Why does this seat suck so bad?

Thanks!

I’ve been on the fence for a while with these. I miss my old BRZ seats that tilted back like these are supposed to help with. Let’s see how they do. Pricey as hell but that discount code helped.

 

It’s not stock no. I did some mods to make it more capable off-road and improved general drivability a bit.

 

I was on the fence for the longest time as well. Got a wild hair and ordered a pair last month and really glad I did. I am 6’9” so didn’t really think they would help much but to my surprise they really do. Biggest difference for me is the small extra angle keeps me from feeling like I am sitting on my tail bone all the time. Huge difference for me.

 

Alright, damnit. I caved after six years of Tacomas.

I just installed the front jackers.

The front seats were always comfortable for me. Mostly. It wasn't the leg position that ever bothered me, it was the side bolsters. I like a bucket seat. One that locks the torso and legs into place. The other car has deep buckets that keep your ass glued in place when pulling a hard corner.

After installing seat covers in the truck I've noticed that I've lost what little bolster there was. All of a sudden my legs are wobbling all over the place, hitting the console, the door, just not staying still. Makes you feel like a drunken ride on the subway, no matter how hard you try to keep them legs together, you can't.

So I thought, maybe the jackers will force a little support. And to a degree, they do. Legs are much more controlled. I'm just not thrilled about the new position. I've lost a little headroom, oddly enough. Doesn't have that butt on the ground driver's position that I prefer. It sits more like an old bench-seated truck now. I'll give it a week or so to see if I like it better. I probably will.

 

Well that’s not what I was hoping for.

 

Yeah I know I'm the weirdo with the highly unpopular opinion, but I like the driving position of a car - legs out, knees very slightly bent.

That little 1.25 inch spacer puts a huge bend in the knee, now I'm sitting like my living room recliner. Most people prefer that, which is a small part of why you don't see many cars on the road anymore. I don't.

But if it holds my legs in place, then that's the position I'm going to have to put up with.

 

Ok solution for seat discomfort before entering truck bang hand HARD with hammer ,now sit down and drive you will not notice seat discomfort at all now

 

This was my experience too.
People swear up and down this isn’t the case, but it was obvious to me that I would lose headroom before I even bought a set. It’s simple geometry and unless you are tucking your ass completely into the hinge of the seat and bending unnaturally, raising the front is going to raise your head, even if only slightly. Heck, you can see the the raised position of the rear seat mounts when you tighten the rear bolts after installing the jackers.
Despite moving my head even closer to the ceiling and being at maybe an inch or so of clearance now, I find the new position so comfortable I never uninstalled the jackers.

 

Alright @Rock Lobster I installed these today. Your comment about them feeling like an old bench seated truck is spot on. I feel like I’ve been teleported back to the 70’s.

First trip for some beer to drown my sorrows I’m not sure I want to keep them. Hard to explain but the seating position feels cheap now.

 

My knees are already close to the steering wheel even with it all the way up, raising the front of the seat would be worse.

 

Seat Jackers were a game changer for me, I do like sitting high in all my cars. I installed them in the GX as well and they have been great there too.

What I have been searching for lately is seats with small leg bolsters but more aggressive side bolsters would be the perfect fit for our trucks.

I am almost positive these are the ones I'll be installing. The Corbeau Trail Cats, decent leg bolsters with more aggressive side bolsters. Air bags are an issue that have to get worked into the install.

https://corbeau.com/trailcat/

 

Did you notice any change in getting in or out of the vehicle after installing? Do you sense that the increasing the rear too may help, or add to the problem?


Mike

 

@hiPSI you wrote: I don't think engineers can do much better than they have due to the huge variety of asses they have to fit.
Stuff like this makes my day... I considered it inspired... it transcends seat design.

Now that's what I'd be worried about as well. For me, getting in is a PITA. My flexibility has declined over the years, mostly due to the significant hours each week I spend, sitting on my ass, doing software engineering work.

 

It's a tighter squeeze to get in and out. Raising the rear would make it much worse for me. Right now with just the fronts raised I'm toying with the following positions:

A: knees wedged under the wheel, comfortably reclined.
B: knees stretched to a more natural position, but sitting so upright my head brushes the ceiling with every maneuver. I can no longer see stoplights.
C: knees stretched, comfortably reclined, but have to hunchback forward to reach the wheel.

After adjusting one notch at a time over the last several days I've decided on position A, and will be giving it a solid two weeks to see if it's better than no jacker. Maybe I'll grow to like it, maybe I'll ditch them.

 

The used car manager at the dealership I used to work at always said: “ There’s an ass for every seat”.

Apparently there isn’t a seat for every ass.

 

@Rock Lobster I wonder if having Clazzio covers made our seats more stiff/uncomfortable? I have both sets of seat jackers and no matter what I try, I'm still uncomfortable. I'm on my second Amazon back seat cushion, hoping it works.

 

Would love to get different front seats in my truck. If you figure out the airbag setup - please post. There have been some posts on here to bypass them, and some about needing to recalibrate the weight sensors - but no one wants to take on this work given the liability and our litigious society. Love my truck but have excessively long femur's for someone of my height (6'1") - and the seat while tolerable, could be better.

 

For me, yes. The bit of foam padding in the center panel took away what little side bolster the uncovered seats had. That has been my personal observation - that the less glued in you are, the more core muscles you are engaging to "fight" the seat (or more accurately, fighting the motion of the vehicle), the faster you fatigue out and feel a general sense of being uncomfortable. Sitting still, the seats feel fine. Its when I'm in motion that I keep wanting to shift my ass, legs, and torso around.

This morning's ride on the jackers wasn't bad though. Actually having the wheel between my knees helped stabilize things. I'm thinking as a side experiment, I'd like to pick up some thin strips of memory foam and pad the bolsters. That might be an interesting holiday project to test my theory.

 

I'm curious to know your findings. I also thought about doing this, but then I remember how much of a "joy" it was installing those clazzio covers.

 

Okay. After day two I am sick of feeling like I am driving a tractor. I’m pulling these things out.

Set of seat Jackers coming to a for sale thread near you.