Headrests, visors and mirrors

I recently inherited my dad's '99 Tacoma 2wd SR5 extended cab 2.4L auto. It's a great truck, and I'm planning on keeping it as long as possible. Dad was pretty hard on the truck, he'd always owned full-size work trucks and treated this one pretty much the same. So far, I've rebuilt the starter, replaced the battery, fuel pump, filter, plugs, rewired the aftermarket cruise and installed an Alpine head unit. I still need to replace the factory speakers, install 4Runner tweeter pods, do something about the front catalytic (#@$## cali emissions on a Texas truck), and a few other minor things.

There are still a few things I'd like to fix, and I'm hoping ya'll can help out.

1. The headrests had this annoying bulge at the top, and I couldn't figure out why Toyota designed them that way. Then I found out that the bar had actually broken through the foam of the headrest. When you pull it up, it "fixes" the issue, but soon drops back down. Is there any way to repair this or do I just need new headrests? If I do, I may just go ahead and switch to the buckets and console instead of the 60/40.

2. The factory fold-down sunvisors are floppy, almost to the point they're falling apart. Can these be repaired? Are there aftermarket versions? I'd even consider tempered hardboard covered in vinyl like the old VW's used to have.

3. The stock side mirrors work fine, but it's extremely easy to bump them out of place. The passenger side will even move if you're driving fast into a headwind. Is there any way to tighten them up a bit? I still want them to fold if they're hit, but not that easily.

 

I'll only speak to #1.

The bucket seat headrests suck moose balls too. The way I "fix" them is by manhandling them to the point where that bar finds its way to the back.

There is a write up on here where the guy took the headrest apart and did something to it. I'll try to find it for you.

 

Appreciate it! The headrest design was definitely not well done.

 

Okay, well, ended up finding out the info the old-fashioned way, tearing into it and hoping I could put it back.

1. The headrests are a simple design consisting of a u-shaped bar of chromed steel with foam formed around the top, and a slipcover-style covering. The cover comes off from the bottom, it's two plastic channels that slide into each other. I took the cover off, pulled the bar back to it's original position, then slathered Elmer's glue all over the torn insides of the foam. I then mummified the cover with duct tape. When pulling the cover back on, DON'T push on the bar. The cover was a little loose since the foam was compressed a bit, but not enough to be very noticeable. I took the opportunity to clean the covers with Resolve carpet cleaner while I had them out of the truck. Worked great, no discoloration. The only thing I'd have done differently would be to epoxy some large washers just under the bottom of the foam so it couldn't slide back down again, but I didn't have the right size washers handy.

2. I've taken the passenger visor apart. It's a little more involved, but I already know how I'm going to fix it better than new. I'm taking pics as I go so I may do a writeup howto.

3. The mirror tension is adjustable. There is a small plastic plate on the underside held in place with a torx bit. I didn't have any small torx, so I used a screw extractor in a cordless drill to get it out. Under the plate is a 10mm bolt with a washer and spring. Tighten the bolt until the mirror has enough give to adjust but not so much that it's easy to move by merely bumping it. Reinstalled the bottom plate and replaced the torx screws with some Philips head screws. Total time: 15 minutes.

 

I'm in the same boat with #2. My drivers side visor settles to about two inches below the roof. Those pics and writeup would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks.

 

If it's just lack of holding strength, there's a philips screw right under the chrome bar that goes into the visor. Tightening that adds tension. If it's the whole thing sagging (like mine), I'm working on it.

I don't know who designed the interiors on the Tacomas, but I'm really glad they didn't let them work on drivetrain design!