Gen V Seat Cover Removal and Replacement Seat Disassembly

[Thawk97]

Intro & Tools

I wanted to swap the seat covers on my Viper and couldn't find a lot of info as to how the seats are built and how they come apart. So, here’s some detail for the next person. It’s a pretty simple task though if your seats are anything like mine, there are 2 bolts on each seat that are nearly impossible to get loose without breaking – I busted 3/4 of mine and had to drill them out and get new ones.

My seats are leather, but manual adjustment.
Below I’ll give a description of the whole step, and then after put in a series of pictures to show what I’m talking about so a few things might get repeated.

Recommended Tools:
- Plastic Trim removal tools
- Torx set (T-40, and T-20)
- Allen set (5 mm allen socket preferred)
- 10 & 15mm socket
- Couple of towels to protect the car


STEP 1: Remove the seats

Since you’re dealing with airbag related sensors, I always like to disconnect the battery before removing the seats (remember though, that means you can’t open the doors normally so open them first) - 10mm in the trunk

Viper seats (like most) are held in with 2 bolts in the front and two behind the seat - 15mm. Additionally there is a connector under each seat you’ll need to disconnect – even on the manual seats. This is the seat position sensor as well as the airbag sensor for the passenger seat. Quick note – if you have electric seats, I believe you’ll want to raise them to the highest seat position possible before removing as that becomes important later. If you have manual seats, it’s less critical to do now because you can still adjust them when they’re out of the car, but it may also make it easier to get the bolts out of the front.

Remove the 2 bolts from the front and the 2 nuts from behind the seat, reach under and disconnect the sensor plug. Then, if your seat is manual, slide the seat to its most rearward position before lifting it out – this will help make the base as short as possible to fit out the door without bumping anything. Before removing I recommend putting a towel over both your center console and the door sill to help protect it.

Lift the seat slightly and tilt the top of the seat in toward the center of the car. Lift further and keep tilting until you can remove the seat, base first, out the door.