Aftermarket Heated Seats - Check Corporation (Quadratec)

Spagent · 02-06-2010, 11:22 PM

(Sorry I cant add photos)
Ok...I'm sure there are those of you who think heated seats dont belong in a Jeep. You may be right but seeing as though there is no apparent temperature in the Northeast today (Damn Cold!) I installed some. (The GF also wants them for those cool summer nights-Sounds good to me)

Bought them from Quadratec. The Check Corporation heated seat kit.
Cost around $220. Their shipping was way over priced though (around $35)
That all said. They are installed in about 3 hours and warm up almost immediately (less than 1 minute). They will be perfect for those days where its cold but I'm too lazy to put the roof up. So far the kit works awesome!
Tools that I used were needle nose pliers, wire strippers, cordless drill, tapered drill bit, flat head screw driver.
I have a 2001 Sahara. The hardest part is peeling the upholstery back so that you can adhere the kit. There are plastic snap ridges on the front of the seat (under the front lip) and in the rear up the seat (where the vertical meets horizontal). These snaps come undone very easily with a fine flat head screwdriver.
Once you start to peel back the horizontal cover you will encounter a wire "bar" the runs perpendicular to the vehicle (driver side to passenger side). This bar holds the seat fabric to the cushion in the center giving the seat some contour. The bar is held to the cushion with two wire rings. These are best removed with hog ring pliers but theyre are harder to find (Not at Home Depot, Ace, etc) I used two pairs of needle nose pliers instead. Not ideal but worked fine.
Slide the heating elements into position. This takes some patience. The material sticks to itself very easily but can not be left in that fashion due to apparent "fire risk". Besides - You want to do it right.
Smooth it all out and youre set. The upholstery thankfully re-attaches eaier than it comes off. (quickest part)
Couple of notes. Wiring is extremely simple. Everything is modular and only fits in its appropriate place. I labeled everything with colored electric tape so that I could make sure that the driver's side switch appropriately corresponded with the driver's side heating element, etc.
One great aspect of the design is that you do not have to run a hot wire or ground to anything. The kit is essentially plug-and-play so you just pull the cable from the back of your cigarette lighter and everything plugs right into that slot. Very easy.
Of note is that they give you enough wire to place the switches in the rear of the vehicle parked 3 vehicles behind you. Its nice that theyre generous but you dont want to deal with all the excess wire. They give you like 10 feet of wire and you need about 3. I cut out the slack and spliced it back together. Very quick and easy.

I place my switches on the vertical part of the console around the shifter, just forward of the e-brake (where the console is vertical)
The kit calls for a 51/64 inch drill bit to situate the switches. Also impossible to find without a special order. There are several companies that make tapered bits which are easy to find at the local home depot (Look in the electrical and hardware departments). I used the tapered bit and made the hole just a hair small. I then used a fine/round file and "finessed" the holes to shape.
The final item of note (at least for now) is that you are going to want to zip-tie the wires to the frame of your seats. The issue here is that as your seats are moved back and forth for entry into the rear of the vehicle, the wires are easily cut by the seat frame's moving parts. Zip tie it all together and you'll be fine
Conclusion:
Great kit. As easy to install as can be expected. Worth every penny! Heats up very quickly!!

**Bubba3200** · 02-07-2010, 06:19 PM

www.warmseats.com......waterproof.....166.00...... ..4.95 shipping........awsome.

**cartwright27** · 02-07-2010, 08:59 PM

Did them a couple of weeks ago. Forgot to take pics till all the hard work was done. I don't care what anyone says this is one of my favorite mods yet! Noting beats a warm seat at 5a.m. after 6 inches of snow fall, can't wait to try them out in the fall with the top off!

yea_mitch · 02-07-2010, 09:11 PM

the gf loves them haha best mod ive done in her eyes

laxpatrick · 02-08-2010, 07:45 AM

Great upgrade. Nice post.

My wife got 'em for me for my birthday, but who are we kidding? They're for her. If anything I'd say that they're borderline too warm compared to the aftermarket rostras in my dodge 2500 and factory audi hinderwarmers... Can only handle the low setting for about 10 minutes.

LAX

**Divinitous** · 02-08-2010, 09:23 AM

I wonder how they will work out if they get wet. That's my biggest fear since there's been a few times where I've watched the jeep get rained on while at work.

helicase50 · 02-08-2010, 10:05 AM

Guys, it is a wrangler, if you want heated seats get a WK or something. Our doors have manual locks so you can take them off.

The electrical to them will fry if it gets wet. I also agree about them getting wet. You can no longer leave the top off.

**cartwright27** · 02-08-2010, 05:29 PM

.....or you just be smart and don't leave it off in the rain. Even if I do leave the top down i will put the top part up and leave the windows out at night. Maybe i'm just paranoid but if there's even a hint of rain im not gonna just leave the top down. I'll atleast put the top up and leave the windows out.

**cartwright27** · 02-08-2010, 05:31 PM

And yes it is a wrangler, and yes my doors come off frequently in the summer. But heated seats at 0degrees before an 8 o'clock class are pretty nice. I don't care who you are.

**Sobie** · 02-08-2010, 05:45 PM

One day I'll get heated seats. It would be nice to be comfortable on those cooler spring and fall nights with the top and doors off when the wind gets brisk. Instead of packing an extra jacket.

Vandano · 02-08-2010, 05:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by helicase50

Guys, it is a wrangler, if you want heated seats get a WK or something. Our doors have manual locks so you can take them off.

The electrical to them will fry if it gets wet. I also agree about them getting wet. You can no longer leave the top off.

"electrical" only fries if it shorts. In order for something to short out it requires current and a a path to ground. If the seat heaters are off it cannot short.

You can take a computer and submerge it in water while its off and as long as you can combat corrosion turn it on after it dries out.

I wouldnt recommend running the seat heaters while wet but getting them wet and letting them dry is more they ok.

yea_mitch · 02-08-2010, 05:56 PM

i installed water proof pads

Spagent · 02-08-2010, 07:51 PM

Hey guys,
The other thing you should know is that the Check Corporation heated seats are supposed to have the Mopar seal of approval. The kit is supposed to be basically what would have gotten from Jeep as an option. (At least thats my understanding) I'm not worried about them shorting out. What Vandano said is right. A little rain isnt going to kill anything.
A couple days after the install and I have to say they were worth ever penny!!

GeoJeep01 · 02-08-2010, 09:06 PM

Just ordered a waterproof set from warmseats.com for $91.56 shipped! I am sooo excited to get them installed

**2003X** · 02-08-2010, 09:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GeoJeep01

Just ordered a waterproof set from warmseats.com for $91.56 shipped! I am sooo excited to get them installed

Geo - Did you order it for 2 seats or is that the price for 1 seat shipped?

And link me what one you ordered.