Seat Bottom Mod For More Thigh Support

[garsh]

Thanks again, soareyes!

After fixing this, and the headrest, the seat is now pretty comfortable! The only other thing I'd like is a little more lower-back support.

[soareyes]

I just got my aftermarket inflatable lumbar support in the mail yesterday. Hopefully I'll have time this weekend for the install and I'll report back on the results.

And Herm asked about the quality of the original seat-pan bolts. I don't know about the originals but I used 8.8 grade metric bolts. I'm satisfied with these as they bolt into a fairly thin sheet metal pan with a nut tack welded to the back. I believe the sheet metal would bend/tear before the bolt would break. Still, people have to decide for themselves if they are comfortable with the risks vs. benefits of this (or any) mod!

[cossie1600]

Forget this if u have 2013 s, seat is different

[dhanson865]

Forget this if u have 2013 s, seat is different

anyone have a pic? Someone in http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=15211" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; said the bolt was "reversed" but I'm having a hard time imagining what that means.

[DaveInAvl]

Forget this if u have 2013 s, seat is different

anyone have a pic? Someone in http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=15211" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; said the bolt was "reversed" but I'm having a hard time imagining what that means.

I don't have a picture, but in my '14 the bolt comes down from above, with just a bunch of bare thread sticking out of a nut under the bracket. Sure looks like the whole seat would need to be removed.

[tmatthias]

My 2014 SV seat has the nut tack-welded to the bottom of the sliding seat platform. In pre-2013s, this was the space occupied by the bolt head. The bolt head now resides up inside the seat. The 2014 also offers no access to the bolt head; metal surrounds where one might normally sneak in a box-end wrench to turn the bolt up and out.

Theo

[BrockWI]

I haven't looked yet, but can you pop the seat bottom off the lower seat frame to get at that bolt? If not is there any way to get to it?

[tmatthias]

I haven't looked yet, but can you pop the seat bottom off the lower seat frame to get at that bolt? If not is there any way to get to it?

I assume that by "seat bottom", you are referring to the bottom cushion. The bottom cushion doesn't really pop off the "pan" which attaches to the lower frame. In fact the pan is shaped in such a way as to make access to be bolt head impossible without deconstructing the seating surface. I should have snapped a photo when I was in there, but take a look for yourself and you'll see what I mean.

I thought about shimming-up the front of the seat rail but I am very hesitant to do that for safety reasons.

Theo

[BrockWI]

Yes I see what you mean, I thought maybe the seat cushion somehow popped out and I just couldn't figure it out. And I agree I don't want to mess with the rail. So I can't figure out how to get to the top of that nut without cutting through the seat cushion

[shimstack]

Another one back from the dead. I figured out how to do this on my 2018 SV this evening, not sure if it applies to the previous gen 2014+.

The 2018 seats are as described above, the bottom seat pan mounts to the rail using a bolt inside the cushion- the nut is integral to the rail/adjustment mechanism. This makes accessing the bolt impossible with the cushion in the way.

Thankfully it's easy to lift the front edge of the cushion without damaging anything. There is a plastic channel that clips the upholstery onto the front lower edge of the metal seat pan. Starting from one end, gently work the channel down and forward to unclip, and continue along the edge until the front "flap" of upholstery is free. From here you can lift the front 4" or so of foam pad to access the two bolts. Sounds way scarier than it is- it goes back together very easily.

A T40 torx is required to loosen the bolts. I used a T40 1/4" bit in a 1/4" socket on a small ratchet, but they unscrewed by hand after the first turn or so. There is enough length on the bolts to add ~10mm of height. I'll run it this way for a while, but I suspect I'll buy longer bolts for more angle in the near future.

Thanks to those who figured this out originally. This mod goes a long way to alleviate the close pedals/far wheel seating position. Next will be figuring out how to get the seat lower. I feel like I'm sitting on this car instead of in it.