What precautions to take when swapping airbag equipped front seats?

[vibenvy]

I have removed many car seats before, but never any that were airbag equipped. I was just wondering what precautions should be taken before, during and after removal/re-installation? I'm assuming disconnect the negative battery cable and let everything sit for a few minutes. Is there a fuse that should be removed or anything else I need to know? How sensitive are the airbag equipped seats? I'm not going to be throwing them around or anything, but can they withstand some impact/movement or do I need to be as careful as humanly possible when moving them around?

[09vGT]

I wouldn't think that you would need to do anything besides just disconnect the battery. As far as handling them I would not be careless, but I don't think you have to super gentle either; as for them to deploy the sensor on the car would have to be triggered, not on the seat itself. Good luck though! It would suck to deploy all six airbags by mistake !

[vibenvy]

Yeah, I was pretty much thinking they should be able to withstand quite a bit without the airbags going off considering the daily abuse they take with people getting in and out, adjusting the seats, etc.And for anyone that's curious... I am contemplating swapping the GT cloth/leather front and rear seats and front door panels (which have a leather wrapped insert) for 2009-2010 Vibe AWD/Base cloth front and rear seats and front door panels (which have a cloth insert). I have never been a fan of leather and the seats are the one thing I don't really care for in our GTs.

[09vGT]

REALLY?! I think the seat covering is quite attractive looking, but I also prefer leather myself.While you have the seats torn out and coverings off you might as well throw some seat heaters on them!

[jayman2009]

Working at a bodyshop for a liveing i deal with this every fue days. Just disconect the battery wait like 3-5 min then you will be fine. Ive disconected a battery pulled a sead like 1 min after and put a new one in and light was on ended up causing a code. just with a fue min and it will be fine

[tpollauf]

Quote, originally posted by 09vGT »REALLY?! While you have the seats torn out and coverings off you might as well throw some seat heaters on them! When first reading this post I thaought you were going to be installing heaters to your original Gt seats, instead of swapping upholstery I would think simply unplugging the connector and removing the seat would be simple enough BUT I'm not the expert here with the airbag issue I may be installing heated seats on juniors Blue Vibe GT seeing how it will always be parked outside and he'll be driving himself to school here real soon daily. I'll be researching the options on hearted seats and which ones will work the best REAL soon, so if anybody out there has already done this then I'm up for pointers and suggestions.

[vibenvy]

Quote, originally posted by 09vGT »REALLY?! I think the seat covering is quite attractive looking, but I also prefer leather myself.While you have the seats torn out and coverings off you might as well throw some seat heaters on them! It's not a sure thing yet. So far I've just contacted a couple local members to see if they'd be willing to swap seats in the spring. Seat heaters would be nice, but not something I'd really be interested in adding to our Vibes.Quote, originally posted by jayman2009 »Working at a bodyshop for a liveing i deal with this every fue days. Just disconect the battery wait like 3-5 min then you will be fine. Ive disconected a battery pulled a sead like 1 min after and put a new one in and light was on ended up causing a code. just with a fue min and it will be fineOkay. Thanks for the heads up. I figured what I'd do is disconnect the battery, start by removing the rear seat first then remove the front seats so everything has a chance to sit for a while after the battery's disconnected.Quote, originally posted by tpollauf »When first reading this post I thaought you were going to be installing heaters to your original Gt seats, instead of swapping upholstery I would think simply unplugging the connector and removing the seat would be simple enough BUT I'm not the expert here with the airbag issue I may be installing heated seats on juniors Blue Vibe GT seeing how it will always be parked outside and he'll be driving himself to school here real soon daily. I'll be researching the options on hearted seats and which ones will work the best REAL soon, so if anybody out there has already done this then I'm up for pointers and suggestions.Again, seat heaters would be nice, but not something that I'm interested in adding aftermarket. Our Vibes are garaged so they're typically nice and toasty inside.

[star_deceiver]

I'd be willing to swap seats but that's 1700 miles one-way!

[vibenvy]

Quote, originally posted by star_deceiver »I'd be willing to swap seats but that's 1700 miles one-way!I remember you saying that in another thread ! Road trip!

[09vGT]

Instead of swapping seats could you just not swap the coverings?

[leemur]

I wish I could swap old vibe seats into the 09. The 09 seats are just too stiff. My shoulders are just floating in space while my back is solid in the seat.The 04 vibe lets you sink into the soft seat.