So my JDM DC2 ITR Recaro rails finally arrived. I wasted little time in bolting them up to my DC5 Recaro's and they were an easy fit into my 98 JDM ITR.

That is, until I closed the doors. This is a rhd car, so on the left, the passenger side, there's adequate clearance, but for some strange reason, on the drivers side, both the thigh and upright bolster make contact with the door.

Any explanation for this?

 

???

 

gonna have to post some pictures of the rails installed.

 

Rail or bottom of the seat maybe bent?

 

On the Recaro rails, it's possible to remove the upper half of each bracket that bolts to the seat itself. I'm wondering if this part has been installed wrong or replaced with something funky.

 

Keep in mind this a RHD.

Rails seemed fine & in a good condition overall.

But, If you look at the rear bolt on both outer rails, the rear screw cap was
missing, so I just painted a set of dome nuts & fitted them.

Measurements from outer rail to step sill on both sides are the same.





Driver's side:

Outer rail:


Seat to door:


Inner rail:




Passenger side:

Outer rail:


Seat to door:


Inner rail:

 

I would say you're good. It just looks like the RHD Drivers Side has had the bolsters mashed outward from ingress/egress over the years. Most people don't realize they are smashing their seats up when they get in & out.

 

How does it look through the front windshield? Is your drivers seat perfectly aligned with the steering wheel?

I had a friend who had the same problem in his EK Civic, he used some cheap rails and the seat wasn't exactly in front of the steering wheel and therefor touched the door as well. When we used my oem EK9 rails everything fit perfect, maybe you can try someone elses ITR seat rails and see if there's a difference?

I've seen DC5 seats in a DC2 (on oem ITR rails) a few times before and never seen an issue like this.

 

That much though? I did measure the upright bolsters from outermost point to point. Both seats measured the same.

Looks fine through the windshield. It's difficult to say. It also seems aligned, or possibly offset very slightly to the right.

There are maybe 2 more ITR's in the country that I'm aware of. Unfortunately, neither of them anywhere near me.

 

Have you tried switching the drivers side seat to the passenger side and passenger side seat to driver side?

 

I think I have found a rational explanation, which is partially as suggested. I removed the drivers seat yesterday, & noticed that the outer thigh bolster was pushed out a bit, which would account for the lack of clearance to the door. A quick measurement comparison shows that between the drivers seat thigh bolsters, there is 20mm width difference, as compared to the passenger side.

Both uprights seem to be off centre to the base, as in the drivers side sits too much over to the right & touches the door, & the passenger side also sits too much over to the right, creating too much clearance to the door.

Looks like its time to visit an upholstery shop to have this rectified.