88 BII gets 99 Exploder heater leather seats

[410Fortune]

OKay here it is, this morning I drove to work with my new drivers seat bolted in and wired up. I installed 1999 Explorer 4 door leather Eddie Bauer power buckets into my 1988 Bronco II.

All I can say is WOW. I thought my 97 buckets were cool.
Best thing that has happened to me on a cold morning in the BII ever! My back is thanking me, which is quite fitting because last night during the 4.5 hour install I was crunched over in the BII with no seats soldering for 2 hours.

I will be posting all the wiring I had to do and how I did it in order to make these seats work. Also how to swap seatbelts from one set of seats to the other and mounting details. This is not a bolt in swap, the holes in the BII/Ranger do not line up to the Explorer seats. I had to run 3 additional wires to each seat and add them into my factory style wiring box.

Details and pictures to follow:

First the wiring.
My BII originally had air lumbar seats, so there is a 20 amp power wire and a ground to the seats already. This power wire (black/white) and is routed from the BII dash fuse panel to each seat along with a ground wire (black).

The 99 Seats w/heat require 4 total power wires:
30 amp hot all times + feed (Light blue/white)
20 amp hot all times + feed (black/white)
switched power (key on) + feed (grey/yellow)
Ground (black)

The heated seat switches are mounted on the side of each seat so there is no wires for additional switches (Nice feature IMO)

PM me if you would like a wiring schematic of the power wires run to these seats in my truck, and also the wire colors on the 99 seats and what they are.


First I removed my 93 power distribution box:

Notice the open fuse locations, very handy for adding accessories

Next I added the necessary wire for the 30 amp fuse to the box (+ wire is in foreground)

and soldered on the male end for the accessory plug I added to my truck. This allows me to take the entire power distribution box out of the truck and work on it on a bench.
Here is the plug:

Here is the box with new 30 amp fuse installed:

I already have a + switched feed inside the cab of the truck, for the seats I simply spliced into that wire. This wire is used so you cannot leave the seat heaters on when not in the truck. The 30 amp power wire was fed through the firewall and ran down the pass side rocker. It appears again under the passenger seat:

You can see here the new wires (30 amp + is green, key on signal is red)
are combined with the existing power and ground wire and a 4 position plug was soldered onto the end of the 4 wires.
I got these plugs at the junk yard for free from two different late model F-150's. They allow me to remove my seats and unplug them, similar to factory.
You can also see the red and green wire is split here and run across the trans hump over to the drivers seat.

The harness was wrapped and covered with conduit (again junk yard free)


You can also see the brackets that I maed a few years ago for the front two seat bolts. These simple brackets allow me to install 4 door power seat tracks into my BII using the factory bolts and mounting holes. The drivers side is similar.

Here is the other side of the F-150 plug, soldered to the seat power harness:

Next I had to swap the seatbelts from my 97 buckets onto these 99 buckets. The 99 uses a new style seatbelt end that my BII does not have (I actually have 94 Ranger seat belts with new black webbing material)

there are two 10mm bolts that hold the sliding seat belt assembly to the bucket seats. Made this very easy to do.

Now the seat can finally be set into position and all 4 hold down bolts loosley threaded. This allows you to sit in the seat and adjust its position slightly.

All tightened up, power supply is plugged in, seat in this picture is at the lowest possible height:

Tallest possible setting (VERY good for 4x4ing, so you can gain visability)

All the way forward with access to the back seat (if I had it installed):

All cleaned up and completed. I used a water and Castrol Superclean to clean the leather surfaces and cracks, then Maguiers Gold Leather conditioner to finish them up:

So far some of the best $$$ spent, I spend alot of hours in the BII and good comfortable and supportive seats are very important. Plus they look cool!

Special thanks to Christopher Wagner for a great deal on these seats, for being patient with me while I got his $$$ and for shipping them quickly.

Next project: New carpet kit, re-furbish dash (paint lower and re-do pad), and a custom center console with cooler, drink holders, gages, switches, floor shifter mount, PDA/GPS mount and more

 

[celly]

I've got the same seats and I can't agree with you more. Glad you like em.

 

[410Fortune]

Bump for pics and writeup

 

[briwayjones]

Those look nice.

 

[chriswells78]

Sweet, I can immagine them being about 100x more comfortable!

 

[ExplorerDMB]

That's awesome. Those seats look brand new. Nice write up as well and great pictures

-Drew

 

[97 Eddie Bauer v8]

I love how you are meticulous with the wiring, I am the same way, trying to make everything as thought it came that way from the factory. It will definitely help the value of your vehicle, and save you from a fire.

I'm glad you like them and they went to a good home.

 

[section525]

That BII get's me all tingly inside.

 

[BShow]

lookin good! How much did the seats set you back? I've got leather, but I want heat too.

 

[Joe93]

sweet write up.. i need to get mine wired up in the sploder someday. maybe someday soon since it wont cost me anything but time to do. Those look just like my seat i got from the junk yard. good thing i took all the wiring i could get for the seats . Those seats are so comfy compaired to the 91 seats i had.

 

[410Fortune]

Well this is the second time I have put new seats in the BII, I keep wearing them out hahaha
The stock seats when I got the truck were hammered, there was a spring on the drivers side hitting me in the back at all times. Seat covers and towels can only do so much! When I got my 97 buckets I thought, no problem I'll just bolt them in. Well I think the next day on the way to work the D side was installed with 1.5 bolts. Not good, should have saved that project for a weekend.

