New Seat Swap for the old K5 - Acadia 2nd Row

[cstanley]

It’s been a while since posting, but hey.

I thought I’d show a recent experiment on my Sportbird. I’m about to set it up for a bit of occasional overlanding and regular camping, and really wanted some seats that fold. But they also had to slide. And recline. And leather would be nice.

So, I picked up a set of 2019 GMC Acadia 2nd rows from an “All Terrain” edition to get brown.

Pretty easy to mount. A few holes in front and some rectangle tube at back.

They sit lower than stock. I tried as low as possible so that they were lowest they could be when folded. They are probably an inch further back than stock “I had previously modified stock to sit almost. 2” back - best mod I ever made.)

Seats are comfy, and I liked them because the bolsters were a bit larger compared to other fold-flat 2nd rows. The squared off backs are OK, since that is part of platform when folded flat.

Trying to decide whether to keep them. Color is an older corvette color, “Kalahari” and trying to decide whether to dye to match original Saddle, or dye everything else to match the Kalahari.

Anyway, I’m happy with them for now.
I have the rears as well, but they are about 8” too narrow so need to figure that out...

[cstanley]

A few more.

[68panelman]

Those look sharp, and I don't like many modern things in these old blazers, but they look nice. I would have to raise them higher though

[Yukon Jack]

Very interesting!

[mister.freeze]

those are the stock sliders? It realy moves forward! I had to build sliders for mine to move that far

[cstanley]

Originally Posted by mister.freeze

those are the stock sliders? It realy moves forward! I had to build sliders for mine to move that far

They are the sliders that are on the Acadia seats, yes. I think the older models (pre 2018 i think) had really long nasty and complex sliders that would keep them from being very usable. But 2018+ have shorter cleaner sliders.

[notoriousnsb]

CStanley - I'm looking to upgrade my original seats to something more modern. Originally I was going to use the 2007-2014 Tahoe/Yukon second rows, but after seeing your pictures, I'm now considering the Acadia seats instead as I really like the way yours turned out with the slider option.

-Did you end up staying with these seats for the past four years and are you still pleased with function and usage of them?

-Are you happy with the height in regards to comfort since you intentionally kept them a bit lower than our factory ones?

-When mounted in the same position as you did, do they slide farther back than the factory driver seat in regards to legroom? I'm fairly tall so more legroom would be ideal.

-Did you have to cut the Acadia slider rails off in the back as I looked at a pair recently and it appears that the inner rail is longer than the outer rail for the seats. Looks like maybe its just a second piece that can be removed on the longer side, but not sure? Does that 'extension piece just unbolt from the rail? See attached picture for details on that.


-How did the Acadia seat slider rail bolt holes line up with our factory seat holes? Did you have to drill out new holes in our floor or were you able to modify the slider rails enough to avoid that? Since our driver and passenger side bolt holes are in different locations in the rear I'm just trying to decide how this install could be done without drilling new holes in the my floor.

-Is your passenger side 90 degree angle iron bolted in to the original floor pan two "centered" holes that held the seat flip up latch release? What is the left rail of passenger seat bolted to in the rear?

-Did your Acadia seats come with seat heaters, and if so were you able to wire them in without a computer controller?

I have roll bar mounted three point seat belts so that is one area I don't have to consider for this install.

Any other gotchas that I should know?

Thanks in advance!

['68OrangeSunshine]

Originally Posted by notoriousnsb

CStanley - I'm looking to upgrade my original seats to something more modern. Originally I was going to use the 2007-2014 Tahoe/Yukon second rows, but after seeing your pictures, I'm now considering the Acadia seats instead as I really like the way yours turned out with the slider option.

-Did you end up staying with these seats for the past four years and are you still pleased with function and usage of them?

-Are you happy with the height in regards to comfort since you intentionally kept them a bit lower than our factory ones?

-When mounted in the same position as you did, do they slide farther back than the factory driver seat in regards to legroom? I'm fairly tall so more legroom would be ideal.

-Did you have to cut the Acadia slider rails off in the back as I looked at a pair recently and it appears that the inner rail is longer than the outer rail for the seats. Looks like maybe its just a second piece that can be removed on the longer side, but not sure? Does that 'extension piece just unbolt from the rail? See attached picture for details on that.

