Due to lack of garage till we move into a bigger house, the Cherokee lives outside in the Colorado winters. It was 10 degrees F last night when I drove it. I had a bad case of frosty bum.
I'm tired of freezing my ass. I'm thinking about installing aftermarket seat heaters. What brand /type do I want? Any downside to be aware of?
I would stay away from the ones that plug into the cigarette lighters. I blew most of the fuses using one of those one time...and it didn't even get the seat warm!
Whatever you decide, make sure to wire and fuse them to a very high standard, lest you burn the thing to the ground.
FWIW, all the vehicles I've had with heated seats didn't really warm up until my own body heat had brought the seat to a palatable temperature. If I forgot to hit the button I maybe felt cold for like, an extra minute tops. If you are expecting to press a button and have warm seats instantly, you're gonna be disappointed. My BMW E39 was the closest but still wasn't immediate enough with the heat to make that big of a difference. Some may say Saab or Volvo has great seat heat but they were always broken in mine 
Here in Wisconsin where -10 or lower is pretty common for a few weeks every winter, I just wear high-quality thermal underwear and deal with it.
I've had it in two cars, a Volt and a G35, and found it to be pretty quick - like first quarter mile of driving quick, particularly on the Volt. Both were OE, so YMMV for aftermarket.
My experience is in line with Desmond.
How about a sheepskin seat cover?
heated motorcycle pants?
Many autopart stores make heated blankets to plug into a cig lighter. You could sit on one of those. Surprised your cherokee regular heating system doesn't get you warm enough though... can you put a piece of cardboard in front of the radiator?
Definitely plus one on long underwear though. Will. Change. your. Life.
Mike wrote: I've had it in two cars, a Volt and a G35, and found it to be pretty quick - like first quarter mile of driving quick, particularly on the Volt. Both were OE, so YMMV for aftermarket.
sees that poster is in Louisiana
Yeeeah...about that...the difference between your winter and our winter is probably 40-50 degrees...
I'd think it would be easier and cheaper to find some factory heated seats in a JY and swap those in.
Are yours cloth or leather? If they are unheated leather that's your biggest problem, just laying another layer of fabric between you and the cowhide should help.
Years ago I had an Explorer with unheated leather and wore scrubs for work. Winters were a chilly affair until I put a blanket over them.
Hunters hot seat
I had a car with heated seats and it was nice, but since this is grassroots I'd go with a seat cover. Sheepskin is best, but as mentioned even a blanket will work.
Did the ZJ have a heated seat option? I'm fairly certain the WJ did at least, but I think ZJ seats are supposed to be a pretty quick and easy swap into an XJ.
I'm also in favor of finding heated seats, plus the goodies and swapping them in.
Do Gran Cherokee seats fit into an XJ?
suck it up, buttercup. just dress a little warmer if it's that bad.. i've only had a heated seat in 2 cars, and i only ever used it when it was like -20 or colder and the leather seat was as hard as a piece of plywood..
I'll 3rd the idea of finding heated seats from an upper level Jeep and swapping them in. If they were ever an option on your car maybe try to get the whole wiring sub-harness too.
Nuke one of these and use it in the car. Or make your own with some rice.
novaderrik wrote: suck it up, buttercup. just dress a little warmer if it's that bad.. i've only had a heated seat in 2 cars, and i only ever used it when it was like -20 or colder and the leather seat was as hard as a piece of plywood..
Seeing as this is explicitly temporary, this is the answer. Or maybe a blanket.
Robbie wrote: heated motorcycle pants? Many autopart stores make heated blankets to plug into a cig lighter. You could sit on one of those. Surprised your cherokee regular heating system doesn't get you warm enough though... can you put a piece of cardboard in front of the radiator? Definitely plus one on long underwear though. Will. Change. your. Life.
The regular heater probably would be enough, but the car has 240k. A new heater core is on my plan for next summer. The radiator over-cools when the temp is below 15F. I'll see if I can rig some cardboard to block some of the airflow.
Run out and start your vehicle 10 minutes before you leave.
novaderrik wrote: suck it up, buttercup. just dress a little warmer if it's that bad.. i've only had a heated seat in 2 cars, and i only ever used it when it was like -20 or colder and the leather seat was as hard as a piece of plywood..
Stoicism. Yep Been doing that. Gets old after about a decade.
SEADave wrote: I'll 3rd the idea of finding heated seats from an upper level Jeep and swapping them in. If they were ever an option on your car maybe try to get the whole wiring sub-harness too.
I didn't think that heated seats were ever an option on the XJ. Turns out they were.
novaderrik wrote: suck it up, buttercup. just dress a little warmer if it's that bad.. i've only had a heated seat in 2 cars, and i only ever used it when it was like -20 or colder and the leather seat was as hard as a piece of plywood..
Hah, I drove 3 winters in NY without any heat whatsoever in my winter beater.
LuxInterior wrote: The radiator over-cools when the temp is below 15F. I'll see if I can rig some cardboard to block some of the airflow.
Sounds like a bad thermostat, very good idea to fix that.
Bad T-stat, the 4.0 likes to "run hot" and dosen't care about outside temp much. Using cardboard will get you to warmer outside temps to be able to replace it.
XJs had heated seats, at least the limited/classic trim levels with leather seats did, there's one in my driveway. The leather power seats sit up higher than the manual seats, they're comfortable seats, but for 6' (34" inseam) me to fit comfortably, they need to be about an inch lower and an go an inch or two further back.
When we moved to Columbus, OH in Fall of '10, we moved into a townhouse with a single car garage. You can guess who got to park in the garage, SWMBO. By Thanksgiving that year, this poor Southern boy had a heated driver seat and remote start in his Volvo 850.
I used this Dorman, kit, and a junk yard 850 seat heater switch. The kit comes with a switch, but I wanted a more OE look install. I only did the driver side, SWMBO often reminded me of that fact, but I hardly ever rode in the passenger seat, so I didn't feel it needed to be warm.
Install was pretty easy, I pulled the seat, stripped the leather back, stuck the heating elements in, and reassembled. Still works great.
I used a Python/Directed Electronics, I think Viper is the same thing, remote start kit. I did the install, it was a bit of a challenge, fooling the car's anti-theft immobilizer, and integrating it with the keyless entry. If I had it to do over, I'd get a simpler system that was remote start only, and use the car's OE keyless. It worked flawlessly for about 4 years, it's a little flaky now, I've not attempted to diagnose it, but I never use the remote start feature anymore, since we've moved back to AR.
Kenny_McCormic wrote:LuxInterior wrote: The radiator over-cools when the temp is below 15F. I'll see if I can rig some cardboard to block some of the airflow.Sounds like a bad thermostat, very good idea to fix that.
It runs 210F in summer and 185-190F in the winter when its cold (below 15F outside). Do you really think that the 20F difference is thermostat?
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