kyk007

I recently picked up a front driver's side seat for my LS400, thinking it was from an identical '98 model. Upon getting home, I discovered it was actually from a 1997. Furthermore, the electrical wiring on the bottom of the two seats appears to be different.

I'm no electrician, and certainly not adept at changing out the wiring. Would anyone happen to know if there's a simple way to get this '97 seat to work on my '98, without completely retrofitting it with new wiring.

Any insight would be appreciated.

[The first picture shows the underside of the seat on the '97; the second picture shows the underside of my 1998 seat]

RA40

iTrader: (6)

We've had minimal discussion on seat swaps between models. Other than electronics, there is the side airbag and that is best left to keeping them in the same generation. My suggestion is to have the original seat recovered in these situations.

As far as this, check with Lexus parts dept for a cross reference. Can you verify that it is from a '97?

billydpowe

iTrader: (1)

been there & done that..... YOU will need to know what EACH wire is operating & where each incoming wire is from... I gave up, but I owned both cars at the time .. 97 & 99

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

the airbag configuration is different, you need a '98-00 seat. You can't even change just the skins or padding because of that.

YoshiMan

I thought i remember reading on here that the memory functions use different computer "buses" between the pre 97 and post 98s... I know it has something to do with the mirrors as well, and why they are not interchangeable between the two.

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

also, this is asking betwen an early UCF20 and a later UCF20, UCF10s are pre '95

kyk007

Gentlemen, thank you all for your words of wisdom concerning the seats between the early and late UCF20. I kind of thought my options were pretty limited to start with anyways, so getting the seat reupholstered is probably my best bet.

On that note, I think I'll go put up my '97 front seat for sale on the boards. Thanks again for all the input guys - much appreciated!

JJDAG

Why cant you just swap the upholstery ? put the good leather on the correct frame .

kyk007

JJDAG - that's actually not a bad idea. I'm thinking I would still have to find a competent upholstery place to do the work though, but all told, your suggestion makes good sense.

Anyone else want to chime in?

JJDAG

The other thing I believe you can do, the seat itself is bolted to the track carriage the part with the wiring and motors, you should be able to unbolt the seat from the power track carriage and switch it that way, the only hassle you may have is you may need to put power to the seat motor to move it back and forth on the track to gain access to the bolts for the seat. If that makes any sense. Then you wont need to pay an upholstery shop. Ive done this on many cars.

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

None of that resolves the airbag issue.

JJDAG

You can give Lexus a call to see if the air bag assembly in the seat is the same part number for both years. Or just bring both seats to an upholstery shop to switch the leather over that wouldn't require switching the air bag.