Official Katzkin Groupbuy Ends 12/05/09

Here is the leather, also I have a photo there of my switches for the heated seats.

 

here are mycfronts

 

I hate leather but that really looks like a quality product.

 

Grammy/DLAV:
What seat heater kits did each of you use?

I ordered the 11"X11" but received the 9"X16" kits......

Looks like both of you did a good job on the install. I have the manual tranny so I'm not sure where I am going to mount my switches.

 

I ordered the one from China for around $100 for the 2 seats. It is actually the same one as the one being sold from Canada/US for $160 for the 2 seats and is really good quality. The seller was AAAGOLDSMITH on ebay. It is the carbon fibre and the heat is noticible in around 2-3 minutes through the cusioned leather.

There are many ways to install the switch, but I think DLAV and I used the most popular one. Just measure 10x before drilling, you don't want to make a mistake.

 

11x11 is small by the way, mine covered the entire seatback and seat and was bigger than 11x11.

 

There's no doubt that the ones from China are the exact same. They probably supply the US/Canadian distributor.
I ordered from Canada and was impressed with the quality of the wiring harness. I will most likely just keep these heaters although I feel like they pulled the "old bait and switch" on me. On their website the 11X11 are $145 ea. and the 9X16 are $90 ea.
11" would go from seat bolster to seat bolster where as the 9" will leave about 1" on either side. Although the 16" long will go al the way to the front of the seat and pretty high up on the back.

 

This is the one that i http://www.heatedseatkits.com/heatedseatkits/iheat2/index.html. they work pretty good i think the 9 by 16 will work much better. it is noticable where the heating element isn't. (bad english) until the entire truck warms up tyou can feel the cold and warm spots on your legs

 

the harnesses are awesome. it was so easy to install i just bought am add a circuit kit and tapped into the fuse box. i accidently drilled my holes to high up and had to do a little cutting underneath. but i like the looks of it up higher for some reason. i used green tape and masked it of then measured and marked on the green tape and double triple check everything then bought a 20mm forstner bit from lee valley for ten dollars and everything worked perfect. i used a drill press rather then a hand drill it was a little easier to be precise.

 

Ya I think those are the same ones i got. Not really sure though they don't have pictures on their website and they don't put part #'s on the the items they ship out!

The manual transmission has a totally different layout where you guys put yours. I think it will look funny if I try and squeeze mine in between the three cup holders there. I was thinking of putting them right below the heating controls on the dash if the harnesses will allow them to be that far away.

 

i wanted to put them up where the center console meets the dash kind of either side of cig lighter and power outlet. but they have to be low enough not to interfere with the clips that fasten the console to the dash

 

Are there any problems in removing the front seats with the airbags?

 

No Problems with airbags, you dont even know they are there, other than the yellow plug underneath.

 

Here are a few pictures of what the air bag consists of. one strap around the foam. you need to unscrew one nut remove the strap and installation is exact opposite. the seat covers come with the buckles already sewed in

 

Grammy do you have an SR5 or a TRD sport

 

I have SR5, non-TRD, so my seats are quite different from yours. My stock headrest covers do not come off. The leather goes right over the cover, and it is easy when you know how it is done in the factory (ie. shop vac and plastic bag technique).

DLAV, have you done anything like this before??

 

nope never this is my first time doing it and i didn't find it that difficult. once i did the passenger front seat the drivers side took me no time at all. is this your first time installing leather also? my front seat head rest covers were glued on so i just went overtop of them but the back ones came off.

 

My first time as well. Rear headrests were easy. Fronts I put a bag around the headrest, stuck my shop vac in the bag, turned it on, and it sucked in the headrest enough to get the cover around it. Then pulled most of the bag out. Doesn't matter if some is left in there. My passenger seat was the hardest, as it had the plastic panel on the back and it folds flat, which makes it a little more complicated.

 

Dlav, on the front seats, does the leather stick to the back rest, between the bolsters? or there is a gap of air? TRD seats have larger bolster and I've seen many seat cover have this gap making the whole seat look flat. What kit did u use to install? or just hog rings/plier?

Thanks. I like your color.

 

Jump on this group buy fellas, cant go wrong with Katzkins. Here's mine done on two tone. Make sure your stretch those leather tight so it would even look better like the way we did mine. I did the door panels too with Katzkins.

Here's the link

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/54150-major-interior-upgrade.html