Replace/upgrade The Front Seats?

[chmod]

I preface this by saying I am not the primary driver of the otherwise awesome 07 400H.

But compared to our traded in Volvo, or my BMW, the seats are shallow by perhaps 5 inches compared to either of the other two. Seriously, these seats hit me mid thigh.

This is not trivial.

I'm 6'2", which maybe is taller than average but not that tall and I am interested in anyone's thoughts on swapping in other Lexus seats. Without knowing the details of fitment, I cannot imagine there being any serious issues to prevent this.

Are any of the other Lexus seats more deep?

Has anyone read of this being possible? Anyone care to speculate?

thanks

patrick

ps...oddly, this form prevents the editing of the sub-Subject, in which there is a typo. Moderators? Can you fix this? Done! (RX400h)

[Gryphon]

Hello Patrick. Ditto re no option to edit a subject line type.....embarassing or at least frustrating depending on the degree of mistake.

I don't want to state the obvious but changing out one model Lexus seat for another sounds like major work, unless the replacement seat just happens to fit the space, track, mounts etc. And probably quite expensive unless you find some junk yard seats.

I would guess that your best option, still not cheap, is to find a good upholster to modify and recover the seats, or I assume seat bottoms. I have found that quality upholsters have access to many factory fabrics/leathers and probably could match the OEM leather.

Just my two cents without any actual experience.

Tom

[gordonw]

Actually there would be serious issues. First the car was crash tested with that particular seat design with that vehicle. If you change it, there is no guarantee that the safety system would function as well. Second, the seats have side airbags in them as well as all the seat motors. Would they still function? They may have different connectors, voltage requirements, etc. Swapping seats may sound easy, but in the big picture its not. I understand where you're coming from, I'm 6' and my brother is 6'1".

[RX400h]

I agree with Gordon; many of today's luxury vehicle seats are loaded with electronics and related safety components. I believe that the RX400h seats were designed to accomodate anyone who weighs anywhere from 90 to 290 lbs. Unfortunately, we who are in decent shape, end up with the bench-style seats. Perhaps we should let Lexus customer service know that adjustable side and thigh supports would be much appreciated.

Dave

[chmod]

I do not believe there are any air bags in any manufacturer's seats, unless the 400H is very unique, but I agree with the tenor of your replies. There ARE sensors to tell the system if the seat is occupied, however, and therein may lie the rub.

The lack of thigh support is really a disparity. Sit in a Volvo XC90 - the difference in depth, and in fact degree of plushness (is that a real word?) is laughable yet they are priced to the same market. We just returned one off a three year lease so I speak from first hand experience. Overall I vastly prefer the 400H, but the seats suck by comparison, folks.

What worries me, is the "sensing" for the airbag use. Otherwise, the switch is trivial, I've done it multiple times. I've bolted Recaro's into older 4Runners and all of a sudden, the car is a pleasure to drive. The older 4Runner seats are like children's wooden stools. Sadly, the 2007 400H seats are only marginally larger, and somewhat softer but not hugely so. They DO adjust more, but they are simply not scaled for anyone over a very average size, in my opinion. I am looking for some way to overcome this, but not at the expense of safety.

Electronic adjustments are not necessary, but they are handy. Heated seats, though nice, are rarely used where we live. The rails are nothing but bolts.

BUT, the ability of the car to know when to deploy, etc. from the dash and the door, are indeed major issues.

I speculate the only hope is for another Lexus seat, which may be very simple to swap in. These cars share so many systems (it is one of the reasons the parent company, Toyota, has been so successful - they share parts and systems across their lines like crazy.)

So I'll continue to see what options exist. Sending messages to marketing folks is not high on my list. ;-)

Maybe I need to focus upon modding the seat, per say, with additional thigh support versus swapping it out?

Thanks for your thoughts.

regards,

patrick

[skyfish400h]

I'm 6'2", which maybe is taller than average but not that tall and I am interested in anyone's thoughts on swapping in other Lexus seats. Without knowing the details of fitment, I cannot imagine there being any serious issues to prevent this.

Are any of the other Lexus seats more deep?

Has anyone read of this being possible? Anyone care to speculate?

I'm 6'4" and these seats are not the best fit for me either. I wish I could slide it back further and/or tilt the seat bottom down more in the back so the thigh support be better.

I've been seriously thinking of putting some spacers or a z-bracket between the seat mounts and the track so I can get more leg room and more tilt, but I haven't looked into the geometry and space availbe for this kind of hack.

You can get more thigh length by deflating the lumbar support and sliding your butt further back on the seat. However, when I do this my back hurts, so I live with the lesser thigh support.

[RandyByTheBay]

Actually, it was one function of the seats (head room) that almost prevented me from buying my Rx400h. I'm 6'5" tall, but most of that seems to be from the waist up. Legroom usually isn't a problem for me in cars, the problem always seems to be headroom. Since the Rx400h (and in fact most Lexus vehicles) is not available without the moonroof, I simply don't fit vertically in the stock vehicle. However, I really wanted the Rx400h so I did a lot of searching and finally found a custom car builder who builds race cars. I asked him to take a look at the Rx400h seat and let me know if anything could be done with the seat mounts to permanently lower the seats. After looking at the car he said no problem! So, I bought the Rx400h took it to his shop and a few days later had my new car back with custom seat mounts that lowered the seat almost 2".

