Plug and play seat swap

opfor2 · Jun 27, 2026

good day, Can one swap front seats from an electric, 6 way to manual without any modifications? I'm looking to swap my broken 6 way electric to this (https://www.ebay.com/itm/1837853621...46HAJR&hash=item2aca7612b6:g:n-YAAeSwJmZob~I6) I would like to just "Plug and Play"

opfor2 · Jun 28, 2026

So, no one has swapped seats?

LsHart · Jun 29, 2026

So going from a electric seat to a manual? What r the manual seats from? Info....???

LsHart · Jun 29, 2026

Probably no info is why noone has responded?

Tonyrodz · Jun 30, 2026

LsHart said:
So going from a electric seat to a manual? What r the manual seats from? Info....???

I've seen completely manual seats in stripped down work Silverados and Sierras.

opfor2 · Jun 30, 2026

Tonyrodz said:
I've seen completely manual seats in stripped down work Silverados and Sierras.

The reason I want to change the seats is due to both of the electric seats the plastic gears are stripped and it’s a major hassle to replace them. Much cheaper and easier to just replace the seats all together

Tonyrodz · Jun 30, 2026

opfor2 said:
The reason I want to change the seats is due to both of the electric seats the plastic gears are stripped and it’s a major hassle to replace them. Much cheaper and easier to just replace the seats all together

So you're looking for manual seats because they're cheaper? I'm sure you could find what you already have in a junkyard or pick n pull for a reasonable price.
I've never personally messed with these seats so I couldn't tell you if you could just swap out the power seat bases. I'm sure you could, but you'd probably have to disassemble the lower parts of the seat to swap everything over.

Dirty looks · Jun 30, 2026

Ugh, I'm having a mental block. I tried swapping in basically manual seats from a suburban into my loaded yukon and it caused a problem. Lit a light on the dash, I think the auto start stopped working as well. Had to swap cushions and covers over to my seat bases to correct the problem.
And yes, the little drive motors and planetary gears that make that stuff function are junk. New replacements are ridiculously expensive. Was able to make two fully functional seats out of parts from five seats. It's not a question of if they will break, but when.

mikez71 · Jun 30, 2026

airbags?

opfor2 · Jun 30, 2026

Tonyrodz said:
So you're looking for manual seats because they're cheaper? I'm sure you could find what you already have in a junkyard or pick n pull for a reasonable price.
I've never personally messed with these seats so I couldn't tell you if you could just swap out the power seat bases. I'm sure you could, but you'd probably have to disassemble the lower parts of the seat to swap everything over.

Partly correct. They are cheaper and to me just more practical. I think the only issue may be the electrical connection and air bag connector.

Dirty looks · Jun 30, 2026

mikez71 said:
airbags?

Yes, it didn't know if anyone was in the seat or not, so the auto start wouldn't work.
I was unwilling to live with that.

Dirty looks · Jun 30, 2026

opfor2 said:
Partly correct. They are cheaper and to me just more practical. I think the only issue may be the electrical connection and air bag connector.

You can get to those little motors by pulling the seat backs off. It seemed that the planetary gears were the most common failure, but it could be the spur gear or the cage..
An afternoon in the junk yard would get you what you need.
My advice is to relief the weight on the backrest and lumbar when making adjustments. And don't max out their travel.

mikez71 · Jun 30, 2026

Lookin at some diagrams, it seems like '07-'09 seats don't have the passenger seat position sensor, so ideally you'd want '10+ I think..

LsHart · Wednesday at 7:47 PM

I like my seat heaters. And the lumbar support.

mikez71 · Thursday at 1:08 AM

My lumbar support is busted.
'10-'14 looks like a flimsy plastic part.. $90 on ebay.
Not sure I'll ever get around to replacing it, but sure wish I had lumbar support..

Bronson357 · Sunday at 10:03 PM

My 07 tahoe does

mikez71 · 2026-07-06T02:02:46-0400

Passenger seat position sensor for the airbag system?

I don't see it in the '07-'09 diagrams..
'08 driver seat, with seat position sensor.

'08 passenger seat, no position sensor shown..?

'10-'13 seat position wiring... Both driver and passenger.

EvergreenZ71 · 2026-07-06T09:56:21-0400

I’m really sure there are no seat-mounted airbags in these but as mentioned the occupancy sensor needs to be addressed, and I didn’t see that anyone mentioned that the seatbelt sensors need to be connected or bypassed.

Bigburb3500 · 2026-07-07T09:17:35-0400

I know when dealing with the T1s the seats get complicated. I have tried extensively to get the Cadillac Escalade seats to work in my Suburban but it’s “impossible.” It’s super crazy how much the seats talk with the BCM. If it’s the same with previous generations I would recommend swapping with a lower mileage seat and rock on.

Plug and play seat swap

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