Seeking opinions on these seats

[NC Tom]

Came out of an 89 Comanche. Passenger looks good, but tilt forward is broke, driver's well, you see. No brackets, but I have my bench, so I can deal with that. Owner wants $75 for the pair. I'm concerned about the cost/feasibility of repairing that driver. He has asked me to make an offer. I would appreciate some thoughts on this and what you all think they're worth.

 

Thanks!

[Minuit]

If you are willing to switch around covers and foam, you can make those seats into whatever you want. The seats in my '91 started off as those - even had the same tear in the vinyl! I then swapped over the covers and foam from 4dr XJ seats. It's not hard at all to take the seats apart, just takes a little patience and finesse.

 

$75 is a little high but not crazy. See if you can talk him down a little bit.

[rokinn]

Depends on what's broken on the passenger side.  I would imagine it's the cable that's broken between the lever and the latch??  One can be fabricated.  I think you need an additional slider to add to each of the bench brackets as well.  Someone correct me if I'm wrong.  You will need to add an arm to release the forward & back adjustment like on the drivers side.  Seat covers can be swapped out.  Just pick what you like from an XJ in the JY.  Just the seat covers are usually cheaper than the whole seat.  I'd offer $40 myself.

[fiatslug87]

Sometimes the cable just comes loose so there's too much slack for it work properly. I also found great 4door XJ seat covers at the JY, cleaned them up, cut a slit for the tilt lever and bingo.

 

[johnj92131]

Tom,

 

I just checked the price list on the Arkansas Pick & Pull location for a bucket seat price:  $29.95 each for manual, non leather.  So the price is not far out of reasonable.  Personally, I think you should take the pair and see about fixing the tilt forward mechanism.  I have seen a few how to articles on the web.  

[PCO6]

1 hour ago, fiatslug87 said:

Sometimes the cable just comes loose so there's too much slack for it work properly. I also found great 4door XJ seat covers at the JY, cleaned them up, cut a slit for the tilt lever and bingo.

Can you tighten the cable without taking the seats out?

[johnj92131]

You need to take the cover off to look at the tilt mechasim.  Then you need to work on the rear of the seat back that you are having a problem tilting forward.  Not saying you can't work on it - but pull the seat and give yourself some room to work

 

[Minuit]

My experience is that the cable just gets a little bit loose instead of just breaking. If I remember correctly there's a ziptie in there holding tension on the cable that can break and make the cable not pull the tilt latch back enough to let the seat flip forward.

[Strokermjcomanche]

https://m.ebay.com/itm/1990-2DR-XJ-FACTORY-SEAT-BACK-COVER-VINYL-CHARCOAL-NOS-/250811602317

 

https://m.ebay.com/itm/88-89-CHEROKEE-LEFT-FRONT-SEAT-CUSHION-COVER-VINYL-NOS-/280671034900

[PCO6]

John / Minuit - Thanks guys.   Looks like my seats are coming out (doesn't look that hard to do).   The problem with mine, apart that they don't fold forward at all, is that I think a previous owner had a scared cat as a passenger.   They look great from the front but the backs are scratched in a way that I've never seen before. 

 

 

[NC Tom]

On 4/14/2018 at 5:25 PM, Strokermjcomanche said:

https://m.ebay.com/itm/1990-2DR-XJ-FACTORY-SEAT-BACK-COVER-VINYL-CHARCOAL-NOS-/250811602317

 

https://m.ebay.com/itm/88-89-CHEROKEE-LEFT-FRONT-SEAT-CUSHION-COVER-VINYL-NOS-/280671034900

 

Thanks for the feedback and especially these links. Did not realize how expensive NOS cover were. I can get good seats for $100 or so a pair. Can't justify spending more for beat-up sets I have to repair. Besides that, I had a reality check, I really need a new brake booster more than seats.