D22 Front seats

[Oldie]

Lots of talk about changing seats but I can't find what I want when I do a search.
I've done a few long trips and the front seats in my 2003 Nav only give you a numb bum.
I'm thinking of changing to recaro seats, extremely pricey but the price includes fitting.
Has anyone done it themselves. I don't really want to be drilling new holes for mounting, maybe for the drivers seat only. I think recaro have the universal brackets to just mount the seats. Not sure about that.
Are there seats I can get that will fit in without any changes to the seat sliders that are better than the the Nav seats.
If I go with recaro, maybe a choice of the ones in the pics.
Cheers

 

[vicszd30]

oh god I hope so.... I need to do some thing with mine also!

 

[Rumpig]

Changing seats would need engineering approval / mod plate.

 

[bollie7]

I fitted Recaros to a Datsun 720 I had way back in 1982. Later I fitted the same seats to a D21 Navara I had. It wasn't a real biggie from the install point of view on those cars. Back in those days it wasn't all that important to get the install engineered as it is now though.
However I've been looking at the D22 Navara I have now as the seats in it are no better than the ones the D21 had. (crap in other words). It would be a little more tricky to install into the D22 as the seat runners are quite different from side to side on each seat, with the inner runner being part of the seat frame and the outer runner being bolted onto the frame. The biggest issue with the inner runner is the seat belt is attached to it.
I no longer have the Recaro's unfortunately. I recently got a rough price from an engineer and it was approx $100/hour labour (for inspection etc) plus $450 for the report. So to go the Recaro route will be quite exxy.
Another option I have been considering is fitting some seats from a V35 Skyline. A very nice seat and I have seen them for around $250 /pair at wreckers. My son has one of these cars which is currently sitting in my backyard out of rego so I have been able to have a good look at the seat's(as well as I can without removing them anyway) I think I could fit them but it would involve cutting the feet off the D22 runners, the same for the V35 runners and then welding the D22 feet onto the V35 runners. So immediately we are into engineer report territory. I'm not really sure that I want to go to that expense and time just at the moment. I'm currently using a small memory foam pillow for extra lumbar support which helps, but you can't escape from the fact that the D22 seats are just poorly designed and built. I have a 2001 D22 and the drivers seat is broken, so I went and bought a pr of seats from 2013 D22 with only 1200klm on it. Apart from the different pattern on the seat fabric, nothing is any better on the later seat. I have trouble getting my head around the fact that Nissan has kept the same crap seat design all those years.
If you have the money to fit the Recaro's you will not regret it. It will be a different vehicle to drive.
Hope all this drivel I've written helps.
peter

 

[ShortyNavros]

Im not sure you would need engineering approval to change seats, would be best to call your local authority as no doubt it changes from state to state. Recaro and Stratos sell a mounting kit (adaptor base) which fits onto the original rails mounting the seat to the original rails. I recently got a quote on the price of a Stratos 3000 LTSS seat for my D22, the cost with the adaptor plate was close to $2000, that is without fitting. Recaro would be more again

 

[vicszd30]

Im not sure you would need engineering approval to change seats, would be best to call your local authority as no doubt it changes from state to state. Recaro and Stratos sell a mounting kit (adaptor base) which fits onto the original rails mounting the seat to the original rails. I recently got a quote on the price of a Stratos 3000 LTSS seat for my D22, the cost with the adaptor plate was close to $2000, that is without fitting. Recaro would be more again

DaaAAnmMMM! $2g ffs

 

[ShortyNavros]

Yeah considering that is about 1/5th what my d22 is worth I am not too keen on it. I recently tried the seats that Autobarn sell a 4x4 seat by autoticnica and it would be a good buy at $169 on special at the moment but my back is too wide to fit in it. The lateral support bites into my back(lats) too much weights work haha

 

[Oldie]

Thanks for all the advice.
Decided against spending the money on recaro's so just got the drivers seat part reupholstered and it's a lot better now.
anyone sitting in the passengers seat will have to suffer haha
cheers

 

[bollie7]

Oldie
Can you supply a bit more detail of the work you had done and what the cost was please?
To me the stock seat feels too "springy" or bouncy. There are no springs in the squab so to make that firmer would require a new bit of foam to be fabricated. The stock bit is all molded.
There are a couple of springs in the back, but the foam there is also all molded.

Re the engineers report. As the seat belt is attached to the seat rail, I'd think that modifying the rail would necessitate a report in any state but I might be wrong on that. I reckon any insurance company would want one though. As most people know an insurance company will take any way they possibly can to get out of paying a claim.

peter

 

[Oldie]

The back rest part of the seat was ok. I had the seat part redone as the moulded foam had worn away on the right hand side and I was sitting on the metal ridge underneath.
so they cut out a section and glued in high density foam and reshaped it and it was recovered with the same material as the original.
So now it is higher on the right hand side, where ya right arse cheek is haha.
Cost me $250 to have it done.

 

[bollie7]

Thanks for that. I might end up doing something like that myself.
peter

 

[Oldie]

bollie, it might be the better option but depends on the age of the vehicle.
I thought twice about putting $5K's worth of seats into a 2003 built vehicle.
If I still end up gettin a numb bum, it just means having more rest stops on long drives.

