2008 Grand Cherokee power seats into a 1997 XJ with manual seats

[Camo-5]

Ok. Picked a full set of power, leather (dark grey outside and light inner) 08 Grand Cherokee seats tonight and they are bueatiful! I can feel my butt riding comfortably down the trail already!

Let the fun begin. I don't recall seeing a swap for the 07-08 Grand seats, so I'll try and document as much as possible on this post.

So far, I pulled the passenger front from the XJ. Not sure about pre 07 Grand seats, but these babies mount WAY different than my current XJ seats. The sliders are about 18" apart on the 08 seats and only about 12" on the XJ. I managed to pull off the mounting base on the 08 so I could get a better look at the wires. You need a 10mm (normal), 15mm (deep) socket and a 10mm box wrench (2 rear locations unless you already have the seat powered up and can move it along the track to access the bolt head) to remove the base. Someone recommended a 13mm speed box wrench (ratching kind) and I also highly recommend that for removing the current XJ base.

I pulled numerous part numbers off the seat harnesses and since I work for an interior supplier to Chrysler, I should be able to dig up a wiring diagram for the seat. That will save loads of time. With memory, passenger / occupant sensors, etc, and splices everywhere in the harness, I can't tell whats what. I started stripping sections of wrap just to verify wire colors and I think I have the sliders and recline figured out, but I want to make sure I wire the power / ground / etc correctly and remove all the crap (memory, sensors, etc) that I don't plan on using.

From my measurements, it seems that I may be able to use the 08 power sliders and fab a mount to the XJ bases. This would be sweet.....If that doesn't work (stacks up too high), I'll really have to fab some oddball brackets since the 08 seats mounts are vertical (bolts are horizontal) and my XJ seats bolt horizontal (bolts are verticle).

I'll post pics in the morning. Hopefully I can get the wiring started tomorrow and start fabbing brackets.

[UNCC_99XJ]

Going to keep up with this one! Can't wait for the pics and write up!

[Ivan]

Thanks for taking the plunge... I've been wondering the same thing. I've got some WJ leather seats, but they too are starting to show their age...

Subscribing to this thread for future reference

[Camo-5]

Here is a couple pics of the seat and some pics of the bottom bracketry.

I got to thinking last night, since the power seat switches are on the seat, I should only need to bring in power and ground to power everything up . I just need to figure out which of the 18 circuits coming into the seat those are and how many amps they require. Don't need to fry a motor this at this point.....

[Camo-5]

Here is a question: The 2008 Grand seats are powered by a 20 amp breaker. Can I use an inline 12V 20amp car audio breaker?

[ehall]

I don't know if this will help but here is my writeup to swapping in power seats from an S-10 Blazer

http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=950749

[Camo-5]

Thanks Ehall. Looks like it worked out for you! I hope my wiring is as easy is yours!

[Crabapple]

Those seats are sexy! Good luck man!

[ehall]

I don't really see what kind of wiring setup you've got there, but if all the controls are on-board then you should have a single 12v and ground pair for those. If you have heated seats, those will usually be on a separate circuit.

My S-10 seats are heated, so I have two power leads going into them, and a single ground coming out. Both power leads have inline fuses under the seats.

[Camo-5]

Well, the electrical (as most suspected) was way easier than I thought. I used a wiring diagram sent to me from a fellow Jeep club member and figured out which was the power and neg coming into the seat. Red/yellow was power and black was negative.


Spliced in power to a battery and everything (not sure about heat yet) works! First task complete.

Now for the seat mounting. I removed the existing manual seat mounts from the XJ (using 13mm ratchet wrench) seats. I placed them back in the jeep and set the new 08 Grand seats on top (used a couple pieces of scrap steel to keep the new set the seat on since the sliders were so much wider) of the manual sliders. This height seems to be pretty close to the same hieght as the existing seat. Based on this, the new plan is for me to fab a couple simple flat pieces that will work as an adapter between the existing seat sliders and the new 08 seat sliders. Yes, I plan on keeping both sliders! The reason for this is that the 08 seat sliders are so much wider than the current ones and if the seat sits and lower in vehicle, it won't fit due to the TC hump in the center. Also, this would theoretically allow twice as much seat movement (not really all that useful I realize). The only other thing I will need to do is either cut into the lower B-pillar trim or trim up the plastic side covers on the seat. With all the plastic, there is an interferance between the side plastic cover and the lower b-pillar trim. No big deal. I should be able to make this look ok.


Off to the local metal shop today at lunch to pic up my adapter plate materials......

[ehall]

Let me say it again, if you have heated seats you will need separate power lead for the heating elements. The seat controls (up, left, whatever) can be on constant battery power, but the heating elements MUST BE on ignition or accessory power only--otherwise somebody will get out and leave the heat on and the car will burn down. This is how they are usually designed at the factory, and they usually need separate power.

[sunburned]

Sweet. I'm off to search for some new WK seats.

[Camo-5]

Let me say it again, if you have heated seats you will need separate power lead for the heating elements

Understood! Wouldn't want that too happen! I left the seats connected to the power source on the floor in my garage for a good hour just to be sure and they didn't heat up.You are correct. I will need to run that extra power source to the heated seat leads. It must take it's power from the module you mentioned before so I'll have to find the downstream leads and splice into those. I already have a power outlet I installed that only powers with the ignition on. I'll use that as the power source (I used 10ga wire) for the heated seats and whatever switch or rheostat I decide to use to actually turn the seats on and regulate the temp.

[Camo-5]

Ok. More progress. I picked up some 3" and 4" strip stock in 3/16" cut to 18 1/2". I started with the front plate by drilling two 3/8" holes for the XJ slider mounting bolts. I then sat the seat on top and drilled two 13/32" holes for the WJ slider mounting holes. I sat the seat on that plate and did the same for the rear plate. As you can see from the pic, I was very limited with my side to side placement of the WJ seat with the front adapter. The seat gets placed by the B-pillar lower trim and the TC hump.


I then installed the 20amp breaker, wired up some long leads, did another power test using a spare battery and installed the seat into the XJ.





Using both the manual and power sliders, the seat ended up a little too high in vehicle for my taste. I'm 6' 1" and I really have to 'compress' to get into the seat and not bang my head on the A-pillar. Once in, the seat needs to be reclined 'a good deal' to keep my head off the headliner - not uncomfortable for me, but it may be for some. There appears to be some room to make drop brackets everywhere but the front inside mounting location. The WJ sliders are just too wide. I managed to get the seat modified without hacking up the side plastic trim like I thought, but I may end up doing that in an effort to move the seat outboard an inch or so. This would allow me to lower the seat by providing more clearance to the TC hump and I could then make a 1" or so drop bracket to lower the whole seat assembly. Hard to describe but basically the power sliders would cradle the outside of the narrower manual sliders - the power sliders would actually sit lower in vehicle than the manuals. I'm going to move onto the driver's seat and mess with this idea. If it works, I'll modify the passenger side brackets later.

I didn't manage to get the electrical hooked up yet. I'm going to work on the driver's side tonight and do all the electrical at once. I didn't mess with the heated seat portion yet either. I'll leave that for another day.

[TazXJ]

i still like my '96 ZJ limited heated seats & ZJ rear leather seats my '99 XJ. i've heard the WK seats are a little too stiff....