How to Have a Sports Seat Installed

One way to make your car look sportier on the inside is to exchange those bland-looking original seats for aftermarket sports seats.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Car Seats

Finding the Shop

1. Look in automobile magazines. Notice ads from manufacturers who offer sports seats and articles that discuss in detail the seats and who makes them.

2. Make a list of competent manufacturers.

3. Contact those manufacturers by phone, letter, or the Internet and ask them to suggest auto accessory dealers.

4. Call the recommended dealers and/or surf their Web sites. Find out how long they've been in business, how many brands of seats they offer, and if their shop can install the seats.

5. Narrow your choices of shops down to three or four.

6. Visit the shops.

At the Shops

7. Check to see how many seats the shop has on display. Displaying a wide range of can be difficult because seats are large and bulky, but the shop will probably have a few that can give you an idea of what they offer.

8. Ask the salesperson if the shop has catalogs from the manufacturers whose seats they offer. Look at the catalogs and ask the salesperson to describe differences in the seats.

9. Make certain that the seats you consider will fit in your car. In some cases there can be problems with the transmission hump in the center of the vehicle, the center console, or the steering wheel, for example.

10. Ask the salesperson if any special adapter kits are necessary to fit the seats in your car.

11. Ask if the shop can install the seats.

12. Ask to see the installation area. Is it clean?

13. Watch the installers work. Are they careful about what they do? Do they carefully remove the seats to avoid damaging the car?

14. Select the shop where you feel most comfortable.

Tips & Warnings

• Many aftermarket sports seats have been specifically designed and constructed to ensure that you sit in comfort and with the proper posture, which means fewer backaches and neckaches for you!

on 11/22/2005 Don't forget, if you install the seats yourself, don't just bolt them down to the floor pan. You must bolt them to a steel beam or some sort of support attached to the frame of the vehicle. Usually the stock seat mounts will work, but if you must modify, make sure your seats are bolted securely.

on 11/22/2005 Sparco, Momo, and Recardo are a few of the best seats to get.