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seat covers,airbags,Okole neoprene,no-name Cordura

Discussion in 'Prime Accessories and Modifications' started by nusrat, Jun 1, 2018.

  1. nusrat

    nusrat New Member

    Joined:
    Aug 14, 2017
    19
    13
    0
    Location:
    Southwestern-most Connecticut
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Advanced
    "Moby 4Runner" wears CoverKing covers in front, custom fit, "ballistic" fabric, I believe Cordura, and I like them. Wanted same for "Klowder" (new 2017 Prime Advanced) in front, but CK doesn't make them. After spending hours surveying what's available in water-proof / water-resistant *custom*-fit, it seems there are only two choices: Okole (neoprene), and everyone else (a couple with Cordura, but a bunch of no-names with few reviews, excepting makers who use genuine leather).

    Okole has boo-coo reviews / mentions, including for Prius, and everyone says pretty much the same thing:
    -- great protection
    -- easy to clean (at least when using Okole's shampoo), even after spilling ice-cream soda
    -- fantastic fit and attention to detail, even in console etc. (and confirmed by owners' photos)
    -- a chemical stink for the first two weeks
    -- requires a lot of time, sweat, yoga-poses, and profanity for a DIY install

    But I'm having a hard time confirming to my own satisfaction that there will be no interference with airbags. I wanted to call Okole to discuss this, but thought I should first do my homework about the location of the airbags. This wasn't a problem in Moby, because of the diagrams in the manual, and the little cloth tags (sewn into the seams) which say "SRS Airbag".

    But it's less obvious with the 2017 Advanced. The diagram on page 36 of the manual (OM47A88U.pdf) shows an airbag #3, "SRS seat cushion airbag", which is drawn to look as if it were contained on or under the driver's head-rest -- but not on the front passenger's side, so I'm guessing that the diagram is actually meant to depict something within the console between the driver's right- and passenger's left- hips. The #4 airbags seem to be in the seam between the seat-back and door-side bolster in each seat. But, unlike in the 4Runner, when I go looking inside the Advanced for any lettering which might confirm these locations, the only thing I find is embossed into the top of the textured hard plastic which houses the seat-adjustment controls.
    2017 prius Advanced airbags.JPG
     
  2. nusrat

    nusrat New Member

    Joined:
    Aug 14, 2017
    19
    13
    0
    Location:
    Southwestern-most Connecticut
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Advanced
    I went to a Toyota dealer's service department, showed them the
    diagram in the manual, and asked about this. I was told that
    this really is, as described in the manual, a "seat cushion airbag".
    It actually is only on the passenger side.

    What convinced me was this: if one zooms waaay in on the
    diagram and looks verrrry carefully, you can see that the driver
    head-rest is depicted with just an outline, and you are looking
    *through* that headrest to the passenger seat cushion. At the
    leading edge of airbag #3 you can see that it meets the seam
    which runs around the top of that seat cushion. The left-front
    corner of that cushion is barely visible.

    Finally, when I went back to the original description in the
    owners' manual, I realized that I had missed a sentence.
    The full description of airbag #3 is:
    "SRS seat cushion airbag
    Can help restrain the front passenger."

    If you're ordering seat covers from a manufacturer who claims
    to know exactly where all the airbags are, and how to make
    provisions for their proper deployment, don't just take their word
    for it, no matter how reputable they are. I know of one
    manufacturer, whom I won't name, who might well have
    gotten it wrong on the first try, because they didn't already have
    all the right info before I contacted them.