Driver’s Seat Comfort

I'm 6'2" also and have sciatica in my right leg which acts up when I'm driving. Obviously it's fine if I'm just driving like 10 minutes but even a 30 minute drive will cause some discomfort. Hour and a half and I'm hurting. This is probably just evidence that I need to get my sciatica figured out.

Do you have seat jackers installed? I need to try and find a good position.

 

yup precisely what I was getting at. Even here in SoCal where the offroading abounds, and the weather allows for trips more months than most states, the majority of tacomas are driven by high schoolers, or young professionals who just commute to and from work, or gardeners. On the forums, all we see are people modding, road tripping, offroading, etc so it's a bit of a different sample and use than the general public.

I feel you on the motorcycle lol. i haven't spent that long, but have definitely had some 5-6 hour riding days. My first mod on my current bike was a Saddelmen seat lol

 

I've thought about seat jackers, to maybe get a little bit more thigh support by raising the front of the seat, but I have not gotten around to it yet.

I've done PT a few times for the lower back/sciatica issues, and there are some stretching exercises I learned from the PT that I still do regularly, which helps a great deal.

 

Walking is better than driving a Jeep.

 

Tacoma seats are still ridiculously uncomfortable, and you’re all still in denial!

 

For certain people, sure. I'm 5'9" and 210 lbs and in my mid 30's, so not far off from you in terms of proportions and age. I've never had a moment of discomfort, even on several cross country trips driving 10+ hours a day in my Tacoma. It sucks that the seats don't work for everyone, but in what world does a single seat design work for 100% of people? Not sure how you can claim people are in denial when you can't possibly understand what other people's bodies feel like when driving the truck. Mine feels 100% fine. If you still haven't resolved this in over a year of ownership, get something else. The full size trucks are basically fitted with couches nowadays that might suit you better. Life is too short to spend it in pain if that's still your experience.

 

We can agree to disagree here. It’s all good. I think there are a lot of factors at play, most prominently pride of ownership, younger and more flexible bodies, and membership in the Tacoma fan club. The Tacoma has great attributes that hide their warts, just like a baby stroller or any other item that people use. Go ahead and tell me how much better rear drum brakes are, or how awesome the power train is…

I bought the truck because of reputation, resale value, 4x4 capability, looks. I’ll probably give it to my son, his 16-17 year old back won’t feel a thing. You can disagree, deny, whatever you want, but the fan club is real…and the moment someone disagrees with Tacoma group-think, the fan club gets defensive. Life is too short for that!

They don’t make Seat Jackers for Mercedes E Class sedans or Honda Pilots, because I reckon there aren’t as many complaints about comfort in those vehicles.

No hard feelings mate. For you, or anyone else that thinks or feels that it’s the most comfortable seat on the road, God Bless. I’ve had like 3 people in my car, various body types/heights/weights and the moment they got in, they ask me “what’s up with these seats?” My wife gets in and within 30 seconds she’ll ask me “how do you do this?”

So yeah, the problem isn’t resolved, but I’m not gonna dump it because 1) I’ll take a huge hit financially and 2) It’s the last model year of Gen-3 and the last NA V6 Toyota will ever put in a pickup truck in the US so I guess we all make trade offs, I’m just not willing to ignore the fact that Tacoma seats suck for me, and a lot of other people.

 

I will say that if you have a bad back, like my wife, there is probably no vehicle where you will be perfectly comfortable in.

I find that at least in my base model, the seats have very little support and they are firm, the lumbar adjustment pushes on your lower back a little bit if you crank it all the way. And that helps.

I’ve noticed the seats are slowly softening up the longer I sit in them and are becoming more compliant but also slightly less supportive.

 

There are quite a few options here. I would just read reviews and try what you think works best. I had really bad sciatica from injuring my back doing CrossFit. So I know the level of pain and discomfort when driving. But, honestly I fixed mine through exercises for the lower back, namely back extensions and very light deadlifts. Have had no issues in over two years.
https://www.google.com/gasearch?q=seat cushions for nad back toyota tacoma&tbm=&source=sh/x/gs/m2/5

 

Glad to know everyone's opinions about their own trucks are somehow tainted due to our fan club membership (while completely ignoring everyone's capacity to have their own, genuine opinions?), and, you know, not the other way around, that people join these forums because they like their trucks how they are (for the most part) and want to share their positive experiences, or look for solutions to the problems they do have (as in your case)? What a dense and backwards way to look at the world.

Obviously Tacoma's have their own host of issues. Nobody would ever disagree with that, and no vehicle is perfect. But as owners on an enthusiasts forum, no shit we mostly enjoy our trucks in spite of their warts, that's why we're here. Half the fun of modifying vehicles is improving things from the factory that are lackluster, and making the vehicle your own. To come here to disregard people's genuine opinions because of some imaginary club (that I never got a membership card for ) is an asinine reduction of human beings in general.

