EHarris

Well I've got some left over hardware. My passenger side has no electrical connections or anything. The drivers side had the seatbelt and seat sensor.

I'll update comfort level in a day or so when I get a chance to try them out. One thing I do notice is that the back of the seats have like a 1/16" of play so that if you take off hard from a stop you can feel the seat slightly move.

EHarris

So far so good!!!

resharp001

Any pics of the new seats?

RedTed

I don't recommend to go with race or bucket seats

jedg

What resharp001 said! Pics man! Pics!!

EHarris

OK so I got a bit busy and never updated this thread and took some time to do so this morning. First off, for those of you thinking about upgrading your seats to anything......DO IT! I can't tell you enough what a difference new seats make especially after driving an 08 with 144k on it. I chose the mastercrafts because it was about $400 difference between these and the Corbeau. I don't have any experience with Corbeau but I seriously considered them and you should too if it fits your budget. A milk crate might be more comfortable than the stock seats in my opinion now that I know what a real seat feels like. I read about the high-quality metal fabrication of the MasterCrafts and that was the selling point for me, especially if there were an accident of some kind. Just makes me feel better about getting another 100k out of my purchase. My girlfriend is also short at about 5-3" and the stock seats were too high for her to sit comfortably. The master crafts do sit slightly lower so her knee is in the correct comfortable position. If you have knee problems and this is an issue here is a fix hopefully for you.

The install was a little difficult for me since there are many variations of JK seats out there with different options. My passenger side came with zero electrical connections on it, not even an airbag which I thought was weird because as a Sarah owner I’m pretty sure I have both front air bags and sides too. I’m almost positive it says it on the window sticker. So I guess maybe for airbags my sensors are in a different spot? My drivers side had only seat belt sensor to hook up. So after I figured out I had basically zero electronics the install was pretty straight forward. I’m assuming that the install might be more difficult for a 2012 + because of sensors for the air bags under the seats?

As reported by many other people, the sides of the seat are higher than a stock seat. If getting in and out is a challenge for you, I can see how these seats could be annoying. But even if getting in and out was annoying, it doesn't outweigh what it’s like to arrive at a location not rattled from the road. Did I mention it’s a huge difference?

My seats are the reclining model. They have been in for 2 weeks and one of the other items that really annoyed me was about 1/4" of play in the reclining mechanism so that the seat never really actually locked solid. For example, a traffic light stop would shift you slightly forward on the stop and then shift you back on the acceleration. I finally figured I would send a video of it to Northridge4x4 who immediately sent it to Mastercraft and within 20 hours I had someone from Mastercraft emailing me about a part for the seat or replacement completely to fix my issue. I have chosen to go replacement and the customer service from both Northridge and Mastercraft was second to none. Great people to deal with and no BS. My assumption is that Northridge purchased a set of these a while back to have in stock and I got them. The new seats that Mastercraft is sending me have an upgraded fabric that is supposed to wear better and not fade. Same color pattern. They don’t sell my fabric any longer.

So all in all, I got what I paid for I guess. Yes it sucks that the seats were malfunctioning but at least both companies made it painless to give me exactly what I paid for. The extra money might be for better materials and better customer service. Just my experience.

I still stand by my first statement. These seats were $1000. It was killer for me to put that type of coin into the vehicle especially at 144k. But I'm glad I did it. It makes the interior look almost brand new now, girlfriend height happy, I feel super relaxed and comfortable on longer trips (only did a 3 hour each way trip so far) and I can tell the quality will most likely last but if there is an issue I can definitely get some support. If you’re thinking about seats just pick your budget and get them. It can't be worse than what you are driving with now. Of course if you can sit in different ones first then by all means do that. It would be the best way to make the decision based on your comfort preference.

EHarris

I'll also post pics of the new seats that are sent to me this week.

jedg

Great review. Thanks!

SDCnOK

Rubitrux have leather seat covers by Alea. I haven't ordered any yet, but this might be the option that I elect to go to.

https://www.rubitrux.com/jeep-leather-interiors.html

They also have neoprene seat covers that may be a better option.
https://www.rubitrux.com/jeep-seat-covers.html (scroll down to bottom of page)

EHarris

I highly considered seat covers and still do for my rear seat. Covers won't change the fact that the stock seats suck and the foam is most likely shot or will be soon. At least in my 08 they were toast.

I would highly recommend sitting in any other seat and would put the money I would spend on covers towards new seats.