Oem heated seat element question

[DetroitWelder]

I have 98 Z71 Tahoe bucket seats with the heat option. Im in the process of replacing the seat bottoms. After i remove the material I began to cut out the heat element and discovered it was a thin single wire ran through the stiching between the panels.. It looks impossible to reinstall in the new seat bottom to me. What are you guys doing? Reuse or replace with aftermarket.. If aftermarket does anybody have any recommendations for a good product that wont need to be replaced in 3yrs? Thanks

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[CAPTNDAVIE]

I see you got no response. I have found a set of '98 heated buckets and am considering swapping them into my '97. Did you get your seats fixed and able to retain the heating system?

 

[DetroitWelder]

Yes I did retain the heated seats. I had to purchase an aftermarket kit that included switches, wire harness and 4 heating elements. The issue I ran into was all the heating elements I looked at were shaped differently than our seat panels require. I trimmed the heating elements as much as it allowed and then I didn't attach the leather seat bottom and back down foam to allow room for the heating element to remain as large as possible.