[SPeacock]

I notice that the lever to recline the seat is on the inside of both seats. Would seem that the lever should be toward the outside. I'm getting an armrest and it occurs to me that it might be in the way. Besides, it is a bit of a pain to lean over the seat to access the lever to disengage the seat for immediate access to the rear compartment.

If they are interchangeable, then when the driver's side, becomes worn, can it be swapped with the passenger (vice versa)?

 

[Holicow]

You might have a problem with the seat belt latch...

It's easy to remove the seats. Just pop them out and see what happens!

 

[b1shmu63]

I wanted to do the same thing, unfortunately the seat belt is attached to the seat. If you reverse them the belt will be attached on the wrong side of the seat and won't work. Because of this they use a bolt locking compound on the rear seat bolts. You will have to use quite a bit of torque to remove them the first time. I believe that the seat covers could be removed and swapped.

 

[SPeacock]

Ahhhhh. The ol' seatbelt trick.

Didn't think of that. Ok, then. I guess everybody's seat incline adjust is on the inside then.

Wife says that it makes it easier to get to the back if the person is sitting in driver's seat and needs access to the storage area.

 

[boogetyboogety]

Short answer: No.

Long answer: Yes, I took the seats out. Both of them. I thought the seat rake adjustment handles should be on the outside of the seats, not the inside.

Unfortunately, the tracks are not identical from the inside to the outside as I recall, and swapping out the seats is not possible. Never mind the seatbelt situation. :x

But I did take the opportunity to raise the back seat by about 3/4" by means of washers. I took the original bolts to my friendly neighborhood specialty hardware store and got slightly longer bolts so the strength of the mounting was not greatly compromised. I did not look for (and hanve no way of checking or knowing) the strength of the bolts I purchased vs. the OEM ones, so in a crash situation, I may have bolts that break sooner than the Honda issue bolts. But it's a chance I'm willing to take for a better seat feel. Your risk aversion may vary... :wink:

 

[Holicow]

Re: Short answer: No.

But I did take the opportunity to raise the back seat by about 3/4" by means of washers.

You raised the rear of the seat, or do you have the 2+2 model? :wink:

 

[boogetyboogety]

Holicow always keeps me on my toes

Yes, I raised the seat back... y'know, the two back bolts on each seat... laugh not, soon you'll be old too, Grasshopper... :lol:

 

[MikeF]

Loose-fitting rear seat bolt?

While we're on the subject, I noticed today that the inside rear bold on my passenger seat, although torqued pretty tight, still leaves a little play which allows the seat rail to wiggle up and down. In other words, if you tighten it as far as it will go, it's still not tight enough to hold the seat rail flush against the floor of the vehicle.

Has anyone else noticed this? Should I just get a longer-handled ratchet and keep tightening to take the last few milimeters out? Or should I take it to the dealer to fix? Or should I just not worry about it?

Thanks,

MF

 

[b1shmu63]

I raised the seat too. The bolts are different sizes on the front and back. M8-1.25 front and M10-1.25 back I believe. Fastenal was able to supply Socket head cap screws. These are hardened steel and are as tough as bolts get! They look cool too. You need an allen wrench or an Allen wrench adaptor for your ratcheting wrench set to tighten them.

 

[Holicow]

Re: Holicow always keeps me on my toes

Yes, I raised the seat back... y'know, the two back bolts on each seat... laugh not, soon you'll be old too, Grasshopper... :lol:

Don't I know it. Yet another birthday today. I have stopped counting but my kids won't let me forget.

Curious that you raised the back of the seat. I bought some washers recently with the intention of raising the front. I'm a hopeless fiddler, so we'll see....

 

[Corey872]

Re: Short answer: No.

...

Unfortunately, the tracks are not identical from the inside to the outside as I recall, and swapping out the seats is not possible. Never mind the seatbelt situation. :x
...

