National Air Ride Seat Install.......

[mwilson]

Well let's do the bottom cushion next....


Lay the seat assembly on it's back and remove the two screws that attach the pivot clamps to the front of the cushion on each side.....rear of seat cushion is not attached to anything..

Repeat for the other side....

 

[mwilson]

There is one air line for the seat cushion side bolster inflation. Carefully remove the tubing from the valve. I used a small pocket screwdriver and gently worked the line off of the barb being careful not to dig up the barb.

Now the seat cushion is free of the frame. Flip it upside down....

 

[mwilson]

The cover is held to the seat base by one hog ring and a cord around the perimeter.

Release this nasty metal clip at the rear of the cushion that locks the strings using pliers, a small screwdriver or two and a boatload of patience. Discard it when you get it off, there is no way that it can be reused from what I saw. You can simply knot the two ends when you re-install the cover.

At the front of the cushion is a handle and the hog ring....



Remove the two screws that attach the handle...

I simply spread the hog ring open a bit and then spun it to release the string. No reason to remove the ring completely..

Release the string and spread the bottom of the cover open...

Slide the cover off and you should now be looking at a bare naked cushion foam...

For some reason I am lacking pictures of the pad install for the bottom cushion. Very easy, no trimming required other than cutting a rectangle in the foam for the thermostat to set into. Stick the heat pad down to the cushion and pull the cover back over the foam and seat base. Tighten the string but don't knot it yet. Get the hog ring spun back through the string and line up the holes for the handle. Reinstall the handle and screws, then tighten and knot the string.

Reattach the base to the seat frame with the 4 screws and two clamps, attach the air line to the control valve.....done...

Seat heat install complete!!!

 

[User113]

Any time to vouchsafe some more of the install? I'm dying to see how you handled the pesky little details like the seat belt latch wiring and such.

 

[SRay]

This is interesting. I like air ride stuff.

 

[mwilson]

Any time to vouchsafe some more of the install? I'm dying to see how you handled the pesky little details like the seat belt latch wiring and such.

I am so sorry for the delay with this post, I have been on the dead run. Some from work, some from mini vacations and some from family...I will get it done.

I am also still battling National Seating about the console bracket kit...console is still in my garage...

 

[mwilson]

Any time to vouchsafe some more of the install? I'm dying to see how you handled the pesky little details like the seat belt latch wiring and such.

Oh, a special request......

I'm going to steal a few minutes and do that part now....

 

[mwilson]

Ok, for those with a power drivers seat.....

The wiring for the LH seat belt latch, the console and the power seat is all in one harness. I didn't want to butcher that all up to retain my seat belt switch and console power so here's what I did....we work with harnesses and terminal ends here all the time so the logical thing for me to do was modify the harness and make it plug right back into the trucks connection...

Well, I still can't find all of my pictures. I shoved them into my cloud so I could get them from the phone to the laptop but maybe a few are in someone else's cloud??? Who knows.....

When I removed the driver's seat I always remove the power switch panel and unplug the connections from the rear of the switch panel. Once you remove the seats you will see the balance of the wiring. There is a main plug that looks like this one on the right hand side..(still have that picture for some reason)...

Unplug the connector and peel the tape off of the harness back to the split where the seat harness takes off by itself. Then remove the split loom covering.

There are only two wires that feed the seat power in that harness, one hot and one ground. The seat harness ground is shared by the console so hunt up this black shrink wrapped splice in the harness. Cut the seat ground wire right up against the shrink wrap and tape the cut end just to make sure..

Then for the hot wire I identified the correct terminal in the harness connector, released and removed the red face plate and then released the terminal using a release tool (sometimes a straightened paper clip will work if it's the correct diameter....

Here is the newly liberated power seat harness, all ready to be installed by the lucky buyer that gets my old seats when I put them up for sale...

And the truck's harness after reinstalling the split loom and taping it back up....looks factory don't it???

 

[mwilson]

Just for clarity...

 

[Ozymandias]

Hey Mike, looks great!
I'm not so often here since the forums update but now I'll follow this thread closely because of the installation of the seat heater. Mine are waiting in the work shop too for installation.
Didn't you order the center consol kit Part No: 123.0248 for you as you did for me?
Ozy

 

[mwilson]

Hey Mike, looks great!
I'm not so often here since the forums update but now I'll follow this thread closely because of the installation of the seat heater. Mine are waiting in the work shop too for installation.
Didn't you order the center consol kit Part No: 123.0248 for you as you did for me?
Ozy

Yes, I ordered the bracket kit but some numb nuts shipped me somebody else's seat cushion instead of my bracket kit. I have been awaiting resolution for two months. They won't give me a bracket kit in exchange for the cushion nor will they issue me an RGA to return the cushion so that I could order a second bracket kit. I've never had a go around quite like this after 20 plus years in the business..National Seating and Bostrom Seating are now both owned by the CVG group and I don't think it's going real well so far...

 

[Wayne M.]

Geez I hate big time corporate moves mergers and takeovers!
Looking good. Can't wait to see it done!

 

[HPSimpson]

Mike, Well I have return from Bangkok and see project is still moving forward, do hope you solve the bracket issue sometime soon, good Luck!

 

[Ozymandias]

Yes, I ordered the bracket kit but some numb nuts shipped me somebody else's seat cushion instead of my bracket kit. I have been awaiting resolution for two months. They won't give me a bracket kit in exchange for the cushion nor will they issue me an RGA to return the cushion so that I could order a second bracket kit. I've never had a go around quite like this after 20 plus years in the business..National Seating and Bostrom Seating are now both owned by the CVG group and I don't think it's going real well so far...

Scheisse....

 

[mwilson]

Console bracket issue is supposed to be resolved, I'm told that I will have it in hand by end of week. We will see.....

Maybe then I could finish the install...really sucks on a rough or highly crowned road without the console..makes you feel like you are going to fall out of the seat...

Mike.

 

[Motorhead]

Mike, Can you get me the measurements of high and low of the seat suspension mounted in the truck when you get the cahnce? Thanks, Chris

 

[mwilson]

I did take pictures last week while in Canada, but this is my first day back where I could involve my server to move them from phone to laptop. I'll attempt that a little later on today. It is very hard to get a reference point but I think I did it so that you can tell pretty well...

I didn't have a Canadian data plan so couldn't put them in the cloud either.....

I told the wife "Isn't this great. I got pictures for Chris finally and now I can't do anything with them until we get home!!!

She said "That's nothing new..."

I said "What's that, just being a disappointment no matter what??"

She didn't argue.......

Mike...

 

[Motorhead]

Mike, Take the measurement from the rise in the trucks floor where the front seat brackets bolt up to-to the top mounting plate of the seat suspension unit.

 

[mwilson]

Mike, Take the measurement from the rise in the trucks floor where the front seat brackets bolt up to-to the top mounting plate of the seat suspension unit.

You've got mail...

 

[mwilson]

Off topic but a guy in New Brunswick was showing me his Rumble Bee pick-up.

This was on his mirror.....