This was a reply to a question about seats in the general forum. The issue of seats has come up a few times previously and I thought that I'd post it here as it does provide some assistance to those who are considering changes.

I have actually allready had a warranty replacement seat and back cushion. I think that larger guys have had issues like you are talking about. (sagging in the seat and the bar pushing against your back/butt cheek) Roll up the seat cover on the sides, and make
sure that the gel piece hasn't torn with the frame rail coming through the middle and do the same with the lower seat cushion.

The seat is basically made of one gel pad seat cushion and a back gel cushion wrapped arround a metal frame. There's a frame rail support that has broken through and ripped the gel pad with the only thing between me and the metal rail was the seat cover.

My thought is that it's a weight thing only happening to larger guys. Larger drivers when leaning to one side of the other (usaully towards the armrest) seperate the two sides if the gel allowing the metal rame to tear through. But check to see because it is warranteable. I have noticed that the 2002 offers a larger thicker gel pad under the seat covers and larger and deeper side bolsters.

I have looked into replacement seats including Sparco, Recaro , Cerullo , Corbeau , mastercraft as well as some cheaper no name brands. The issues with replacing the seats are many. Cost for starters , as these things aren't cheap. The general range for a high backed sport seat from any one of the aforementioned manufactures runs from $595 to about $750 per seat. That usaully doesn't include the mounting bracket and instalation.

The problem that I ran into on a couple of test fitments was that the OEM runners don't sit very high and most of the aftermarket aplications set the seat too high . Then you have the issue if you do replace the seats of now having the front seat interior mismatched with the rear . So if you want uniformity you'd have to either recover the new seats to match or re-upholster the rear seats and door panels to match the new seats.

After weighing the cost along with the other issues I wasn't able to reconcile doing a seat change at this time. I get a certain level of entertainment in having the dealer have to replace an expensive part under warranty anyway.

What I did find that I will do eventually came from Stitchcraft in Westminster , California. They have been in many magazines and are well known in the aftermarket industry for their custom upholstery. I took the truck down there and they checked out the seats. For $300 dollars per seat they are going to use my factory frame rails and make custom cushions with any specs that I would like . That includes stronger foam padding , higher and deeper side seat bolsters to keep me planted in the center and then re-cover the whole thing in new OEM type matching cloth. Basically taking the stock seat and
turning it into a racing/offroad seat while at the same time keeping the same factory look .

Unfortunately on the priority list this fell just below tires and shocks. So I need to replenish the X-fund before this can happen.

There it is ; the seat manifesto.