Seat cushion Model X

[Dr Doom]

Hi:

The passenger seats in my MX are very uncomfortable. The seatbelt digs into your hip and feels like the bottom cushion has not enough padding. any Recommendations for after market seat cushions? thanks!

 

[Christopher1]

Try to find a used seat. Some teslas have good seats. Other have terrible. (Cars made the same day etc). Remember back in 2015 2016. Some seats was really bad. You could hit a steel rod if sat down fast. I hope those cars never get rear ended

 

[Georgesb2]

Are you speaking to the front passenger seat as well or just the rear passenger seats? You also don't say what year your car is. As far as the seatbelt issue, I'm assuming just at the bottom of the seatbelt where it click in?

I have rebuilt many Tesla seats. I find they lack density in the foam and the foam is too thin.
What I do is remove the Tesla foam and rebuild the seats with my own. Another option is to buy enough dense foam and cut custom pieces and place that between the metal springs and the stock foam.

I don't fully understand the seat belt issue.
On my Model 3, I had to buy seat belt extenders because passengers having trouble finding where to insert the belt.
This might be a path for you as well.

 

[Christopher1]

Dude! Tell more about this?
The new plaid seats are awfully hard! Any experience with ventilated seats?

 

[tnots]

Dude! Tell more about this?
The new plaid seats are awfully hard! Any experience with ventilated seats?

Agree, they are brutal on long road trips.

 

[Christopher1]

Tesla could not answer if I could swap out the plaid seats with the ventilated from a 2017 2018

 

[Georgesb2]

I've been modifying Model 3 / Y seats for a year and a half now. I finally bought my first Model X used seat to explore. I just started looking it over. It was listed as a 2021-2023 seat (listings are not always accurate). The one I happened to buy is white and perforated. The following things I notice so far. The seat is fundamentally the same as in the Model 3 / Y. There are some differences but the similarities are important for now. The width in the seat bottom towards the rear is the exact same width as the Model 3 /Y. This makes sense because they all share the same metal frame base. This leads to pain in the butt! I've had several Model X owners contact me to see if I could help them with their pain. I had to turn them away because I hadn't done any work with the Model X as yet. I plan to modify my first Model X seat soon, now that I have one. The goals are to improve the support and suspension of the seat bottom. To eliminate pain and provide for a seat that can be sat in for many hours pain free. To provide genuine suspension so that bumps in the road don't get sent through the back. This all looks possible. I notice also that the seat sensor is identical but the other wiring is different from Model 3 / Y. The foam appears to be attached to the seat Tesla OEM seat cover in the same way. Nothing that I see so far should hinder my foam replacement, while retaining all the original electricals. I don't have a method to retain the perforations through the replacement more robust foam I use. I don't know how important that will be to Model X owners.

I should add that I don't understand where and how the original poster's seatbelt was hurting them. I've never heard of that issue before this. It was stated at the hip, so that must be the "female" part of the buckle where you insert the upper strap into. I'll have to think more as I've never heard of this complaint before. I would think my added seat cushion would raise the seating position relative to the belt insert, so that might be improved also.

 

[Georgesb2]

The newer (21-23) Model X seat I bought and took apart.
What is revealed is interesting.
On all Model S / X there's larger (than model 3/Y) seat bolsters. It looks impressive and might provide "support".
But....
For the newer Model X (and assume S as well) Tesla moved the thick heavy rod / wire to inside the foam seat bottom instead of outside attached to the metal frame. The wire goes entirely around the foam base but inside the foam. The problem is that it is inside the foam and can cut into the person sitting in the seat. It makes the seat effectively smaller!
The foam isn't very thick either.
The foam seat bottom is on the same metal seat base used in every model Tesla.
A problem can arise whereby the person has a slightly wider hip width like I do and they will be pressing into that heavy duty wire. It will hurt on long trips. In the worst case it can "cut into" the sensitive outside point of the hips and thighs. A person might feel one side more than the other, depending upon many factors.
This seat is a disaster and the worst possible seat design for people with slightly larger bone structure.
I was thinking I'd "upgrade" to a Model X one day to get more room and larger more comfortable seats, only to learn the Model X has the worst possible seat design for me. So I kept my Model 3 and rebuilt the seat.
I now have a rebuild for the Model X seat (probably applies to S as well) in the works as well...

 

[Georgesb2]

Dude! Tell more about this?
The new plaid seats are awfully hard! Any experience with ventilated seats?

I have not built a ventilated seat version yet.
I assume If I bought a ventilated seat, I could retain the function.
The only seats I have so far for Model X / S are not ventialated.
I bought ventilated seats from other cars to see how they designed them so I could simply understand for future reference.