Regular Cab Sport Leather Bucket Seat swap - How to get heated seats to work like factory option.

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So I just bought a full set of black leather bucket seats from a 13+ sport and I also got an all black center console to get rid of my jump seat and the seats are heated. I was wondering if anyone knows what all is needed to get them working?


2012 Ram Regular Cab ST
Cloth bench seat in front with flip down center seat
Swapping to leather bucket seats with center floor console

I’m pretty sure I read on here many times that the 4th gen regular cabs all shipped from the factory with the same wiring harness throughout the cab, whether it had the options or not, Ram decided to make one harness for all Regular Cab trim packages. Is this true? If so, shouldn’t the heated seats wiring be under the carpet?

Also, I have AlphaOBD. What settings do I need to activate? I know I will need the heated seat buttons for my center dash section. I ordered them off eBay.

So besides the heated seat buttons, what else would I need? Has anyone else done this swap into a regular cab and can tell me what they bought to get it going? Thanks in advance.


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I have a 16 reg cab sport that I put leather seat covers on from a larime and they look great.
 

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So I just bought a full set of black leather bucket seats from a 13+ sport and I also got an all black center console to get rid of my jump seat and the seats are heated. I was wondering if anyone knows what all is needed to get them working?


2012 Ram Regular Cab ST
Cloth bench seat in front with flip down center seat
Swapping to leather bucket seats with center floor console

I’m pretty sure I read on here many times that the 4th gen regular cabs all shipped from the factory with the same wiring harness throughout the cab, whether it had the options or not, Ram decided to make one harness for all Regular Cab trim packages. Is this true? If so, shouldn’t the heated seats wiring be under the carpet?

Also, I have AlphaOBD. What settings do I need to activate? I know I will need the heated seat buttons for my center dash section. I ordered them off eBay.

So besides the heated seat buttons, what else would I need? Has anyone else done this swap into a regular cab and can tell me what they bought to get it going? Thanks in advance.


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2012 and 2013+ are quite different electrical and CAN system setups. AFAIK 2013+ seats cannot (easily) be made to work on a 2012 truck. You could probably custom wire everything but my guess is the factory buttons would never work.

On the bright side, 2013+ seats resell for a good amount of $$$, and 2012 and earlier seats are actually going pretty cheaply.
 
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2012 and 2013+ are quite different electrical and CAN system setups. AFAIK 2013+ seats cannot (easily) be made to work on a 2012 truck. You could probably custom wire everything but my guess is the factory buttons would never work.

On the bright side, 2013+ seats resell for a good amount of $$$, and 2012 and earlier seats are actually going pretty cheaply.

Yes the seats are from a 13+. I guess if I can’t get the heated seats to work with the oem buttons I will just install aftermarket buttons. I am getting a really good deal on the seats and they include the rears which I can sell cause I have a regular cab. Plus I can sell my good condition regular cab cloths so I’ll get a good chunk of my money back that I am spending on the seats. Win win all around lol.


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2012 and 2013+ are quite different electrical and CAN system setups. AFAIK 2013+ seats cannot (easily) be made to work on a 2012 truck. You could probably custom wire everything but my guess is the factory buttons would never work.

On the bright side, 2013+ seats resell for a good amount of $$$, and 2012 and earlier seats are actually going pretty cheaply.

I know a lot of 09-12 owners swap the 12+ seats into their trucks so I figured someone by now has figured out how to wire them up for the oem switches but I guess not.


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I know a lot of 09-12 owners swap the 12+ seats into their trucks so I figured someone by now has figured out how to wire them up for the oem switches but I guess not.


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The heated seat module in the 2013+ seats is what controls the seat heaters. The seat heater connections are accessible, but to use the factory buttons, etc everything needs to go through that module. That module is not the same as what would be used for a 2012 or earlier.

You could bypass the module by installing your own switches and power to them, and then just connect the output of the switches to the seat heater wire(s). You might be able to find the mating connectors for the factory wiring, so it wont require cutting any of the harnesses that are on the seats....that way you can sell them "as whole" down the road.

If you are getting a good deal on 2013+ seats, I would just wire them up with separate switches. Those seats are not cheap, so you could always get your money back (and more) if you ever wanted to go to 2012 seats.
 

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So I just bought a full set of black leather bucket seats from a 13+ sport and I also got an all black center console to get rid of my jump seat and the seats are heated. I was wondering if anyone knows what all is needed to get them working?


2012 Ram Regular Cab ST
Cloth bench seat in front with flip down center seat
Swapping to leather bucket seats with center floor console

I’m pretty sure I read on here many times that the 4th gen regular cabs all shipped from the factory with the same wiring harness throughout the cab, whether it had the options or not, Ram decided to make one harness for all Regular Cab trim packages. Is this true? If so, shouldn’t the heated seats wiring be under the carpet?

