Grey Basketweave Cloth with Leatherette Bolsters
Scheel-Mann Vario F Install in a 2008 Toyota Tundra TRD Off-Road
Why Aftermarket Seats
Long tedious drives are part of any overland trip. Staying comfortable and alert during long stints in the driver’s seat is an important safety consideration. This was the biggest reason that we swapped the stock buckets out of our 2008 Toyota Tundra TRD Off-Road and replaced them with a pair of grey Scheel-Mann Vario F seats.
The Arrival
The crate. scheel-mann sends their seats in individual boxes - one seat per box, utilizing heavy duty double layered carboard and strapped to prevent them accidentally opening.
Column title
Each seat is labeled with the model, color, and SKU breaking down the exact model, fabric selections, and configured options.
Unboxing
Everything comes securly packed and protected. The head rest is in the smaller carboard box in the middle. Also included are the seat sliders, the necessary hardware, as well as wiring and switches for the heating elements, and arm rests if you add them.
Pre-Installation
The Scheel-Mann Vario F seats came complete with sliders all the hardware required, but required a few additional items for installation in our truck.
Sliders
The sliders are inside a smaller box packed under the seat to protect them and the seat. Each seat has a set of sliders and a handle that attaches to the insdied of the sliders which is used to Pair text with an image to focus on your chosen product, collection, or blog post. Add details on availability, style, or even provide a review.
Hardware
All necessary hardware to attached the seat to the sliders is included.
The Mounting Brackets
We ordered a set of recommended seat brackets from Planted Technology specific to the second generation Tundra. Since the side airbags (located in the stock seats) were being removed, we procured a pair of bypass resistors. This eliminates any dash warning lights, but more importantly ensures that the remaining airbags will deploy if ever required.
Seat Brackets
By Planted
By-pass resistors
Installation
1. Disconnect vehicle starting battery.
2. Unbolt and remove factory seats, disconnect all wiring connections.
3. Remove passenger-seat occupancy sensors, driver-seat location sensor, and seat belts from factory seats.
These details will likely change for different vehicle models, but for our Tundra we
removed and reused the following:
- Four passenger-seat occupancy sensors
- Driver-seat proximity sensor
- Seat belts
The four passenger occupancy sensors (which tell the Tundra whether or not someone is sitting in the passenger seat and are heavy enough to allow the airbag to deploy) had brackets that needed to be trimmed with an angle grinder. After modification, we used gear clamps to provide enough pressure, sending information to the Tundra allowing the passenger airbags to deploy in an accident.
There is a driver seat proximity sensor that senses if the driver seat is very far forward and close to the steering wheel. This adjusts the steering wheel airbag and reduces the intensity of its deployment. For example, if there is a small driver and the seat has been moved far forward.
The Tundra seat belts have a mounting hole that is too large for the Planted Technology brackets. Modification to the seat belt bracket or the seat mounting bracket will be required. We chose to modify the seat belt bracket by drilling a new hole and used a large diameter grade 8 bolt to connect it to the Planted bracket.
4. Attach Scheel-Mann Vario F seats to sliders and Planted Technology seat brackets.
Assembling the seats
The sliders and handle as they'll look when installed.
Attaching the sliders
In order to reveal and gain access to the holes in the sliders you'll have to move the sliders backwards to get the front bolts in, and forward to get the back bolts in.
Hardware
The sliders are held to the seat with six socket head bolts. The kit includes the necessary allen key.
5. Attach sensors and seat belts to Scheel-Mann Vario F seats.
6. Install airbag bypass resistors.
We used a pair of NRG Innovations SRK-RES 2.2 Ohm SRS Warning Light Bypass Resistors. They come complete with a small fuse and slide directly into the factory wiring harness connector. A few wraps with electrical tape provides insurance that they won’t come out of the connector.
If unsure what resistance is required for your own vehicle, you can use a multimeter to measure resistance across the seat airbag.
7. Install seats and connect all wiring to vehicle.
This included the four passenger seat occupancy sensors, driver-seat proximity sensor, and seat belt sensors.
In our case, both the factory seats and the Vario Fs had seat heaters. We simply cut the wires from the stock seats and used marine-grade butt connectors to connect them to the Scheel-Mann wiring harness. These were then connected to the factory connections.
8. Reconnect battery.
Initial Thoughts
After moving from a 1990 Toyota Pickup to the Tundra we were impressed how comfortable the stock power (and heated!) seats were, but now that seems like a small step when comparing the difference between the Tundra seats and the Scheel-Mann Vario Fs. The 10-way adjustability, moderate side bolsters, and firm support have made a world of difference when spending hours upon hours behind the wheel.
Oufitting the Tundra
For our 2008 Toyota Tundra TRD Off-Road we choose the scheel-mann Vario F in Grey Baskeweave Cloth with Grey Leatherette Side Bolsters.
$1,897.00
