Swapping 1st Gen. Seats with 2nd or 3rd Gen.?

I have a 1998 Tacoma SR5 extended cab whose bucket seats have seen better days. Since finding 1st Gen. seats in decent condition is all but impossible, I was wondering if anyone put 2nd/3rd Gen. seats in a 1st Gen. Tacoma???

If anyone has attempted this, how did it go?

 

There are no seats that bolt into this truck unless you want to cut and weld new feet. The 3rd Gen 4Runner seats will be close
But one foot needs to be cut and rewelded.

 

I was thinking about retaining the 1st Gen.'s track and mounting the 3rd Gen.'s seat to the 1st Gen's track. I don't know if it would work unless I had the opportunity to see the seats side by side .... which is why I posted my question.

 

The 1st gen seat tracks are integrated into the seat frame. You'd have to hack apart the bottom to get it all out and do the same on the new seats.
I make brackets that help mount 3rd gen 4Runner seats in 1st gens: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/4runner-seat-adapters.622390/

 

I have 2017 Camry power seats in my 99 reg cab and i used the Camry tracks.

 

you used just the tracks? Or the whole camry seat and tracks or what do you mean, im sorry im not following you, and I have a similar issue as well

 

I'm in the process of swapping my '99 Tacoma ext cab 60/40 bench seat for buckets from an '06 4Runner (4th gen) . It's been a challenge . Nothing lines up mostly I believe because I'm going from manual seats to electric . 2 completely different track systems . Got too much skin in the game to quit now .
Have a look at my thread . Updated pics coming
..

 

That sounds cush. How did that work out? Laughs. I can put anything in there as long as I don't care how it's bolted in. Not that I'm above doing that. 2 bolts is prob. good enough, so is 4 lug nuts.

 

Had a few go rounds with seats. Without enough research I tried Subaru Crosstrek leather seats with oem feet welded on, way too tall.

Put in Corbeau seat brackets with new sliders and messed with the mounting to drop them about an inch, still too tall. I drilled out the stops to get the seat back to come forward further, otherwise the back seat was a total bitch to access, still didn’t improve that much. In the picture the driver seat unaltered, passenger with the stops drilled out.

Now have Procar touring seats. They’re decent but not perfect, feel a bit cheap and limited forward travel of the seat back with no way to alter it, thus the need for the long travel seat sliders.
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sca-80-1680-51l?rrec=true

One thing to consider with any seat you use, they may not have seat backs that come far forward enough to have easy access to the back seat if it’s from a 4 door vehicle vs 2 door with a back seat, might not be an issue using Camry seats in a regular cab

If I had it to do over I’d have skipped the bullshit and just gone with the Recaros, still hope/plan to, but that’ll be dropping about $3000 for two seats.

 

Or, just buy a new aftermarket seat.

 

Mounted to what though?

@Laxtoy explained if you have an extend cab most seat rails do not go forward enough for access. I don't think aftermarket seat rail move enough. They are probably meant for 2door sports cars.

@nzbrock said "The 1st gen seat tracks are integrated into the seat frame." So, we can even use the seat rails in our seats and bolt new seats on top of our old seat rails.


I love the look and size of my 1st gen srunner but there's just sooooo much more support for the 2nd/3rd gen tacomas. hmm...

 

Little bit of cutting and/or welding and you can use a pre-existing track/slider for use with a new aftermarket seat, or take off from another vehicle.

Or, go through many already available bolt-on applications sold by reputable vendors.

So really, what are you asking?

 

Simplify it for yourself since you seem to have it down, but if others want some input, I think there’s a a lot to consider

-seat width: since 1st gens are tight, a 21” seat base width is about max, otherwise the seat hits the transmission tunnel or the door storage pocket on forward travel or have interference issues with the center console. I pulled the plastic junk one and plan to fab my own from steel, if you want and aftermarket option you could get a Tuffy, 6-1/2” inch is about max.

-seat back height: both the Subaru seats I used and the aftermarket Procar seat backs were taller than oem, might seem like a small consideration to some, but my dog could no longer get her head out the passenger door with either so I know she was pissed.

-seat slider travel: I found sliders that were 9” travel after a lot of looking. Seat sliders also come in single and double locking, meaning the locking slide is with one sided or both, I chose both because the seats take a beating off road. I also had to fab my own pull handles since the ones that came with the sliders didn’t match the width of the mounting holes on the new seats.

-seat belt mounting: some seats may have a seat belt that mounts to the seat so the seat belt base goes forward and back as you move the seat, the Corbeau brackets had welded mounts I cut off and redid due to interference with the center console I wanted to build. The mounting point being fixed to the base can be a pain in the ass. As the seat goes furward it can push the buckle forward as the seat side hits it. If the buckle is attached to the seat base that moves like oem you don’t have the issue, but it may be a matter of trying to get your oem buckles to mount to something with different size hardware as was the case with the Crosstrek seats.

-seat base height: stock is about 8” off the floor. Get a seat from a 2 wheel drive car, might be too thick to be able to lower enough for proper head height. I was hitting my head popping my head out the window to see where I was going. Tall people weee fucked in the passenger seat and had to put the seat back reclined back so they didn’t hit the headliner.

-what’s available: just like your beat t shit Toyota seats, there isn’t a lot out there that may work. A lot of vehicles use electric seats, a lot of the controls are in the seat base and control the seat back. Old Civic seats or seats from a 4Runner may be very hard to find, considering they might be 20 years old or more.

The Corbeau brackets are a good place to start, they’re made from steel flat stock so they sit tight to the ridges on the cab bottom. If you need to raise your seats you can come up with a solution, I used a spacer to get another 1/2” in the front.

Recaro seats have seat backs that go way forward. Other manufacturers might not.

I guess my perspective is you can futs around with it for years like I did or go straight for a well-researched solution.

 

great write up btw. thank you.

 

I think its, the 4runner sport seats. They are my favorite. I'm still looking for a nice set on my island to swap into my single cab 5 lug truck, using @nzbrock 's adapter pieces.

 

do you have a pic of the seat stop you drilled to get a bit more forward tilt to access behind the seat?
I just finished up a similar project as yours . Might help my situation .
Have a look a my page . I posted quite a few pics of the process.

 

02 4Runner sports seats an adapter from @nzbrock works perfect