Aftermarket heated/cooled seats

johnrunner89 · August 21, 2014

Hey guys, so I have a standard heated (Non AC) leather seats in my 14' Sierra SLT but was playing with the idea of getting aftermarket heated/cooled seats. My bro got nearly the same truck as I did and he opted for AC seats. He was complaining to me that the seats don't work to great and cause a lot of wanted noise. I drove his truck around today and found that the while the AC feature is noticeable on high, it was very minimal (Low and Medium could not really be felt). I too wasn't a fan of the noise the fans put out. So while talking to my dealer, he recommended I go the aftermarket route.

In this case, he was referring to the Class Soft Trim. Also read about the Katzkin seats, which too look nice. Have any of you had any experience with either brand? Also, one of my biggest deciding factor of with getting the aftermarket seats is having everything look and function like stock. While I know the seats will look stock, the controls for them are going to be along the seat and not on the dash like my stock heated buttons. Do you guys think it would be possible to run the wiring in a way as to still be able use the stock heated buttons on the dash and just use the AC button on the seat? That way it's all looks and functions like OEM?

Thanks for any input and advice.

johnrunner89 · August 22, 2014

So called CST and asked em personally if they could utilize stock seat heated button on dash since the stock wiring still runs under the seat and will remain in place. They said they could play with it during the install but no guarantees. I'm no electrical guru but for any of you guys who are, you guys think it's doable? My only concern is that the button on the aftermarket seat setup is on the side of the seats and is used to turn on both AC and heat so not sure if it's different wiring harnesses.

Chevyman3308 · August 23, 2014

I think my cooled seats work pretty good.

johnrunner89 · August 30, 2014

Went to my local Katzkin dealer and got a tour of the place to see what kind of work they did and to get a price quote. Katzkin has their brand of cooled seats called Degreez. Was impressed how many vehicle interiors (leather, sunroofs etc) they do a month (80-100 per month) and all the cars there were brand new as they contract with most local dealers to add options clients want. Their leather looks top notch (oem leather for Chrysler, jeep dodge etc) Because I didn't have perforated leather, I would have to install that. Cost is $995 for front seats including install and I got quoted $1400 for leather with Degreez cooled seats installed. I would still use my oem heaters so the stock switches would work like normal and the AC button would be located where ever I wanted, but I think I would go with side of seat near position controls. What I really liked the idea was their oem looking aftermarket sun roofs. But I'll save that for another thread . If I decide to go that route, I'll post pics and before and after and a review if anyone would be interested.