Also, I have AlphaOBD. What settings do I need to activate? I know I will need the heated seat buttons for my center dash section. I ordered them off eBay.

So besides the heated seat buttons, what else would I need? Has anyone else done this swap into a regular cab and can tell me what they bought to get it going? Thanks in advance.


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As stated the 2013 and 2012 trucks seat wiring is totally different and the modules in the 2013 seat will not communicate with the 2012 even if you were able to wire up certain features. You can install the seats and switch the basic harness for the airbags, seat belts ect and also wire the power adjust functions to work if your able to get a hold of the schematics and you're familiar with basic wiring but that's about it. I'm not sure about the 09 to 12 regular cab truck but the 13 to 18 regular cab trucks all have the correct wiring for the heated/vented seats. I woukd assume your 2012 would be the same but I have no first hand knowledge of it. I would reccomend selling the 13 seats and looking for 2012 seats if you are wanting the heated/vented seats to function. Remember the vented seats were an option on the Sport and not standard and no 4th gen Sports come with memory. If you want the vented seats make sure they are equipped that way if you are getting them out of a Sport. Laramie seats are the preferred way to go because all 4th gen Laramie seats are heated and vented plus have memory which we have also figured out how to make work.

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I know a lot of 09-12 owners swap the 12+ seats into their trucks so I figured someone by now has figured out how to wire them up for the oem switches but I guess not.


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The 13 Ram heated seats will most likely not work in your truck with aftermarket buttons in there factory configuration due to the fact that they are a three wire system designed to work with a HSM ( heated seat module) to control the temperature. You will need remove the factory seat heaters to install aftermarket seat heaters in them and run the wiring completely separate from the rest of the seat plus change all the wiring for the airbags, seat belts ect.

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The 13 Ram heated seats will most likely not work in your truck with aftermarket buttons in there factory configuration due to the fact that they are a three wire system designed to work with a HSM ( heated seat module) to control the temperature. You will need remove the factory seat heaters to install aftermarket seat heaters in them and run the wiring completely separate from the rest of the seat plus change all the wiring for the airbags, seat belts ect.

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Yea I definitely will not need all new wiring for the seat belts and air bags, the heated seats I can hook up with aftermarket switches.


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As stated the 2013 and 2012 trucks seat wiring is totally different and the modules in the 2013 seat will not communicate with the 2012 even if you were able to wire up certain features. You can install the seats and switch the basic harness for the airbags, seat belts ect and also wire the power adjust functions to work if your able to get a hold of the schematics and you're familiar with basic wiring but that's about it. I'm not sure about the 09 to 12 regular cab truck but the 13 to 18 regular cab trucks all have the correct wiring for the heated/vented seats. I woukd assume your 2012 would be the same but I have no first hand knowledge of it. I would reccomend selling the 13 seats and looking for 2012 seats if you are wanting the heated/vented seats to function. Remember the vented seats were an option on the Sport and not standard and no 4th gen Sports come with memory. If you want the vented seats make sure they are equipped that way if you are getting them out of a Sport. Laramie seats are the preferred way to go because all 4th gen Laramie seats are heated and vented plus have memory which we have also figured out how to make work.

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Do you know where I could find the schematics for the 13+ sport seats plug and wires?

My current truck had SRS and so does the sport seats.

Can’t I turn off the SRS light and chime with AlfaOBD?


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Do you know where I could find the schematics for the 13+ sport seats plug and wires?

My current truck had SRS and so does the sport seats.

Can’t I turn off the SRS light and chime with AlfaOBD?


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You should be able to wire it all up except the heated seats. You can either completely remove your original seat harnesses and seat belts and passenger side occupancy sensor if nessisary and install it in your new seats or you can de pin the connector in the new seats and see if they will physically fit in the 2012 seat connectors. It's really not to involved. The power adjust is the solid red wire in the yellow seat connector on both seats. You can easily run constant 12v power to it if your truck doesn't have the proper power wire. As far as the heated seats go, as I have mentioned before you cannot just wire them to aftermarket switches. They operate on a different type of system that requires the external Heated Seat Module to regulate the temperature. I would definitely reccomend just pulling the factory heated seat pads and installing a complete aftermarket system. Here are the pin printouts for thec13 to 18 seats


This is the passenger seat yellow connector. fed2d1772aedb57e7e5afa89b3ead9f6.jpg8aee58c167687745698922cef209eb43.jpg

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Drivers seat yellow connector. 42d5b8eb8c3dfe34473b322bf2de33e5.jpgb622e6f599b2c5426ffeebe5633d84a1.jpg

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Drivers seat 20 pin grey connector. Sorry those came out upside down for some reason. In any case you should be able to figure it out from there. Just a note in case you weren't aware the (Thorax) wiring is for the seat airbags. a3a1fc5e20c82b3eafb0df54358d2695.jpgb2e98fadb57d432d579dbf38a2159247.jpg

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Oh wow thanks for the wiring schematics.

