2010 Sierra -swap Std Seat With Smaller Seat

SilverSierra · June 29, 2011

Just bought a new 2010 Sierra 1500. It was an upgrade from a Toyota Tacoma. When my wife went for her first real ride, she found that the seat was too big for her (she's 5'2"). We have tried to remedy this problem with cushions, Obus back supports, and a variety of other measures, to no avail. The basic problem is, the seat is a Large and my wife is a Small. Unfortunately, no car company has offerred seating in Small, Medium, or Large, to my knowledge. Anyway, I have a couple of more things that I want to try, but it's looking like I will have to remove the stock Sierra seat and have a smaller seat installed. If this is possible, I will have my wife sit in a number of vehicles until she finds one (or more) that she likes, and have it installed in the truck. I am thinking that something out of a Terrain or Canyon or something should work. I have been on the phone with all kinds of people and companies investigating this, with little success. I know that securing the seat in the cab will be the first challenge as teh bolt pattern to the floor is likely to be different. The next will be the wiring. I would like to install a power seat into the truck to give my wife extra adjustability so she can be more comfortable. I assume that there is a wiring harness under the dash to accommodate a power seat, though the plug is likely to be different from the new seat. I would like to hear from anyone who has done this, who has input on how to do this, who can provide direction (steps) on how to do this, and can recommend a company who has done this or can do it. I am in Canada, which may make things more interesting. Finally, if GM is listening, please give this problem some thought. Not everyone in this world is 6 feet tall. Thanks in advance.

SparkySparks · June 29, 2011

If you found a seat out of a car you might be better off as you can build a frame the bolts where the current seat is and then give you a new mounting point for the car seat. Not sure about power seats but more or less just running a power and ground wire to the seat should get er done. I think where you will have issues is with how legal it is. Not sure if your 2010 has the airbags that come out of the seat but it should have a cut off sensor for the airbag in the dash, you would have to have that hooked up or you will get error codes from it. I also don't know what the law is about modifying your truck in this fashion. Another option (if you are not set on having a power seat) would be to get an off-road or race seat and mounting it in there for her. They come in different sizes and while I don't know if it is street legal or not, lot of people do this for their off-road rigs. Good luck and keep us posted on what you find out.

MikeNH · June 29, 2011

If you do this and you have an accident your insurance will likely deny coverage for her injuries. GM spent millions on ensuring crash safety with that seat and you're gonna throw all that away by hacking in something that doesn't belong there. I call it hacking because unless you have the full resources GM has, you will NEVER have something that works properly.

old-chevy-dude · June 29, 2011

take the truck to an upholstery shop. they can remove the lower cushion and then add or replace the foam under the cover and recover the seat.

what you want to do is add leg bolster to the seat. Any upholstery shop worth its salt can do it, probably around $300..

I have had this done in several vehicles because I have a titanium right hip/femur and a titanium frame holding my pelvis together after a major motorcycle accident 10 years ago. Most vehicle seats are too "flat" for me and I need the added side bolstering (on the cushion not seat back) to assist in blood circulation in that leg, otherwise I suffer from a dead leg (leg goes to sleep so to speak), and that presents a real problem being it is my throttle and braking leg..

This is what most vehicle seats look like, and the Silverado is no different

This is what I think you need to have done:

notice how high the side bolstering is, it's not so much an issue of the seat being too large, but rather too flat.. Adding that bolster will plant your wife into the seat and keep her centered so she doesn't feel like she is sliding around.

another thing to consider is to have the seat centers recovered in Suede, as the standard "leather" and cloth fabric from Chevy is very slick, the Suede will grip her clothing and prevent her from sliding.

additionally since it is still your factory seat, you shouldn't have any insurance issues in the event of an accident.

SilverSierra · July 4, 2011

Thanks for the input, guys.

We did a 10 hour road trip on the weekend and found out some things. My wife had a real hard time getting comfortable, but she manage to get "fairly comfortable a few times using a bunch of pillows, cushions and such strategically placed. Based on what I am finding out online and in talking to local techs, mechanics and online, my wife and I are now planning to simply have a Sierra power seat added. This will give her several options like seat height, tilt and lumbar that she doesn't currently have. After this, we should have fewer issues to deal with. We expect that this will be a much simpler and quicker option, have no legal or insurance issues, and make it so that she only needs a couple of pillows. The suede seat cover may also be something I will suggest to her.

I will try to keep you posted.