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How-To Remove cushions and covers from a Bucket Seat

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  • How-To Remove cushions and covers from a Bucket Seat

    This how-to will be part of a series with the end result of (in my case) removing a fabric bucket seat with side airbag, and all of the mods needed to recover the seat with a non-airbag leather seat cover. I think it will be easier to break it into steps.
    And yes, my interior is dirty... Thank you for noticing
    Removal
    You will need a T50 torx head, and either a phillips head or T20 torx driver, you will also need a prying tool for popping the fasteners loose at the top of the seat back..
    First, slide the seat as far forward as it will go. This will expose the 2 T50 Torx bolts in the rear on the floor.

    Remove these, then lift the rear of the seat a few inches and pull the entire seat towards the rear of the car, to release the tabs under the front of the seat that lock into the frame.
    Once the seat is free, lay it back and reach under to disconnect any wiring connectors.
    Next, use the phillips/T20 torx to remove the plastic trim on the outer side of the seat.
    There are 3 screws, one in front, one behind the seat tilt handle, and one in the back. (Red arrows).

    The Blue arrow marks the T50 Torx for the seatbelt.

    Before you can remove the trim, you need to pull the clip holding the tilt lever. Here is an image of the lever removed, so you can see what is hiding in the little space between the trim and the lever.


    I used a buttonhook to grab the pin and pull it. Be creative.
    Once the trim is removed, you need the T50 Torx to unbolt the outer seat belt. You now can remove the seat.

    Lay the seat face down on a sturdy surface. We'll remove the bottom cushion first.
    On the bottom, there are 10 J clips holding the cover and cushion to the frame.


    You can use a screwdriver to push the vinyl J clip loose of the frame. Some you can pull with your fingers, others will need help.


    The J clips are a soft vinyl, so no worries about breaking them.


    Once you release all of the J clips, disconnect any wires. Some passenger seats have a pressure sensor, some have heating elements, most will have a wire running to the seat belt latch. Disconnect them all, and pay attention to how the wires run, so you don't crush them during reassembly.

    There is a 1.5" metal pipe cap on each side of the seat, near the hinge. It will have 2-3 layers of fabric that helps hold the cushions in place.

    Remove all fabric from this pipe on each side.

    There may also be a J hook inside the hinge, holding one of the sections of fabric.

    Remove that too.

    You can now remove the bottom cushion.
    Tuck all the fabric from the back through the crack between the bottom and back cushions.


    Lift the front of the bottom cushion, and gently pull it free of the frame.

    Check to confirm all wires are loose, and remove the cushion.

    Removing back cushion:
    If you have heated seats, there will be a wire from the seat back running to the grey heater control module under the seat. disconnect it, and pay attention how the wire is routed through the frame, for reassembly process.
    If you have lumbar support, the lever is just a friction hold. Use something wide and flat, and pry the lever off.
    Here is an image of the back panel after removal, so you know what you are dealing with

    There are two push pins at the top of the seat, one at each upper corner (right arrow).
    There are two plastic bars the latch into the frame on the bottom, one in each corner (left arrow)
    Using a proper prying tool, pry the top connectors free of the frame, then push the entire panel Up, to free the bottom bars. The cover should slide up and off.

    Here's a shot of the seat back with the panel removed.

    You can see the pins in the top corners (red arrows), the metal frame where the bottom bars connect (Blue arrows) and the 4 J hooks that hold the rear cushion to the frame. Grasping the fabric, you can push the J hooks towards the front of the seat to release them.

    If you have not done so, remove the head rest.

    Push the big button (1) to lift the headrest to it's highest position. Push the "hidden button" (2) to release and remove the headrest. You may need to use something to push the hidden button far enough to get it to release, but keep trying. It will release and the headrest will slide out easily.
    If you lift the back of the seat cushion, you can see the bottom of the plastic sleeves for the headrest.


    There's clips on the bottom of each sleeve that must be depressed so you can slide the sleeves up and out. Here's how it looks without the cushion so you know what you are trying to reach. (The clips are easy to press, just use your hand)

    The red arrows are the clips to depress, the blue arrows are the alignment notches in the sleeves and frame so you get the sleeves in correctly during reassembly.
    If you don't have an airbag, you can now pull the bottom of the cushion free, then lift the entire cushion up and off.

    If you do have an airbag in the seat, there are two more steps.
    Loosen the 1" trim ring around the airbag cover. Don't pry the actual cover loose. It's a PITA to put back.
    NOTE! It is important to follow the pattern in the photo. The clips around the airbag will pop out with just a little pressure, but the last one at the very top is notched, not a clip. Once all the other clips are released, you can pull the trim ring down slightly and release it from the seat cushion.

    Once the trim ring is removed, there is a vinyl ring that is sewn to the seat cushion and hooks over the airbag cover.

    Pull the vinyl trim piece loose from the airbag.
    Now you can remove the seat cushion from the seat frame.

    To reassemble, just follow this how-to backwards.

    Next up:
    Removing and replacing the seat covers.
    Last edited by FentonDude; 08-25-2015, 01:21 PM.
    My progression page Clicky

  • #2
    Re: How-To Remove cushions and covers from a Bucket Seat

    Wow! This is awesome and seems to take a good part of my day. I'm so glad that I can do this now. Thanks for the how to.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: How-To Remove cushions and covers from a Bucket Seat

      It took me a lot longer to do this write-up than it actually takes to strip a seat.
      The first one took a couple hours, while I figured out how it's supposed to be done.
      The second one took about 30 minutes. Modding for the airbag is the slowest part, that will be coming up in Part 3.
      What are you doing to your seats?
      My progression page Clicky

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: How-To Remove cushions and covers from a Bucket Seat

        Originally posted by FentonDude View Post
        It took me a lot longer to do this write-up than it actually takes to strip a seat.
        The first one took a couple hours, while I figured out how it's supposed to be done.
        The second one took about 30 minutes. Modding for the airbag is the slowest part, that will be coming up in Part 3.
        What are you doing to your seats?
        I'm going to be washing mine. I also want to sew in purple on top of the black in the same places as the gxp has them. It will also have royal purple patches sewn on the seats also.

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: How-To Remove cushions and covers from a Bucket Seat



          Here is what I did using your how-to. I followed it all, but there was one step I had to improvise on though. But I got my seats off and washed and I even sewed the patches on myself using a sewing machine.








          Next time I need to take the covers off, I'm zip stripping the seat covers back on, instead of using those metal rings. Then I will do red stitching all over where the black threading is at.
          Thank you for this awesome how-to!

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          • #6
            Re: How-To Remove cushions and covers from a Bucket Seat

            I wanted to also say, that the tough parts were the metal rings, the trim around the side air bags and the back of the seat plastic trim that has the cargo net on them. I broke a clip on the back of the seat that holds the trim retainer clip
            Last edited by GMManof3; 05-31-2017, 02:23 PM.

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            • #7
              Re: How-To Remove cushions and covers from a Bucket Seat



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              • #8
                Re: How-To Remove cushions and covers from a Bucket Seat

                Is there any way that these seats can be lowered? I have it on the lowest position yet still find myself sitting too high off the floor.

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                • #9
                  Re: How-To Remove cushions and covers from a Bucket Seat

                  Wish I could tell you that you could go lower bud. The mounting points for the seats, are about 2 inches up from the lowest part of the floor board. If you take off your seat and see about how you could lower it some more, then you could very well make it lower. Be mindful that you have the vent for the rear passengers under the front seats.

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