Swap VW T4 Seats For Mazda RX8 Electric Heated Leather Swivel Base Seats

[@TheCampervanBuilder]

Please leave some comments below and don't forget to grab some Camper Conversion Merchandise while it lasts: teespring.com/en-GB/stores/camper-conversion-2

[@chrismonahan3789]

Thank you for displaying the wire identification of the Driver seat, Very much appreciated, I'm fitting some into a Daihatsu Fourtrak. :-)

[@drewhodge3820]

This video has been really helpful. It will save me loads of time trying to work out the wiring on the drivers seat. Thankyou.

[@CarlsOutside]

Absolutely brill video, huge help thanks!

[@TheCampervanBuilder]

glad to be of help

[@bigjthebiker1971]

Great video, a few question's, is the seat the same hight as the original t4 seats and did you have to change the seatbelt clips or did the mazda ones fit the t4 seatbelts ,thanks.

[@TheCampervanBuilder]

The mazda ones fit fine, slight height difference but not much, they fit and look nice

[@bobyboo5063]

Diamond discs are for stone and concrete mate, get metal cutting and grind discs for metal.

[@TheCampervanBuilder]

I know its the wrong disc but it's still going strong 18 months later

[@bobyboo5063]

Good , but be wary it dose not splinter off. I like the seats you put in. It has given me ideas for mine. Cheers.

[@zenocatalin5336]

Hi, is the passenger seats heating function cable all blue aswell? I do not have a whole blue one on mine

[@kipa170]

Im looking to fit a pair of ST220 seats to my T5 but don’t know where to begin. They are 8 way adjustables with heating and none flat rails. How do you do your test battery?

[@ironmaidyn]

These seats look great! Is the drivers seat lower than the original? I'm looking for a slightly lower seat as the one I have hurts the back of my legs on longer journeys! Really helpful video, Thanks!

[@TheCampervanBuilder]

Yes they are

[@ryanferris7841]

Hi I wanting to change and adapt the seats in my vwlt, it’s easy enough to do however where do I stand with the law? Is it legal to change and adapt seats thanks great video

[@TheCampervanBuilder]

as long as they are secure and can pass MOT checks and declared to the insurance company, then everything would be fine. If changed and not declared to insurance, that could be their excuse not to pay out so always mention any changes

[@JackTheTool]

These look really well, you sound like you are from the north east like me, cheers for the video brother

[@TheCampervanBuilder]

Cheees, yeah based in Teesside myself

[@JackTheTool]

cool, im in thornaby, do you still have your T4? i have just bought my first one, loving your videos for tips

[@TheCampervanBuilder]

Yeah still got the high top van, pretty much finished the conversion so just daft extra bits to do to it now, so thinking of making a micro camper now. If you need a hand with anything, just give me a shout

[@JackTheTool]

thanks mate i appreciate that!

[@theritsmancavequadfather8990]

How warm do these seats get I've just put the red and black version into mine all the electric movements are wired just not done the heating side yet and wondered if it was worth doing

[@goonluv]

Haven't got a clue m8 I didn't put them in. Will have another go. Cheers m8

[@andrewhopson8578]

Hoping for a reply, because I've retrofitted these seats into an RX-8 that isn't wired for power or heat (but I only want heat, as I just moved the leather to the manual frames). Did you use a relay at all for the seat heaters? Have they caused any issues if you didn't? I know the RX-8 uses a relay for the seat heaters under the hood, but if I can just get away with an inline fuse and a straight run to battery, then I'm good with that!

[@TheCampervanBuilder]

Yes these seats are wired via a relay connected to the glove box light so the seats can only be moved / heated when the ignition is on. I have fitted switches for the heating element otherwise they would be on 24/7 while the van is on which would be a power drain and lead to hot bums after a while.