I thought the seat handle position was a little strange too. Although I am curious...you said the tracks are not identical. Is it possible that the seat itself may unbolt from the tracks? You could actually swap the seats, but leave the tracks to the sides they fit on? Also, it looks like the outer attachment point for the seatbelt, and in inner atachment point for the buckle are in very similar, if not identical positions. Maybe they could be swapped at that point as well?

Another possibility...(depending on how the recline mechanism is set up)...is there any chance just the back of the seat could be moved from one side to the other?

 

[boogetyboogety]

More stuff to ponder...

Holicow... Happy BD! I actually decided on the "rake" of the seat by means of unbolting the driver's seat, and then using a piece of wood that I placed under the front of the seat, and then under the back of the seat, to try out the different positions before making more permanent changes. Front "up" to me felt artificial, and not very comfy. Back "up" felt more natural, and after thousands of miles driving the Insight thusly, I can tell you my back doesn't act up like with some other car seats. :wink:

Corey872: Good thought... I didn't think of that ("swap the seats, but leave the tracks to the sides they fit on"), and I've got a busy three or four weeks coming up, but looks like I'll have to find some free time to do some investigating and tinkering... sure would love to have those silly handles on the outside at last...

 

[james]

" I did not look for (and hanve no way of checking or knowing) the strength of the bolts I purchased vs. the OEM ones..."

There's a set of standard strength markings for bolts. You should see markings - lines or numbers - on the head.

 

[Corey872]

The original seat bolts in the Insight (at least mine) don't appear to have a standard marking system. The ANSI/SAE system would display radial lines to indicate strength. The metric should display something like 8.8, 10.9, 12.9, etc to indicate strength. The Insight bolts display (see if image upload works):

(post edited by moderator - the image upload was blocked by tripod)

I am not familiar with this marking...perhaps JIS spec? Also...I never made a note when mine were out, but do the bolts screw directly into the aluminum frame or is there some type of steel insert in the frame? If the bolt threads directly into the aluminum, it is likely that even the weakest grade steel bolt would shear the internal aluminum threads before tensile overload of the bolt.

Corey872 Edit:

OOPS - That didn't work too well...how about:
http://coreyonline.tripod.com/bolt_marking.jpg

 

[Billy]

Actually, It IS possible to swap the seats. I did it on my 2002 Insight, (i now have a 2003) and drove for 25,000 miles that way. It did take a little work with the belts, and also slightly modifying the black plastic covers down low on the sides. But it worked out well, and saved wear on the other seat. Billy.....

 

[b1shmu63]

The bolts thread onto aluminum at the back.

I suspect it would take a huge amount of force to shear the bolt or strip the aluminum. I use socket head machine screws for all my design work because they are stronger, have better cut threads, lack sharp edges, and look professional. Naturally wanted them on the seat too.

 

[rw]

Has anyone else tried swapping the passenger and driver's seat? It does seem that they are backwards, with the adjustment levers on the inside of the seats. I have put up with this for years, but with gas $4/gallon I am thinking that I want to keep the Insight as long as possible, and why put up with this forever (or until the battery dies or there is something better).
Why were the seats put in this way to begin with? The map pocket is on the back of the driver's seat (in the U.S.) Here's my guess. The seat with the map pocket and the lever on the right should be the passenger seat in a left hand drive car, then the levers would be on the outside. But in Japan, they use right hand drive. So the seat with the map pocket was put on the left, and the levers end up being on the inside. This does not explain why every other car on the road, except the Insight, got it right. Needless to say, my dealer was not impressed with my logic, and refused to swap the seats at no charge to me.
Problems with swapping the seats that have been mentioned on this thread include: 1) rear bolts may be rusted in place. If I can't get the bolt out with Liquid Wrench and a moderate amount of force, I suppose I would quit at that point. 2) the tracks are different on the two sides. They look the same to me, but if they are different, can't you just move the seat and the tracks to the other side? 3) seat belt attachments are different on the two sides. It looks like the attachments could be unbolted and the attachments put on the correct side.