RUN4CVR

I'm debating switching out the stock C6 Z06 seats with one of the well known set of racing seats. The question is that I've heard some nasty things about the 2LZ (where the airbags are located in the side panels of the seats) set up when you remove the stock seats.

I'm sure someone has experience with the resulting error codes and other repercussions, and I'm looking for advice.

Is it worth it? I'm on the verge of taking the plunge with the shark bar, the harnesses and seats, but don't want to do it if it makes the car unuseable.

Rob Burgoon

Can you unplug the seat wire harness, drive around the block and see what happens?

RUN4CVR

I guess I could, but was hoping to hear from somebody with real experience converting an everyday driver to the occasional HPDE/street car.

Like the TMPS, when changing tires, sometimes the problem doesn't present itself right away.

davidfarmer

I'm pretty sure it will disable your airbags, and if you have a telescoping wheel, it will not work. If you can live without the telscoping wheel, go for it.

I disconnected the seat heater in our car, so that I can quickly remove the center seat bolster (for a 6'5" co-driver). We get an intermittent airbag light to this day, and I have no idea if it is related to the seat heater or what.

Gary2KC5

Pfadt has a mod for the telescoping wheel that makes it operable. as far as the air bags go...if your in trouble enough to envoke them you are probably going to hit some thing else too. you may be better off without the air bags deploying.

Gary2KC5

I will be putting the stock seats back in unless I have an event a few weeks away. I usually do about 4 event/year so I expect to put the race seats in and out a couple time/year

linutux

I just put Ultrashield Pros, Sharkbar and 6pts in and the airbags are definitely disabled. The seat belt light on the dash shows the airbag is disabled and the passenger airbag light on the rear view mirror, which always shows either ON or OFF, is now, thankfully, completely out. The driver memory functions(mirrors, seat position, etc..) are disabled as well. And, as said, the steering wheel is fixed fully retracted.

As far as I can tell there is no restriction on other vehicle operations. Triple digit speeds, TC off, comp mode, all off, are fine. No limp mode. It doesn't even beep at me to remind me to buckle up.

I haven't fully put the factory seats back in yet. But, I did partially reconnect to adjust the rail position and that worked; so I assume that once everything is reconnected it will return to normal operation.

95jersey

I am going to buy an inexpensive Sparco Sprint and give it a shot very soon to see what happens. It sounds like we are getting some more consistent feedback, that airbags are disabled, memory gone, and tele-scoping does not work.

I do have a question about the tele-scoping. Does it get lock in place where ever it was last set or does it fully retract and then lock? Meaning can I turn on the car, set the wheel to my desired position, then turn off the car remove the seat and "lock" the steering wheel in position? That would be important to know otherwise the PDFAT adapter would be a requirement.

mrm

I went the route you're considering and no regrets or problems. It really is worth it if you're tracking the car. I went with the Caravaggio race/street seats, shark bar and 6 pts. Caravaggio provides a termination for the side airbag that is removed so you don't get codes. Following their install instructions I have never thrown a single code and HPDE's are so much more comfortable and enjoyable now.

- Mark

[Edit. BTW ... other than not having side airbags and seats that do not recline, everything is fully functional ... telescoping steering wheel and power seat forward/back, up/down and tilt all functional. Seat heaters are optional from Caravaggio.]

openhelix

Wow those look GREAT!!

mousecatcher

my understanding is that to get the airbag reset you will have to go to the dealer (or someone with a tech-ii).

mousecatcher

mark, your interior looks great. i love the yellow stitching. i went with black though since my car is black.

i am in redwood city, we need to hook up sometime!

95jersey

That is NOT cool. If the adapter from PDFAT solves the airbag light, then if you remove the seat with the car off, install the adapter and turn the car on, there shouldn't be an issue?

Do the above in reverse to re-install the stock seat and the car should never know the stock seat isn't in place.

There are dozens of reasons why one would have to remove seats for maintenance work on a vehicle, so there is no way you have to get the system reset everytime after you remove the seat. I had Phoenix do some work on my car during the winter and they removed the seat for a period of time and I never had an issue with the airbags.

BEZ06

My C6 Z06 had the highest trim level you could get on a Z06 in 2006 - the seats were power adjustable on the driver's side, and both sides had heat and side airbags. I swapped out the seats for some from a regular C6 to get the adjustable lumbar and side bolsters on the driver's side, and to get full power on the passenger side.

I swapped the skins from my Z06 seats to the regular C6 seats. I was told that if I did not swap the memory module under the driver's seat that I would have to get a dealer to do something with a Tech 2 to get the car to recognize the other memory module and get the memory stuff working properly. I just swapped the memory module from the Z06 seat to the C6 seat. Everything worked just as before the swap.

So.....I don't think you'll need anything done with a Tech 2 to get the side airbags to work properly. If anything, you might need the Tech 2 to get the memory functions to work properly with a different memory module.

Bob

RUN4CVR

Wow, that looks awesome.

How much do those run?

They sound like the perfect combo.

mousecatcher

that is my understanding.

yup, it's only if you turn the car on (and the airbag sensor is activated) that you have to use the tech-ii to reset it. it makes sense that once the airbag warning is activated the dealer must reset it; it doesn't auto reset. there are many sensors/warnings that don't auto reset.

the only reason the dealer has to do it is because the standard obd-ii reader that you buy on the shelf doesn't speak CAN/D which the body modules needs. i'm sure phoenix either has a tech-ii or didn't run the car while they had the seats out. (or they used some kind of bypass plug like the pfadt while the seats were out, so that the warning doesn't activate).

just my understanding. i haven't experienced this myself.

mrm

Correct on your first point above. When I did my seat install I pulled the battery cable to shut everything down, did the install and then re-hooked up the battery. No codes! All you'll have to do is re-index the power windows. Same applied to when I replaced the steering wheel ( you have to remove the airbag and then re-install it to do the steering wheel.)

- Mark

mrm

Yeah ... I may head by Santana Row this Saturday, are you going to be there?

mrm

If I remember right they run about $2600 a pair. Check out the web site ... www.caravaggiocorvettes.com. You can download a pdf with all the interior components they do and pricing is in that pdf.

- Mark

BEZ06

Actually, after I put my new driver's side seat in I had an airbag light. I didn't do the passenger side seat because I was pretty sure the problem was isolated to the seat I had just installed, and I wanted to get the light out before I worked on the passenger side.

I drove the car for about a week while I screwed around with all the connections under the seat, I checked out the circuit into the airbag, and couldn't find any problems.

After about a week or so I pulled the seat out and took a good look at things. I had noticed that the seat belt receptacle on the seat was farther down than my original Z06 seat. When I looked at the seat belt receptacle I could see the cable was pulled down - i.e., the seat belt pre-tensioner had fired (I guess the C6 seats I got had been in an accident that fired the seat belt pre-tensioners but not the side airbags). I replaced the pre-tensioner with the one off my original Z06 seat, reinstalled the seat, and NO AIRBAG LIGHT!

I had driven the car numerous times with the airbag light on and when I got the component fixed that was illuminating the light, the light went out with no requirement to use a Tech 2 to reset anything.

It seems that, at least in my case, that if you fix the part of the system that is turning on the airbag light, there is no need for a Tech 2 to reset anything, butt....YMMV.

Bob