It felt like a new truck with the 97 buckets. However I did have to space them up about 1" at the rear mounts, they just didnt fit the BII right even with all the adjustability. Now I can see how worn down those 97 buckets were, the reason I was sitting so low. These 99 seats have ALOT more support to keep you sitting up-right.
It feels like a totally different truck now, I think they even soaked up some of the road noise? hahaha
Plus the heaters are just awesome, I have not even bothered with the heater the last 2 mornings

You could of course take the power supply for the heaters right to your dash fuse box or to the battery/starter solenoid if you wanted. But the problem with doing that is eventually you have 12 wires and fuses all sitting there on the + battery post.

It is easier then most people think to grab a power distribution box at the junk yard and add it to any vehicle. You can find them under the hood of any late model car truck, so you can take your pick.
Granted I added mine due to an engine conversion, but it makes it simple and clean to add/modify accessories/etc if I ever fill this one up I will add another.

My suggestion to you if you have a set of heated seats waiting to be installed, DO IT! well worth the PITA it was to get them in there I think I literally spent 8 hours on this install not including the trip to West Marine for wire and heat shrink, then to the junk yard.....Lots of soldering to do inside the truck...

 

[rookieshooter]

Very nice indeed. IF I get a chance to get some of those I might just have to follow your nice write-up. Shippin good greif that must of cost ya.

 

[rookieshooter]

Also what year x is that power box? Does it make a difference to what year. That is a nice mod.

 

[410Fortune]

My power box is a 94, but honestly no it does not make a difference of what year. The power boxes typically only get better as the car model gets later. The Gen II's have a nice one as well, there are 4 total fuse and relay boxes under the hood of a Gen II explorer.

The 93-94 is nice because it is simple and easy to mount with the explorer bracket.
Honda's, Chevy's, VW's, they all have a underhood fuse and relay box these days.
I like the 93-94 Ford because standard relays will fit, they are simple to take apart, red is + hahaha, and the ford water tight wiring plugs are also easy to take apart and you can buy male and female wire ends at Napa (Federal Mogul). Although I get everything I need these days fomr the junk yard. The junk yard counter guy usually just looks at me like I am nuts when I show him a bag full of plastic conduit, fuses, relays, and "useless" connectors, they typically don't charge for that stuff.


You can pick a box any size and shape you want with as many or as few fuse and relay locations. You just have to have a basic understanding of how they work inside. I mean typically you hook the box up to the + bat terminal and its powered down the center for all the fuses. Then you add your + out wire onthe other side of the fuse.

The relays are just a bit more tricky as some are 4 prong some are 5. Generally there is a + wires from the computer (ACC +) that is powered with the key in the ON pos, then there is a + and a ground coming into the box. These two wires jump around from relay to relay depening on the relays use.
So 1 power wire and 1 ground wire going into the box are all you need to fill up all the relay locations, the power distribution is taken care of internally inside the box. You just have to add your relay input and output wires (IE: in from fog light switch, and + out to fog lights). Less wires, less mess. It makes it real easy to wire up stuff so the relay is turned off when the key is turned off, I cannot leave my PIAA's on and kill my battery for example, they shut off when I get out and I dont have to tap into a acc + wire behind my dash.

I have one relay spot left, likely get used up by my electric cooling fan for the trans cooler..... After that I will add a relay only box from my wrecked 96 if I need more.

 

[410Fortune]

Man I tell ya these things are AWESOME!
I should have put in heated seats years ago!

If you live anywhere that is freezing and you gotta go to work at the butt crack of dawn, get some!

 

[Trckmagik]

"PM me if you would like a wiring schematic of the power wires run to these seats in my truck, and also the wire colors on the 99 seats and what they are."

Cant you just come do this for a fellow forum friend with a broken back? hahaha

I am still confused with the wiring/power! Do I run from the distribution block direclty under seat or do I go to the small fuse box in dash?

 

[410Fortune]

Brian,

What features do the seats you have, have? Heaters? memory? air lumbar? or just basic power?

The answer is both.
The electric motors require power from the dist box under the hood (if you have an open spot for them) because you want to be able to adjust the seats even when the key is out.
The heaters get power when the key is on only so you cant leave the heaters on when you take the key out

Think of it like wiring a stereo head unit or fog lights. The seats get a batt +, an ACC +, a ground, and the grey/yellow wire is like a remote signal for the seats (powers the relays so the seats know when the key is on or off)

Let me dig up the wiring charts I did for my seat install
Although post one up there pretty much tells you the 4 wires you are dealing with, depending on your seats.

 

[cybergasm]

410 you still have the wiring schematic? Would love to have it PM'd to me since I am getting ready to do a similar swap on my 91 X.

Thanks in advance

 

[410Fortune]

you really shouldnt need more then this:

The 99 Seats w/heat require 4 total power wires:
30 amp hot all times + feed (Light blue/white)
20 amp hot all times + feed (black/white)
switched power (key on) + feed (grey/yellow)
Ground (black)

But it may vary from year to year, I will scan the charts I made ASAP

 

[Trckmagik]

You rock sir. I will try messing with this when I get home.

Do the seats groudn themselves to the floor, or is there an actual ground wire that needs to be grounded to the floor.