-How did the Acadia seat slider rail bolt holes line up with our factory seat holes? Did you have to drill out new holes in our floor or were you able to modify the slider rails enough to avoid that? Since our driver and passenger side bolt holes are in different locations in the rear I'm just trying to decide how this install could be done without drilling new holes in the my floor.

-Is your passenger side 90 degree angle iron bolted in to the original floor pan two "centered" holes that held the seat flip up latch release? What is the left rail of passenger seat bolted to in the rear?

-Did your Acadia seats come with seat heaters, and if so were you able to wire them in without a computer controller?

I have roll bar mounted three point seat belts so that is one area I don't have to consider for this install.

Any other gotchas that I should know?

Thanks in advance!

Subscribing. As my '71 Jimmy needs seats badly.

[cstanley]

@notorious - Answers below in Blue

-Did you end up staying with these seats for the past four years and are you still pleased with function and usage of them?

Yes I did. in fact, no alterations thus far. still pretty comfy - not as plush as new foams on original buckets, but very tolerable.

-Are you happy with the height in regards to comfort since you intentionally kept them a bit lower than our factory ones?

Yes, I still like the height. I’m 6’-1” and i like the slightly added headspace as well. The only very slight difference is even with tilt, the steering seems a little high. Probably a simple fix with a shim above steering column to lower it slightly. But i used the original Acadia front mount on the seat, and would need to adjust it a bit if i raised it.

-When mounted in the same position as you did, do they slide farther back than the factory driver seat in regards to legroom? I'm fairly tall so more legroom would be ideal.

Yes they do. Not as much as I would prefer at 6’-1”, but way better than stock, not as great as when i had stock mounted 2” back. They are about 1” further back than stock, but using the front mount that turns down, it fits great.

-Did you have to cut the Acadia slider rails off in the back as I looked at a pair recently and it appears that the inner rail is longer than the outer rail for the seats. Looks like maybe it’s just a second piece that can be removed on the longer side, but not sure? Does that 'extension piece just unbolt from the rail? See attached picture for details on that.

Yes, you got it. I actually removed those mounts from both sides (the one on the other side is a little shorter/different.). They are riveted on, not bolted. I ground out the rivets, which allowed me to expose two holes I could bolt to the brackets I made.


-How did the Acadia seat slider rail bolt holes line up with our factory seat holes? Did you have to drill out new holes in our floor or were you able to modify the slider rails enough to avoid that? Since our driver and passenger side bolt holes are in different locations in the rear I'm just trying to decide how this install could be done without drilling new holes in the my floor.

You can see my brackets in the pics - simply scrap 1x3 tube steel i think. but welding in a “T” and “L” shape so that I could align with factory floor holes on the rear mounts. The front mount required a hole to be drilled on the front side of the front floor ridge, which worked out perfectly.

-Is your passenger side 90 degree angle iron bolted in to the original floor pan two "centered" holes that held the seat flip up latch release? What is the left rail of passenger seat bolted to in the rear?

I think that’s correct. It helped because the rear outside corner changes a little if I remember correctly.

-Did your Acadia seats come with seat heaters, and if so were you able to wire them in without a computer controller?

They did not. If you wanted heaters, you may be better served getting aftermarket ones and installing with the standalone controller. I still may do that. I installed heaters on my factory buckets - second-best mod i ever made.

I have roll bar mounted three point seat belts so that is one area I don't have to consider for this install.

Yes that would be helpful, and depending on how modern they are, they probably could even use the Acadia buckle. I reinforced the holy hell out of the underside to be able to do that if I ever got ‘round to it.

Any other gotchas that I should know?

Only thing I wish in my case, is that I colored the seat back carpet to match mine. Because i have Saddle interior, the black just doesn’t do it for me. But otherwise I’m still very happy. Someday i hope to get them reupholstered with original-style covers and inserts. I’ll do the rear carpet then too.

One last comment on the fit - Because they are 2nd row seats, they do feel ever so slightly more compact. not terribly noticeable, but i would guess the seat cushion is probably an inch shorter front/back from a front bucket seat.

I used to be able to upload photos, having trouble now. will keep trying.

[dec010974]

@cstanley, those seats in the blazer are awesome. The seats resemble the 2nd row seats out of a 2022 Chevy Tahoe, High Country. Other GM models may have some similar seats.