[@Bay_creative_BC86]

can i ask, is it just 2 12v cables from battery positive and negative, I have just bought 2 of the exact same seats. like what wire do i need to buy? complete novice but building on a budget, like do i need to go to the fuse box and stuff or jus straight to battery ? and when you say relayed to the Glove box light can you explain, really sorry about this, i actually bought the seats not knowing it was all electrical hahah

[@TheCampervanBuilder]

there is a video on my channel about the relay, the relay only lets the seats operate when the ignition is turned on, to stop any heated seat elements draining the battery etc. You can run the power straight from the battery, just put an inline fuse on the power line

[@mikesimmonds1916]

Nice job, how did you get round the handbrake question. Our van hasn't got a swivel on the driver side (yet) because I'm not sure how it would get round the handbrake. Take care wiring heated seats from modern cars, they have Airbags waiting to ruin your day.

[@TheCampervanBuilder]

I only have a swivel on the passenger side in this van as there is no room to turn the drivers around due to the bed layout, I had swivels in my last van on both seats and the drivers just turned if the handbrake was only on 1 click, anymore and it had to be let off to swivel the chair but no such issues this time around. Wiring is also all sorted, these seats have separate plugs for motion and airbags so I just left the airbag plugs completely alone so no accidental wiring and airbag explosions going off lol....

[@garyparker9402]

Hiya pal, Does having the seats off center cause any issues? Driving position, handbrake space (enough to get your hand round when pulling/releasing ) and are there any issues with your door cards or pockets? Thanks Gary

[@TheCampervanBuilder]

It didn't cause an issue, just more an ocd annoyance so moved the base to line everything back up by bolting some thick heavy duty plates to the floor and moved the bases over a couple inches to get everything lined back up correctly, no issues with door pocket either

[@stephenmorgan5100]

I had an RX8 and found the seats very uncomfortable on a long journey. Didn't realise you can get electric seats wired up as I fancy Ranger Rover seats.

[@TheCampervanBuilder]

I love these seats, I’ve been on 5 hour non-stop journeys with them and got there feeling fresh, much comfier than previous seats I’ve used

[@68BirdinOz]

I'm trying to install the same seats but in a different vehicle. I am trying to find out which wires on the RX 8 plug I need to ground or power to make the seat adjustment to work. I know the two large wires are for power and ground but can't get the seats to move. Thanks

[@TheCampervanBuilder]

+Brooke Fraser I cover the wiring required at about 7 mins in to the video showing what coloured wires are needed for wiring them up

[@68BirdinOz]

Thanks. Was in the shed trying to sort this out and must have looked away for a bit. Thanks. Got it all working!

[@theritsmancavequadfather8990]

Also wondered if there was any way of testing the heater elements before going to the extent of wiring them all in to find that they don't work

[@TheCampervanBuilder]

check the wiring part about 7 mins in, that shows how you can wire all the seat functions up before fitting and the heating element can be tested then, you just need a 12v battery to test it with. I've not used the van much as it's a second vehicle for me but they got toasty the 1 time I did use them

[@stevenkenny4180]

Great video

[@TheCampervanBuilder]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@mikesimmonds1916]

You put the swivel onto the driver seat too? Does the handbrake make turning the seat a pain? Thinking of doing it to our T4 and were wondering if the handbrake makes it hard to live with?

[@TheCampervanBuilder]

I only put a swivel on the passenger seat due to the bed layout, I did however put a swivel on the drivers in my previous red van (which can be seen on my channel's other videos), that van had Audi TT seats and it turned just above the handbrake but my handbrake was tight and didn't need lifting high to engage,. It really comes down to how high your handbrake lever sits, 1 click will be fine, 3-4 clicks might be an issue, I would have had to let the handbrake off to swivel if my level was any higher at the time. Hope this helps.

[@mikesimmonds1916]

Yes it does. We would use the rotating seat for guests as the van can sleep 4 with the roof conversion and the driver seat would become more useful if it faced the rest of the van.

