Get out of that hole! DIY seat risers...

I figured I'd make my first real post to this group after my introduction as useful as possible. My 2 day old Taco Sport 4x4 is great...except feeling like I was sitting on the floor. I noticed this when test driving several different times and after looking at the mounting points, knew it'd be an easy fix. I've had a couple of Wranglers over the years and my last one, an 05 LJ rubi, also had that feeling of sitting on the floor. It's really an easy fix...

1) Figure out just how much more rise you need. For me, 1" was too much but, a 1/2"-5/8" would be about perfect. I'm 5'9" with a 32" inseam. So, short torso and long legs wasn't a good combo for the stock seating.

2) I pulled out one of the stock rear mounting bolts from the passenger side and headed over to Ace Hardware. The stock bolt is an M10x25x1.25 pitch. It's a hex head machine screw with a captured washer. It threads directly into the body of the truck and into a welded nut that's inside of a brace, which can be seen underneath the truck. It's really, really important not to overtighten when re-installing.

3) At Ace, I found a 3/4" steel bushing with an inside diameter of 3/8" - perfect. Next was the correct length bolt, an M10x50x1.25 and a couple of flat, M10 washers. Stock bolt on the right.


4) Out at the truck, time to remove the plastic caps and loosen the bolts. First, since we're only replacing the rear bolts, it's a good idea to loosen the front bolts a couple of turns to allow the seat track to move freely.


5) Remove the rear bolts holding down the seat track. The stock is a 14mm.


6) Next, slip the 3/4" bushing UNDER the seat track on both sides; with the front bolts loosened, the seat should lift easily. Once under the tab, insert your new bolt with the washer on top and hand tighten. Do the same for both tracks.


7) After both rears are in place and your bolts are hand tight, go back to the front and re-tighten those bolts. DO NOT OVERTIGHTEN. They need to be quite snug, but please don't ham fist them and strip the threads. After tightening the front, go back and tighten the rears a little bit at a time on each side until you have good, even tension on both sides.


8) Reinstall your plastic covers...stand back, admire your work and chuckle knowing that for $20 worth of hardware, you have just made your new tacoma seating position what it should have been from the factory.


9) Below are two pics of the seating position before/after.

Before:


After:


As you can see, there's plenty of seatbelt connection still available to go up to 1", or more. If 3/4" is too much, use a smaller spacer. Not enough...well, you know what to do!

Mike

 

Good writeup!

Noticed that you purchased 4 bolts. Does that imply that you did both the driver and passenger seats?

And, is the plastic cover also raised off the floor?

 

I tried that but got the feeling the seat was angled to far down in front. If the front could be lifted as well I would go for that. But I can live with it as it is.

 

Yes, I did both the driver's and passenger side. The plastic cover is just off the carpet, but not enough to really even notice.

Yeah, that's the other reason why 1/2-3/4" is about right. You can see from the pic above that the seat isn't flat and still slants back quite a bit. This allows for a more natural bend in the knees, too - at least for me.

 

Nice write up Mike.

I felt the same way with my 2012 Taco. My current T4R seat is adjustable up and down so, it's no problem. However, if I get another Taco (I like the '16s), I will be using your example as we are the same size at 5'-9" with 32" inseam. My other (small) issue is non-adjustable seat bolsters. On both the Taco and T4R, sitting in the seat, my back is not supported from the sides and I end up shifting side to side...like I said small but, I'd pay extra for a manual adjustment of the side bolsters.

 

Any concern about shearing the seat off the mounts during an accident?

 

Can't see the pics. Is anyone else having that problem?

 

@mthopton, What happened to the pictures?

 

I actually thought the seat was too high, and I'm a bit shorter than the OP.

 

Hmmm...they were fine. Let me go and chk.

 

I still see the pictures fine.

 

What's your inseam?

 

Are they in cache? Try refreshing the page, and see if the pics are still there.

 

Oh, yeah, they were. Refreshed it and now they're gone.

 

31

 

Pictures still not working, even when I log into Google. Seems the pics are account protected.

Anyway you can attach the pics, or place them in TW gallery?

 

I am 5-10, 185 pounds. I have no issue with the seat height. My issue is the space between the steering wheel and seat. Each and every time I get in or out of my new 2016 Limited, I have to squeeze my thigh between the wheel and seat. Steering wheel is up as far as it goes. Never had this problem with any other vehicle. I almost didn't buy this truck because of the lack of multi-adjust.able seat. Love the truck, except for this.

 

I can't see pics either.

 

Can you guys see the pics now? I put them into a shared album in Google photos.

 

Nope, no pics yet.

You may have to relink the pics in your original post.