Seat swap/upgrade
A while ago I picked up a North Face Edition Avalanche and have been slowly stripping parts off it and replacing broken/worn out parts on my Sub with those from the Avi. One of the more recent issues were the seats. My Sub started it's life as a cloth seat LS model with a bench middle row. One of the previous owners replaced all seats with LT leather seats and put buckets in the middle row. I really like the middle row bucket/captains seat configuration however I found that the last 2-3 years I have always had the middle passenger seat folded down. So with a whole bunch of extra seats in the garage I decided to do a swap and see how the new configuration works out.
I started withe the front seat. Old seat on left with leather starting to tear and a much less used and better looking North Face seat on right.
Pulling the front seat was a matter of removing the plastic trim pieces and a couple 15mm nuts. Not sure what the actual size or tool that is needed for them but 15mm deep socket worked flawlessly and no damage to the nut itself.
2003 Avi seat bolted right up with no problems. Airbag and other wiring harness connector plugged right into the 2000 Sub wiring harness under the seat. Best bonus of all: I went from problematic electric seat which only worked intermittently to a fully manual seat.
Middle row buckets.
Third row removed and buckets still in place.
Middle row buckets removed and some major cleaning was done.
Bolt pattern for buckets and bench is identical. 15mm deep socket for front nuts, and 11mm deep socket for rear nuts.
Just take a minute to look at these pretty North Face Edition seats, that stitching is so pretty. (I do not like North Face brand, but I do like the uniqueness of this setup)
It's much easier and less effort to flip these seats forward than the buckets. Only one pull at the base of the bottom cushion flips the cushion forward and the setback is free hinged and folds down into the bottom cushion without the need to take the headrest out.
Hard plastic seat back seems to be much more durable for the kids to walk over than the cloth of the buckets. This seat back is also approximately 1/2" lower than the bucket seat when folded and drivers side has a dual cup holder armrest which served dual purpose of hiding kids snacks under it and keeping the water bottle within easy reach of toddler in her car seat.
Challenges/difficulties: GM has been amazing at the universality of their parts from a broad spectrum of model years. Seatbelt buckles do not follow this rule. GM changed seat belt buckle design from 2000-02 to 2003-06. No issues with front seat, however middle row had an issue, driver and passenger buckles in Sub do not click into the seats new sockets. I was able to unbolt passenger seat buckle and bolt it upto the new seat, so that works. Middle row middle seat works as it should, however the drivers side seat belt buckle that's attached to the seat is pressed in and can not be easily interchanged. I will have to figure that one out in the next year or two once the car seat is no longer in that spot.
Stay tuned for more shenanigans!