[@goonluv]

I've got heated seats in mine but haven't got a clue how to wire them up

[@TheCampervanBuilder]

Should be pretty simple, along the same lines as I've used. What seats do you have in yours? Should just be a case of running a live from the battery or fuse box so a switched relay (video on my channel on how to wire those, then live a switch then to the heater. I bought and fitted the switches for these and checked online which wires were for what and jobs-a-good-un 👍

[@wmj3333]

Hi, been following your rx8 installation. But trying it in my T5. I have looked at the passenger's seat which doesn't have any electric buttons. But I believe it has heated seats also. But the wires are different colour to the driver's seat. They are a matching set. Can you advise cheers

[@TheCampervanBuilder]

From what I remember, you just need to wire the red and black on the passenger seat to a (switched) live feed, don’t wire any others as they are for airbag. I have switched fitted to the side of the bases to turn the heat on/off and it’s been great to have recently with the cold weather, I’ve used the heated seats every day the past 2 weeks 👍

[@wmj3333]

Camper Conversion brilliant stuff. I will have another look. They where a bit of a pain to fit to the T5 but got the electrics working on the driver's seat exactly how you video's it. Which was such a help. Just wasn't sure on the passenger's seat as the wires are completely different colours. However is suspect the airbag is still the yellow plug. I was going to use a single 4 way relay as a feed on 30amp fuse with 2 switches on dash for each of the seats. I can't thankyou enough for this video. Would be handy if you could recall the heated wire for the passenger's. Pity I can't post any pictures.

[@TheCampervanBuilder]

Ignore the yellow chock, thats airbag, in the other wiring harness amongst the cables there should be a solid red and black cables, thats all that needs wiring in for the heated element (via a switch to save your battery)

[@wmj3333]

Cheers for your help. Weather didn't help. Still somehow can't get heat. Found the black and red on passenger's seat. Excellent continuity. Probably a stupid question. But does the red and black wires both go positive to get it to work? Do I not need a negative feed? Obviously will add a switch. Cheers again. Much appreciated

[@TheCampervanBuilder]

red goes to a live feed (via a switch), black can be secured to the seat bolt as the chassis grounds the starter battery for the negative

[@VWGeek8]

Great explanation!

[@TheCampervanBuilder]

Glad it was helpful!

[@fishingnorthwales976]

Is a 10 amp rocker swich ok for the heated seats

[@TheCampervanBuilder]

No you’d need higher for safety, same with cable used as some heating elements can use up to 20A

[@fishingnorthwales976]

@@TheCampervanBuilder ok thanks gone for the bigger switch and put a relay on for the electric seats. Thanks for the help used your video put the relay in easy to follow instructions

[@Matt8Nicholls]

Have you not put an inline fuse in for them off the battery? If so what size?

[@TheCampervanBuilder]

+Matt Nicholls hi yes I used an inline fuse, all cabling is 30amp and I have a 25amp fuse at the battery end as the heated seats and movement functions can use quite high amps is all used at once

[@goonluv]

Looks great good job

[@markstockton6794]

I've noticed in other videos you have tt seats in your tin top how did you fit them

[@TheCampervanBuilder]

Hi, yes I fitted TT seats in my first red van, they were fitted to fasp swivel bases. The swivels mounted directly to the base, for the seats I just drilled new holes in the rails as they are a very similar size rail, however extending bars using the original mount holes would be better as the bolts I used stopped some of the seat movement and they also sat very high with the swivels, my head almost hitting the headlining (I'm 6'2), but they were Very comfortable seats...

[@markstockton6794]

Camper Conversion thanks for the advise keep the videos coming there very helpful especially for some 1 like myself

[@TheCampervanBuilder]

Don't forget to subscribe and it'll inform you when new videos come out

[@goonluv]

What did you do with the t4 seats the old ones

[@TheCampervanBuilder]

+goonluv I still have them in the garage, was planning on putting them on eBay or Facebook for sale

[@goonluv]

How did you sus that wireing m8

[@TheCampervanBuilder]

Found a thread on the vwt4forum.co.uk site where someone had already found out which wires were for what, so I went off what they said each wire was for but tested before fitting to make sure it was all right and correct, there should be info online for what wires are for what with your seats, hard part might be finding out what the seats are from as thats the starting point in the information hunt

[@goonluv]

+Camper Conversion cheers m8

[@shanvlogs3262]

very nice.....