on the tools and have a go but if you're not even remotely confident wielding the spanners I would think twice about attempting it unless you have plenty of time and space to work in.
I've done it probably 10 times over the years and it's also probably only been 50/50 smooth sailing.
It's just one of those jobs that can go either way on the day because of how awkward it can be to get everything lined up sweet.
Quote from: Petrus on July 22, 2025, 18:51Thanks Joesson. Best not tell you I bought a 350 kg BMW motorcycle O:-)
The seats are not thát heavy and there is basically no cheap lighter option.
They are also well made, durable and ok comfortable.
It does imo only warrant the outlay if you go full blown lightweight kit car seats or such.
I kept the OEM seat rails (LHD and RHD driver) for the angle adjust and thought the weight penalty over custom rails worth it.
Used a luggage scales as I have them here, (why not)
Both seat backs are 4kg and the passenger base is 10kg and drivers 11kg give or take a few bolts that need to go back in.
I wonder what Lotus elise seats would weigh? You know just to compare
Quote from: Jared on July 22, 2025, 18:56Your a real confidence builder Ardent
I've done it.. think I did it at shin ding day about 5+ years ago. Wasn't that bad?
@The Other Stu helped!
Quote from: Jared on July 22, 2025, 18:56Your a real confidence builder Ardent
Forewarned is to be forearmed.
Quote from: Call the midlife! on July 22, 2025, 19:05Normally I'm the first person to encourage anyone to get on the tools and have a go but if you're not even remotely confident wielding the spanners I would think twice about attempting it unless you have plenty of time and space to work in.
I've done it probably 10 times over the years and it's also probably only been 50/50 smooth sailing.
It's just one of those jobs that can go either way on the day because of how awkward it can be to get everything lined up sweet.
I'm not too bad just hate all the fiddly plastics etc but it's half way through now so no going back.
I do like it when jobs like this are done though as it feels satisfying to do something positive with the car plus they needed a good clean anyway.
I've had a couple of days off so done a few bits.I'm not too bad just hate all the fiddly plastics etc but it's half way through now so no going back.
I do like it when jobs like this are done though as it feels satisfying to do something positive with the car plus they needed a good clean anyway.
I've had a couple of days off so done a few bits.
Quote from: Jared on July 22, 2025, 19:05Used a luggage scales as I have them here, (why not)
Both seat backs are 4kg and the passenger base is 10kg and drivers 11kg give or take a few bolts that need to go back in.
I wonder what Lotus elise seats would weigh? You know just to compare
Likely many £££££'s more!
Quote from: Jared on July 22, 2025, 16:53You dont happy to remember where you seen that thread do you about swapping the seats.
If I can great if not will clean up and do some light renovation to to them as is
I did read on here, but have done a lot of that over the past 12 years or so!
Unfortunately our Search facility is either too / or not sufficiently precise to find such details in my experience. I just tried and it turned up 40 pages of general irrelevance.
Quote from: Joesson on July 22, 2025, 19:20I did read on here, but have done a lot of that over the past 12 years or so!
Unfortunately our Search facility is either too / or not sufficiently precise to find such details in my experience. I just tried and it turned up 40 pages of general irrelevance.
That's ok thanks for looking. It's also why I like starting a new thread cos people find out more info as we move forward than before and it's hard to look through tons of posts
X
You can find a writeup with pictures HERE (https://www.spyderchat.com/threads/installing-celica-seats.160634/) showing converting to Celica seats, but the OEM seats mount exactly the same
Quote from: Beachbum957 on July 23, 2025, 02:25You can find a writeup with pictures HERE (https://www.spyderchat.com/threads/installing-celica-seats.160634/) showing converting to Celica seats, but the OEM seats mount exactly the same
I wish I'd seen that guide before :o . Good luck
@Jared with the reassembly. I dearly hope you report back that it was easy, if not peasy, & of the lemon squeezy variety. I had a heck of a time with this over Xmas.
All done well sort of, they arr back together but going to give the car a good hoover before I bolt them back in.
The first test was a bitch but on the second one I get the hang of it and much easier, the hard bit us the bar with a little noddie at both ends which I found it easier to get the bar close both ends and then rotate it with a shifting grips as it will pop in at the right spot both sides at the same time but dont touch the back rest lever once you take the seats apart as one you do this they are no longer in sync
Our seats are featherweights compared to the electric, heated jobbies I had in my BMW Z3, now they WERE heavy!!