Mastercraft Baja RS Suspension Seats
Jeep JK Wrangler Installation Write-up

September 8, 2009 Cindy Interior/Exterior Mods, Jeep JK Write-Ups 9

When you’re finally fed up with your factory seats and are ready to upgrade to something designed for champion off-road racers, a set of Mastercraft Baja RS Suspension Seats is what you’re gonna want!!Heavy duty and quality built, Mastercraft Baja RS Suspension Seats are super comfortable, recline to 9 different positions from tilt forward to full recline and fits up to a 40″ wasteline comfortably and safely. In addition to being able to accomodate a 5-point safety restraint system, it can also be used with the factory 3-point system as well. Maybe the best part of all is that they can be customized to your taste and are available in 6 popular color combinations: All Black, All Grey, Red and Black, Blue and Black, Grey and Black, Desert Tan and Haze.

For our purposes, we decided to get our Mastercraft Baja RS Suspension Seats in a black and grey combination with dirt sport sides, lumbar support, map pockets on back of the front seats and…. HEATERS!!

Mastercraft Baja RS Suspension Seats are very easy to install and the instructions below should help make it even easier.

What you will need

• 8,13,15,18mm Wrench/Sockets
• Torx T-45 Bit
• Ratchet
• Needle Nose Pliers
• Wire Cutters
• Flathead Screwdriver
• Zip Ties
• Hand Drill
• 1/8″ Metal Drill Bit

 

What you will need
to order

• Front Driver Seat
• Front Passenger Seat
• Driver Seat Mounting Kit
• Passenger Seat Mounting Kit
• (2) Rear Seats or Bench
• Rear Seat Mounting Kit 
   

Front Seat Installation Instructions
While there are options to get a matching seat cover for the factory rear bench or even get an all new Mastercraft bench, we decided to change things up and go with bucket seats front and rear. Here, you can see everything we got including the new rear mounts that are needed for this install.
1. Starting on the driver side of your Jeep JK Wrangler, remove the 2 bolts securing the front seat slider brackets to the floor using a 18mm socket. 2. Lift the seat position handle up and slide the front driver seat forward so that you can get better access to the rear mounting bolts. 3. Again, using an 18mm socket, remove the 2 rear bolts securing the front driver seat to the floor of your Jeep JK Wrangler.
4. Using a Torx T-45, remove the bolt securing the driver side seatbelt to the side of the factory seat. 5. Tilt the driver side seat of your Jeep JK Wrangler up and back and then disconnect the seatbelt and airbag sensor wiring harness (if one is present) as shown in this pic. 6. Carefully remove your driverside seat out of your Jeep JK Wrangler and set it on a workbench or the floor.
7. Using a Torx T-45 bit, remove the bolt securing the seatbelt buckle to the side of your factory driverside seat. 8. Slide the red tab on the seatbelt sensor wiring harness plug over to unlock it as shown in this pic. 9. Using a flathead screwdriver, pry the seatbelt sensor wiring harness plug off of the driverside seat bracket.
10. Disconnect the seatbelt wiring sensor plug from the main lead. 11. Using a pair of wire cutters, cut off the zip ties holding the seatbelt wiring harness to the underside of the driverside seat. 12. Using a 13mm wrench, remove the 4 nuts securing the driver side seat to the seat slider brackets as shown.
13. Set your Jeep JK Wrangler driverside seat slider brackets so that they are right side up and positioned so that the slider adjuster handle is pointing toward you. Then, place the new Mastercraft seatbelt bracket with the label indicating “Driver Inside” on the 2 back studs of the bracket that sits closest to the center console.
14. Place the new Mastercraft seatbelt bracket with the label indicating “Driver Outside” on the 2 back studs on the slider bracket that sits closest to your driverside door.
15. Take the 4 1/4″ spacers that come with the Mastercraft mounting kit and place them over the 2 front studs of each seat slider bracket as shown. There should be 4 spacers total for the driver side.
16. Lay your Mastercraft Baja RS Suspension Seat with the bottom facing up. Then, with the help of a friend, carefully hold the pieces you just assembled onto the slider brackets and install it to the bottom of the seat. 17. Using the factory nuts, secure the factory slider brackets to your Mastercraft Baja RS Suspension Seat. A 13mm wrench will be needed for this job. 18. Take the factory seatbelt buckle that you removed earlier and pound the right angled tab on the bottom of it with a hammer and until it’s straight.
19. Pull the seatbelt buckle out of the plastic sleeve as shown in this pic. 20. Using the buttonhead bolt provided with the Mastercraft mounting kit, secure the factory seatbelt buckle to the inside bracket of your driver seat. You will need an 8mm allen wrench for this job. 21. Reconnect the seatbelt sensor and slide the red tab over to lock it in place.
22. Using a zip tie, secure the seatbelt sensor wiring to the bottom of your new Mastercraft Baja RS Suspension Seat 23. Install your new Mastercraft Baja RS Suspension Seat into the driver side of your Jeep JK Wrangler. 24. Starting from the front and using the factory bolts, secure the slider brackets to the floor of your Jeep JK Wrangler.
25. Slide your Mastercraft Baja RS Suspension Seat forward and again, using the factory bolts, secure the slider brackets to the floor of your Jeep JK Wrangler. 26. Reaching under the seat, reconnect the plug for your seatbelt sensor to the main wiring harness. 27. Using the buttonhead bolt provided with the Mastercraft mounting kit, secure the factory seatbelt to the outside bracket of your driver seat. You will need an 8mm allen wrench for this job.
28. Repeat steps #1-6 on the passenger side front seat of your Jeep JK Wrangler. Then, with your seat on a work bench, separate the air bag sensor wire from the seat frame using a pair of needlenose pliers.
29. Disconnect the air bag sensor wire from the plug attached to the seat bracket. 30. Drill out the rivets securing the air bag sensor plug bracket to the seat frame using a power drill and 1/8″ drill metal drill bit. 31. Using the hardware provided, secure the air bag sensor plug to the new bracket included with the Mastercraft installation kit. You will need an 8mm wrench and socket for this job.
32. Assemble the seatbelt brackets and 2 spacers onto your factory slider brackets. Then, place the assembled sensor bracket on the bottom of your Mastercraft Baja RS Suspension Seat and with the help of a friend, carefully install the slider brackets over it and on to the bottom of the seat.
33. Reconnect your airbag sensor plug.
34. Reconnect your seatbelt sensor plug and install the assembled seat into the passenger side of your Jeep just like you did in steps #23-27.