Now I just need to find the schematics for a 2012 regular cab.


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The heated seat module in the 2013+ seats is what controls the seat heaters. The seat heater connections are accessible, but to use the factory buttons, etc everything needs to go through that module. That module is not the same as what would be used for a 2012 or earlier.

You could bypass the module by installing your own switches and power to them, and then just connect the output of the switches to the seat heater wire(s). You might be able to find the mating connectors for the factory wiring, so it wont require cutting any of the harnesses that are on the seats....that way you can sell them "as whole" down the road.

If you are getting a good deal on 2013+ seats, I would just wire them up with separate switches. Those seats are not cheap, so you could always get your money back (and more) if you ever wanted to go to 2012 seats.

As stated the 2013 and 2012 trucks seat wiring is totally different and the modules in the 2013 seat will not communicate with the 2012 even if you were able to wire up certain features. You can install the seats and switch the basic harness for the airbags, seat belts ect and also wire the power adjust functions to work if your able to get a hold of the schematics and you're familiar with basic wiring but that's about it. I'm not sure about the 09 to 12 regular cab truck but the 13 to 18 regular cab trucks all have the correct wiring for the heated/vented seats. I woukd assume your 2012 would be the same but I have no first hand knowledge of it. I would reccomend selling the 13 seats and looking for 2012 seats if you are wanting the heated/vented seats to function. Remember the vented seats were an option on the Sport and not standard and no 4th gen Sports come with memory. If you want the vented seats make sure they are equipped that way if you are getting them out of a Sport. Laramie seats are the preferred way to go because all 4th gen Laramie seats are heated and vented plus have memory which we have also figured out how to make work.

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So if i open up my 2012 cloth seats and open up the 2015 sport leathers, would i be able to swap my srs air bag system from the 2012 seats over to the 2015 seats, and put it all back together and then i should be able to plug it right back into my truck and my truck will just assume i still have the original seats with air bags in my truck, correct?

My main question is, will the 2012 seat air bags fit and bolt into the 2015 leather sport seats?
 

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So if i open up my 2012 cloth seats and open up the 2015 sport leathers, would i be able to swap my srs air bag system from the 2012 seats over to the 2015 seats, and put it all back together and then i should be able to plug it right back into my truck and my truck will just assume i still have the original seats with air bags in my truck, correct?

My main question is, will the 2012 seat air bags fit and bolt into the 2015 leather sport seats?
Yes, this is exactly what I have been suggesting you do. Take the harnesses completely out of your seats with airbags, seat belts and passenger side seat occupancy sensor and install them in your new seats. You can remove most of the current harness from your new seats but you will need to leave the solid red wire in the yellow seat connector so you can attach a constant 12v power source for your power seat adjustment to work. The solid black wire is the seat ground but I have found the power seat adjustment still works when it's not connected. If you want heated seats I would reccomend completely removing the factory seat heaters and installing an aftermarket seat heater kit at the same time. Taking the seats apart is not hard and you can access the seat airbags through the zipper on the side of the seat. There are several videos on YouTube showing how to remove the seat covers.

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Yes, this is exactly what I have been suggesting you do. Take the harnesses completely out of your seats with airbags, seat belts and passenger side seat occupancy sensor and install them in your new seats. You can remove most of the current harness from your new seats but you will need to leave the solid red wire in the yellow seat connector so you can attach a constant 12v power source for your power seat adjustment to work. The solid black wire is the seat ground but I have found the power seat adjustment still works when it's not connected. If you want heated seats I would reccomend completely removing the factory seat heaters and installing an aftermarket seat heater kit at the same time. Taking the seats apart is not hard and you can access the seat airbags through the zipper on the side of the seat. There are several videos on YouTube showing how to remove the seat covers.

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Ok thanks. Anything I should know when opening the seats to remove the air bags and harness? Any tricks or tips? I’m going to order an aftermarket heated seat kit since I will literally have my seats open there is no point not too.

Do I have to remove any hog rings when I slide the cover up to remove the upholstery or can the air bag system be accessed without removing any hog rings. Just wanna know if I need to order stuff before I start all of this.

Thanks for all of your help so far [emoji1360][emoji1360]


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Ok thanks. Anything I should know when opening the seats to remove the air bags and harness? Any tricks or tips? I’m going to order an aftermarket heated seat kit since I will literally have my seats open there is no point not too.

Do I have to remove any hog rings when I slide the cover up to remove the upholstery or can the air bag system be accessed without removing any hog rings. Just wanna know if I need to order stuff before I start all of this.

