Seat Swap 2014 Rubicon seats into 2008 Rubicon Unlimited
 

Members,
Saw a few write-ups and concerns on putting newer seats into older model JKs. Many people opt for aftermarket Bajas or Katskinz new leather wraps. I was able to score a gently used set of seats from a 2014 Rubicon Unlimitted to swap into my 2008 Rubicon Unlimitted.

1st original concern I came across was will they fit perfectly, will the frames match up, or will I have to remove the cushions and put them on the stock seat frames? To my luck I was able to remove the old bolts directly out of the seats (4 bolts each corner for front driver and passenger seat & 8-10 bolts across the rear passenger bench seat), and the 2014 seats dropped right in :) !. No modifications needed/or required seat frames bolted right in. I've seen some people post and say the newer frames are shorter or off, not in my case. Not sure if it's because I went with same trim levels, guessing that's not the case or if maybe they changed in the next year model, but 2014 -> 2008 had exact same bolt holes.

2nd concern was now the wiring. This took a little research and I'll try to simplify the approach I ended up taking. It's not for everyone but works for me. To start my old cloth seats came with SRS side airbags, and my new leather seats did not. This was optional, to overcome this I was able read and find some users who were able to "trick" the system using 2.2 ohm resistors or "Airbag Simulators". I was able to score a 4 pack of these off Amazon for 20$ and they plugged right in (Link/Description Below). This still did not clear my seat belt and airbag light codes however. The harness coming out of my floorboard had 3 connectors (1 for seat belt/ 1 for SRS airbags/ 1 for seat position sensor or passenger occupancy sensor).

• The SRS airbag sensor I was able to trick with the resistors as posted above.
• The Seat belt sensor I could have tricked multiple ways (again this is not for everyone, but since I had the old seats available, I just removed the harness and plugged it in directly and tossed it under the seat. The current seat belt and new seats can still be worn by the driver/passenger and are still bolted in, it just doesn't register. In this regards I rationalize it as the same as someone who de-registers the seat belt chime, and if I ever sell the vehicle down the road, I'll be 100% sure to ensure the owners are aware of the modification.
• Lastly the Seat belt position sensor/occupancy sensor I had left unplugged originally and this caused the airbag light to remain lit. After doing a little more research I was able to look on the old seats and detect to sensor/plug. Simply took a hammer/screw driver and tapped the sensor off the piece of metal it was connected to. Plugged it back into the harness in the vehicle and all codes cleared. Below is a picture of the before and after, along with seat wiring for driver and passenger side.

Links:
Amazon SRS/Airbag simulator: (4pcs Car SRS Airbag Simulator Tester Testing Instrument Resistor Bypass Fault Finding Sailsbury - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08XB9WT2M...roduct_details)
Amazon 4 set Seat Belt Clips (4 PCS Car Seat Belt Clip,Universal Seat Belt Buckle Auto Metal Seat Belts Clip (Black-4pcs) - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08PV4KG2F...roduct_details)

Pics:
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.jk-...e0035073bf.jpg
Original 2008 Rubicon Unlimited Cloth Seats (SRS option - not heated/manually adjusted)
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.jk-...327bae905c.jpg
2014 Rubicon Unlimited Leather Seats (Non-SRS, Non-Heated/Manually Adjusted)
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.jk-...c81fb17e4d.jpg
Front seats installed
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.jk-...e0f3f9aee4.jpg
Rear Seats Installed
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.jk-...e4b3ca107c.png
Driver Side Detailed Wiring
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.jk-...20db28a90b.png
Passenger Side Detailed Wiring

Good work there. :thumbsup: Maybe should have considered popping some WarmSeats in there before sticking them in. Sure helps take the chill off that leather in the wintertime. Those seats are certainly a nice improvement to freshen up your interior.

You did not try and short out the seat belt sensor or put a resistor in there? Rather than having the belt buckle always there. Why could you not use that female buckle as part of the new seats belt connection? Guess the passenger airbag would deply in a driver only accident but that would be minor in the grand scheme of things though!
Nice job and the US always has plenty of crashes of all models so easy to get things like those seats. Got a hell of a deal on my low mileage 5.3LT Chev and 8 spd auto from Texas. Couldn't touch a deal like that up here.

Pretty sure I could have used the female belt acceptor on the new seats, just didn't take the time to unmount the current wiring harness and then mount the female connector to the same spot. Also I believe the metal frame that was part of the connector was angled/connected to the seat frame slightly differently, but could be wrong. Very likely do-able. And agree on the Texas car sales, I'm located in TN, but we flew out to Texas to buy a newer suburban, it was like 5k less than local prices here in Tennessee.

seat swap
 

Know this is an old thread but wondering if anyone else has done this swap and used this or other method successfully? Acquired full set of 2015 non airbag seats for my 2008 with airbags. Needed a back seat as well and price was right. Installed the rear seat but have yet to do the fronts