Rear Seat Installation Instructions
1. Using an 18mm socket, remove the forward most bolts securing the rear bench mount to the floor of your Jeep JK Wrangler. 2. Lift up the rear bench to give you access to the center rear bolts. 3. Fold the rear seat back down to gain access to the back bolts securing the bench to the floor of your Jeep JK Wrangler.
4. Using a 13mm socket, remove the bolt securing the two halfs of the rear bench together as shown in this pic. 5. With all the bolts removed, carefully pull the two halfs of the rear bench out of your Jeep JK Wrangler. 6. Using a flathead screwdriver, pry off the seatbelt retainer strap from the frame of your rear bench.
7. Using a 15mm socket, remove the bolts securing the seatbelt buckles to the rear bench brackets. 8. Take your new Mastercraft Baja RS Suspension Seats rear brackets and position them in the rear of your Jeep JK Wrangler as shown in this pic. 9. Using the factory hardware, secure the Mastercraft Baja RS Suspension Seats rear brackets to the mounting holes on your Jeep JK Wrangler. An 18mm socket will be needed for this job.
10. Using the factory hardware, secure both the seatbelt buckles and the Mastercraft rear center mounting bracket to the floor of your Jeep JK Wrangler.
11. Slip the new bolts provided through the Mastercraft Baja RS Suspension Seat frame as shown.
12. Carefully place the seats on top of the rear brackets making sure that the bolts go through the mounting holes. Then using the nuts provided, secure the seats in place. You will need a 13mm socket and wrench for this job.NOTE: Unlike the front seats, the recliner adjustment handle on each seat should be located on the inside pointing towards the center of your Jeep.

Installed Photos

And you’re finished!! You now have an outstanding set of Mastercraft Baja RS Suspension Seats installed in your Jeep JK Wrangler and I can assure you that both you and your passengers are gonna love you for it.Please let me know if you have any questions.

9 Comments

  1. Those look awesome. I hate the stock seats. My problem is I have side airbags in the seats. Is there anyway to disable the side airbags without effecting the front airbags?

  3. Can I ask why you suggest putting the recline handles on the inside in the back? I am doing this but will probably build or install a center console in the rear.

  5. Are the rear seats able to recline much? How much? Is there any space avail between the rear seats? Thanks

  7. Thinking about getting the JK unlimited and the rear seat bench is so uncomfortable for my kids, I can’t bring myself to buy it unless there is a solution. Can you you advise of the distance between the two rear seats and whether they lean forward to make more room or remove if you want to load up the back. Is there anywhere in NJ where I could go to get this kind of install? Jodi

  8. I have been thinking about doing this but I have a few questions. By reading the previous posts I see that the seats recline but do they also move forward and backwards? Can the seats be removed easily if I need the cargo room? Is there another seat that could be used if I wanted to somehow make them fold up for extra cargo room? Where are the heater switches located? Thank you

  9. Awesome write up! Did you have heated seats before or did you have to wire the seat heaters? I have seat heaters and would like to retain the stock button.

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