jacobw

Hey y'all.
This forum is awesome, I have solved so many of my 1992 SC400 issues with the search feature.

My front drivers seat is worn to crud. I could get a local person to fix it for about 250, but I was wondering something. A lot of junkyards have good quality passenger seats. Can a passenger seat be taken off the frame and put onto the drivers side? It seems they are the exact same minus the power controls.

Any help on this would be great.

Matromony

iTrader: (-1)

The switches and everything would be on the wrong side. I would just keep looking. Or get something aftermarket

salimshah

... please ignore was thinking of RX when replying here in SC forum

Salim

jacobw

Switches -
I am asking if you can take the foam and leather off the frame and put the seat on the drivers side so the controls stay on the correct side.

Was there side impact airbags in the 1992 model? I cant find anything about that online

t2d2

iTrader: (8)

It might work. The leather panels themselves are not symmetric between the two seats, but the way it's all fastened down to the support structure and seat bottom pan looks like it could be. It's a LOT of work to take these seats apart, due to the complex way they're assembled, but if you're swapping the foam over at the same time you might be able to eliminate the most aggravating steps, namely separating the cover from the rods through the foam and then reattaching it later.

I would make sure the junkyard seat is in really good, supple shape, though. It's not worth the significant trouble if the "new" covers are already on borrowed time. Anything that's been baking in the Texas sun is probably pretty dried out unless it was meticulously cared for over the years. Lexus did not use good leather in these cars. The seats are amazingly well built, but way over-complicated, on the other hand.

Follow the link in my sig to the seat reupholstering section for pics of what you've got in store.

Munch517

In my searching I've found that the back cushions are interchangeable, but the bottoms aren't. For $250 I'd probably just get it reupholstered, any smart junkyard would want at least $150 for a good drivers seat, probably a little more.

Aron9000

^ I'd just get your seat recovered. Also, on my 1992, the passenger seat doesn't have lumbar and the motor doesn't move up and down, just front and back.

As for the leather quality, I think Lexus used some good stuff in these cars. Its just that you HAVE TO keep it maintained, ie put a good quality commericial leather conditioner on it every 2-3 months and tint your windows. The leather does not stand up well to the sunshine and uv rays. The light tan leather in my 1992 still looks fresh, soft and supple, just some minor wear on the driver's seat bolster. The leather in my old 1999 Camaro Z28, now that was cheap quality leather.

t2d2

iTrader: (8)

Anything which requires that much care and maintenance in an automotive environment is not good quality.

Aron9000

They're 20+ year old dead cows. I'm trying to stay ahead of the curve here by advocating that you treat them that often. Car leather, no matter the make, only holds up if you maintain it and don't expose it to uv rays its entire existence. The stuff I use is called leathernique, its not cheap but you'd be amazed at how its restored some softness back into the top of my rear seat that is starting to sun rot.

t2d2

iTrader: (8)

I'm not criticizing you, I've got mad respect for anyone willing to devote that much time to keeping their leather in good shape. My issue is that the materials in conjunction with the car's solar properties were so poorly spec'ed, most of the interiors looked horrible within 15 years, from what I've seen. By 20 years, it's rare to find a SC whose seats don't resemble plastic. The seats themselves are crazy well built, but the leather requires much more care and ages much faster than any other car I'm familiar with.

My reason for pointing it out is because it's a lot of work to modify these seats, and the likelihood of finding good enough used covers is too slim to justify it, IMO.

I assume you mean Leatherique?