Thanks for all of your help so far [emoji1360][emoji1360]


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Yes you will need to remove the hog rings to remove the old seat heaters and seat covers. The air bags can be accessed from the side by unzipping the covers but it would be much easier to remove the harness, seat belts and passenger side seat occupancy sensor with the covers off and seat cushions can be removed also. Your airbags should be identical to the ones in the 15 as far as how they look. I have done a few of them for other reasons and even though they looked the same the part#s were different so I switched them out just to be safe. There aren't really any tricks to removing the airbags and harnesses other than take your time and pay attention. Leatherseats.com has several videos on YouTube on how to remove the seat covers on Ram trucks.

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Yes you will need to remove the hog rings to remove the old seat heaters and seat covers. The air bags can be accessed from the side by unzipping the covers but it would be much easier to remove the harness, seat belts and passenger side seat occupancy sensor with the covers off and seat cushions can be removed also. Your airbags should be identical to the ones in the 15 as far as how they look. I have done a few of them for other reasons and even though they looked the same the part#s were different so I switched them out just to be safe. There aren't really any tricks to removing the airbags and harnesses other than take your time and pay attention. Leatherseats.com has several videos on YouTube on how to remove the seat covers on Ram trucks.

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Thanks.

I actually decided against installing heated seats right now. I want to reupholster these seats next spring/summer and figured I will do the heated seats then too. I already opened up both leather seats, and removed the air bag mechanisms. I did not need to remove any hog rings or really any parts at all besides 4 8mm bolts that were holding a support beam across where the top half of the seats lesther tucks under, and then undo the zippers on both sides and then the hard to reach 2 8mm bolts holding the air bag boxes in the bag, and the both came out.

3a105d0cba51d337fa2207a4db13e68c.jpg


Since it’s so late in the day, tomorrow I am going pull my seats out of my truck, bring them inside and remove the airbags from them, along with the whole seats wiring harness.

So I have to swap over the passenger seat occupancy sensor that is in the bottom half of the passenger seat? Does the drivers seat have one too in the 2012’s? I was surprised I didn’t need to remove any hog rings to get to the air bag box, can I access the PS occupancy sensor without having to remove any hog rings? Or will I have too? Is the sensor underneath the leather, or is it underneath the foam? I guess I am going to have to google that part to see what it even looks like lol. I’ve done a lot of stuff to cars and trucks, but this is my first time venturing into upholstery territory. I’ve made seat rail brackets for racing seats but never got into the actual seat material so this is all new to me.

Thank you again for all your help. Swapping over the air bags, seat sensor and seat belts will solve all of my problems of needing to wire stuff and plugs not matching. I didn’t know it was going to be easier to swap the parts then figure out the plugs and wiring.


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Thanks.

I actually decided against installing heated seats right now. I want to reupholster these seats next spring/summer and figured I will do the heated seats then too. I already opened up both leather seats, and removed the air bag mechanisms. I did not need to remove any hog rings or really any parts at all besides 4 8mm bolts that were holding a support beam across where the top half of the seats lesther tucks under, and then undo the zippers on both sides and then the hard to reach 2 8mm bolts holding the air bag boxes in the bag, and the both came out.

3a105d0cba51d337fa2207a4db13e68c.jpg


Since it’s so late in the day, tomorrow I am going pull my seats out of my truck, bring them inside and remove the airbags from them, along with the whole seats wiring harness.

So I have to swap over the passenger seat occupancy sensor that is in the bottom half of the passenger seat? Does the drivers seat have one too in the 2012’s? I was surprised I didn’t need to remove any hog rings to get to the air bag box, can I access the PS occupancy sensor without having to remove any hog rings? Or will I have too? Is the sensor underneath the leather, or is it underneath the foam? I guess I am going to have to google that part to see what it even looks like lol. I’ve done a lot of stuff to cars and trucks, but this is my first time venturing into upholstery territory. I’ve made seat rail brackets for racing seats but never got into the actual seat material so this is all new to me.

Thank you again for all your help. Swapping over the air bags, seat sensor and seat belts will solve all of my problems of needing to wire stuff and plugs not matching. I didn’t know it was going to be easier to swap the parts then figure out the plugs and wiring.


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It's definitely easier to just change the harness and parts. You only have an occupancy on the passenger seat to enable the passenger side air bags. The truck assumes that if it's being driven it has an adult in the drivers seat so there is no occupancy sensor on the driver's seat. The sensor is under the leather and glued to the foam. You can reach it from the back of the seat cushion. I'm not sure if you and get to it without removing a couple of hog rings but if memory serves me correctly you can. There is a possibility that your 12 has the same occupancy sensor as the 15 seats. If they are the same there is no reason to switch them as long as your harness will plug into it. The senor itself is just a flat looking piece of plastic with a pressure switch on it.

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