It seems he was able to build some replacement mounting brackets for the seat that were simply not as tall as the originals. Replaced the stock brackets with his custom-made ones and put everything else back together.

So, it turns out that there is quite a bit that can be done with the seats if you find the right folks to help out.

Of course there is always the possibility that re-positioning the seat will change the dynamics of how well the air bags protect in an accident. But, I figure by lowering the seat, I'm just getting myself closer to the position that the majority of other drivers enjoy. So, maybe it will actually improve air bag performance for me. Who knows.

Hope that helps!

[retired00]

I do not believe there are any air bags in any manufacturer's seats, unless the 400H is very unique,

Actually, side air bags are in the side of the seatback on every car that has them now, to my knowledge. The idea of mounting them in the door panel ceased a few years ago.

[gordonw]

I do not believe there are any air bags in any manufacturer's seats, unless the 400H is very unique, but I agree with the tenor of your replies. There ARE sensors to tell the system if the seat is occupied, however, and therein may lie the rub.

The lack of thigh support is really a disparity. Sit in a Volvo XC90 - the difference in depth, and in fact degree of plushness (is that a real word?) is laughable yet they are priced to the same market. We just returned one off a three year lease so I speak from first hand experience. Overall I vastly prefer the 400H, but the seats suck by comparison, folks.

What worries me, is the "sensing" for the airbag use. Otherwise, the switch is trivial, I've done it multiple times. I've bolted Recaro's into older 4Runners and all of a sudden, the car is a pleasure to drive. The older 4Runner seats are like children's wooden stools. Sadly, the 2007 400H seats are only marginally larger, and somewhat softer but not hugely so. They DO adjust more, but they are simply not scaled for anyone over a very average size, in my opinion. I am looking for some way to overcome this, but not at the expense of safety.

Electronic adjustments are not necessary, but they are handy. Heated seats, though nice, are rarely used where we live. The rails are nothing but bolts.

BUT, the ability of the car to know when to deploy, etc. from the dash and the door, are indeed major issues.

I speculate the only hope is for another Lexus seat, which may be very simple to swap in. These cars share so many systems (it is one of the reasons the parent company, Toyota, has been so successful - they share parts and systems across their lines like crazy.)

So I'll continue to see what options exist. Sending messages to marketing folks is not high on my list. ;-)

Maybe I need to focus upon modding the seat, per say, with additional thigh support versus swapping it out?

Thanks for your thoughts.

regards,

patrick

I believe the seat sensing is for the passenger seat. Can't see the driver seat being unoccupied. Don't confuse side airbags with curtain airbags. The side airbags are in the Lexus seats to protect your torso. The curtain airbags are in the edge of the headliner and will protect your head.

[Legacy400h]

Actually, it was one function of the seats (head room) that almost prevented me from buying my Rx400h. I'm 6'5" tall, but most of that seems to be from the waist up. Legroom usually isn't a problem for me in cars, the problem always seems to be headroom. Since the Rx400h (and in fact most Lexus vehicles) is not available without the moonroof, I simply don't fit vertically in the stock vehicle. However, I really wanted the Rx400h so I did a lot of searching and finally found a custom car builder who builds race cars. I asked him to take a look at the Rx400h seat and let me know if anything could be done with the seat mounts to permanently lower the seats. After looking at the car he said no problem! So, I bought the Rx400h took it to his shop and a few days later had my new car back with custom seat mounts that lowered the seat almost 2".

It seems he was able to build some replacement mounting brackets for the seat that were simply not as tall as the originals. Replaced the stock brackets with his custom-made ones and put everything else back together.

So, it turns out that there is quite a bit that can be done with the seats if you find the right folks to help out.

Of course there is always the possibility that re-positioning the seat will change the dynamics of how well the air bags protect in an accident. But, I figure by lowering the seat, I'm just getting myself closer to the position that the majority of other drivers enjoy. So, maybe it will actually improve air bag performance for me. Who knows.

Hope that helps!

I'm 6' 6+", and the headroom in my 2006 RX400h has been my main complaint. Unfortunately, the largest Caddies and Lincolns I tested where no better. My Mercedes had a lot of head room, so I was spoiled for 20 years with them.

My question: How much did it cost for your guy to lower the seat? I only need the driver's seat lowered, of course, but an extra 2" would make all the difference in the world.

[SOMEONE ELSE'S GOT MY NAME]

Actually, it was one function of the seats (head room) that almost prevented me from buying my Rx400h. I'm 6'5" tall, but most of that seems to be from the waist up.

. . . . . .

Hope that helps!

I'm 6'5" and would have to agree . . . you must have MUCHO short legs / relation to torso, as the 400h has a mile of headroom for me (and especially compared to the RangeRover we unloaded in its place). As a tinker'er though ~ I did manage to move the seat back an extra inch in a manner that doesn't affect air bag deployment / etc. Normally the leg length isn't a big deal, but on those occasional drives between CA and MT the extra inch of leg room is more important.

[markatty]

I'm only 6' tall (admittedy long-legged) and I still have the seat all the way back on its tracks. I find my knees very close to the steering. I really wish the tracks had two more inches in length, especially since I rarely have anyone in the back seat behind the driver.

Mark

[RandyByTheBay]

My question: How much did it cost for your guy to lower the seat? I only need the driver's seat lowered, of course, but an extra 2" would make all the difference in the world.

The mods cost me about $700 and were completed in a day or so.