 

[bollie7]

bollie, it might be the better option but depends on the age of the vehicle.
I thought twice about putting $5K's worth of seats into a 2003 built vehicle.
If I still end up gettin a numb bum, it just means having more rest stops on long drives.

I know what you are saying. Mines a 2001 model. I certainly cant afford to buy Recaro's anymore. When my now, ex, pulled her stunt 6 years ago, I had to get rid of a lot of stuff. 2 pairs of Recaro's among it all.
So it goes.
Take care
peter

 

[Oldie]

I will make no comment on EX's
Been there, had the "T" shirt and it got used as polishing rag

 

[bollie7]

Yeah. I'm hearing you. There's a lot of it about.

peter

 

[her.d22]

I have the same problem, butt goes numb and so does my thighs. I've got some subaru seats sitting at home and want to put those in because they are a lot more comfortable but need to figure out how. If it takes a lot of modifying I won't bother

 

[bollie7]

The first thing you need to look at is. Do the Subaru seats have the seat belt buckle attached to them? If not then you probably should look at some different seats.
Then check the width of the runners between the Navara and Subaru seats and the height of the Subaru runner from where it bolts to the floor to the top of squab (the bit you sit on)
If the width is close then you might be able to adapt them.
The Navara seat is a PIA because the outside runner will unbolt from the seat frame but the inside runner is totally different in construction. It is part of the seat frame and the seat belt attaches to that side as well.
I haven't looked at Subaru seats so have no idea how the runners attach. You might be able to cut the legs off the Navara runner and weld to the Subaru.
However, and this is the biggy,You MUST get the modification engineered. Talk to an engineer before you do anything else. Lots of people will say dont worry about it and, from a structural point of view, you or who ever is going to do the work might be quite capable of doing a good job, but if you don't have it passed by an engineer and you are ever involved in a crash then you will more than likely be RS. Most assessors would look at the seats and ask for the engineers report. You don't have one then they will wipe your insurance. Imagine if you have just written off Lambo or something and suddenly no insurance or worse injured someone. Even if the crash was not your fault, you would still be wiped by the other vehicles insurance because you were driving an illegally modified vehicle.
So if you still want to do the conversion talk to an engineer who is an authorised RMS engineer before you get too carried away.
I haven't changed the seats in this Navara because of the hassle(and cost) involved in making it legal. Years ago when I was young and foolish, I fitted Recaro seats to several vehicles I owned including a Datsun 720 ute and later a D21 Navara with no thought to getting it certified.
Looking back I consider myself to be extremely lucky that I never had a crash.
It might actually be cheaper to get your existing seats re trimmed with better padding and support than going the conversion route. When I was looking at this a few months ago I was quoted $500 for the eng report and $100/hour for consultation, inspections etc.
Something I just remembered as well. The Navara seats have a pressed steel pan under the foam of the squab. Its quite thin and in my 2001 model the drivers side was broken around the mounting bolts from fatigue. Something to keep an eye on. Easy to check by using a mirror and having a look under the seat where the squab bolts to the frame.
Hope this helps
peter

 

[her.d22]

The first thing you need to look at is. Do the Subaru seats have the seat belt buckle attached to them? If not then you probably should look at some different seats.
Then check the width of the runners between the Navara and Subaru seats and the height of the Subaru runner from where it bolts to the floor to the top of squab (the bit you sit on)
If the width is close then you might be able to adapt them.
The Navara seat is a PIA because the outside runner will unbolt from the seat frame but the inside runner is totally different in construction. It is part of the seat frame and the seat belt attaches to that side as well.
I haven't looked at Subaru seats so have no idea how the runners attach. You might be able to cut the legs off the Navara runner and weld to the Subaru.
However, and this is the biggy,You MUST get the modification engineered. Talk to an engineer before you do anything else. Lots of people will say dont worry about it and, from a structural point of view, you or who ever is going to do the work might be quite capable of doing a good job, but if you don't have it passed by an engineer and you are ever involved in a crash then you will more than likely be RS. Most assessors would look at the seats and ask for the engineers report. You don't have one then they will wipe your insurance. Imagine if you have just written off Lambo or something and suddenly no insurance or worse injured someone. Even if the crash was not your fault, you would still be wiped by the other vehicles insurance because you were driving an illegally modified vehicle.
So if you still want to do the conversion talk to an engineer who is an authorised RMS engineer before you get too carried away.
I haven't changed the seats in this Navara because of the hassle(and cost) involved in making it legal. Years ago when I was young and foolish, I fitted Recaro seats to several vehicles I owned including a Datsun 720 ute and later a D21 Navara with no thought to getting it certified.
Looking back I consider myself to be extremely lucky that I never had a crash.
It might actually be cheaper to get your existing seats re trimmed with better padding and support than going the conversion route. When I was looking at this a few months ago I was quoted $500 for the eng report and $100/hour for consultation, inspections etc.
Something I just remembered as well. The Navara seats have a pressed steel pan under the foam of the squab. Its quite thin and in my 2001 model the drivers side was broken around the mounting bolts from fatigue. Something to keep an eye on. Easy to check by using a mirror and having a look under the seat where the squab bolts to the frame.
Hope this helps
peter

Yeah, has the seat belt buckle with it. Will get it engineered..eventually. Haven't had a chance to do measurements just yet.