You summed it up perfectly in the end (the seats suck for me), they don't suck for everyone, and acting like those who disagree only do so to defend the all honorable Toyota is ridiculous. Are they the most comfortable seats I've sat in ever? No, that title goes to my office chair that I spent good money on and countless hours researching proper ergonomics for because I spend way more time in that chair than any other chair in my life. That's the only chair I've ever felt like I'm sitting in and not on, so all other chairs suck in comparison, in my opinion. To be clear, I couldn't care less about what people don't like about vehicles they choose to drive, or about Toyota as a brand. If the quality/reliability goes down in future generations, I won't buy one. What annoys me is people who are so dense that when people disagree with them, they don't have the critical thinking skills to think "huh, maybe people are different than me" and instead reduce it to "lol, Toyota fan boys really are butthurt." I get that I'm coming off as a butthurt Toyota fan boy here, but seriously, try treating people as individuals and not some weird category that you can lump them all into because you don't want to overload your brain's capacity for critical thinking. My young and flexible body would do cartwheels if you could learn that lesson, but I suspect that's asking a lot, because life is short, and who wants to waste time thinking for themselves when it's easier to lump everyone into a group and call it a day.

 

I just bought one of these pillows for the passenger seat, based on a recommendation on the forum (I didn't read this whole thread, so not sure if it was mentioned here yet). For $22 it's worth a try.

$23 DMI Sloping Back Foam Seat Cushion for Coccyx Pain Relief, For Use with Chairs and Wheelchairs, With Cover, FSA HSA Eligible, 16 x 18 x 2 – 4"es, Navy.

https://www.amazon.com/DMI-Sloping-Cushion-Support-Posture/dp/B0006UOOE2

I like it more than I expected. Combined with seat jackers on the driver's side it's too much for me, but without them it gives you some extra cushioning and options to change the angle of the seat. I haven't used it long term yet, but I'm going on a trip soon, renting a 2nd Gen with rooftop tent when I get there, and I'll bring it if I have room. I am tempted to bring my seat jackers with me too, since I have around 30 hours of driving planned over a week, but I might just try the pillow.

 

LOL breathe

 

Appreciate the feedback.

That said, we have a Subaru Ascent for our family hauler, never had a back issue driving that. Honda Odyssey, no issue. Jeep JKU, no issue. Volvo V90, no issue. Chrysler Pacifica, no issue. But, all your mileage may vary of course!

 

Chronic pain is insidious and debilitating. It varies from person to person. OP is far from the only person to find seats not workable!

For me the new truck seat foam was great! In January. As weather warmed the foam relaxed and pain set in. Jacking rear of seat to level out seatbottom helped some, as did firm cloth (folded carharrts with stitching and rivets cut out) under tailbone.

Monitoring and adjusting posture, bracing left foot, reversing headrest and strapping inflatable cushion to it instead... all can help incrementally.

I literally cannot drive my wife's Corolla seat more than ten minutes. Test fit several junkyard substitutes but found insufficient headroom.

Anyone who swaps Tacoma seats please post details. Very interested.

 

My wife said one of the reason she didn’t want to keep our Cayenne lease was because the seats were not comfortable, this is like a premium luxury vehicle with ridiculously adjustable adaptive seats.

Then she had to drive my Tacoma one day because I lent my 200 series to my daughter while her 4Runner was being serviced and my wife said the 2022 Tacoma was comfier than her Porsche.

The only vehicle she has never complained about is the 200 series, but that thing is so old that seats feel like a lazy boy.

 

Do you use the seat jackers on the front brackets or the back? What I've found is the front of the seat sits up too high and the back sits too low and it aims your knees higher than your hips. I've found that if you can try making your seat sit more level it's much less strain on my legs. These seats are tricky though because there isn't much headroom.

 

I've been dealing with the same exact thing. Do you have the power seats?

Mine has power seats and I've learned alot about trying to get them dialed in better. Regardless what you need to do is try to make the front and the back of the seat as level to the floor as you can. This is difficult because the seats are installed with a pretty strange angle running from the back to the front. I start with lowering the seat all the way to the ground, then i raise it as high as i can so i can see the dashboard and normal windshield view. Once I have that adjusted i try to slide the seat back so my knees are as close to parallel with my hips. When my knees are higher than my hips I notice more pain, especially on longer trips. I keep my legs slightly bent (which for me has me seat further from the pedals than i thought it would be) and make sure my left foot can rest comfortably on the wedge. My right heal sits comfortably in between the gas and brake pedals so I can pivot without much effort. After I feel comfortable with my length and my height, I lean my seat back so it's far from my back. I sit up straight and comfortably with no back support and then i begin to lean the seat towards my back until i feel it start to support the position I'm in. Usually 100-120 degree angle. Once that feels comfortable I try to make sure by butt is naturally as far back as it can go and feel if there is a gap in my lower back and the seat. I bring the lumbar in and try to fill as much of the gap as i can.

This can take a lot of adjustment and experimenting overall, and if you don't have power seats I apologize for the excessive length of this post hahaha. I know people like to use seat jackers, but I can't imagine a way that they would be helpful unless you installed them on the back of the seat. My front seat doesn't need to go any higher than it is right now and I think it would increase the pain and bad posture.

The other thing i would recommend doing is if you go to a chiropractor or a back specialist, ask them to come out to your truck one day after an appointment and let them help you get your posture correct while you sit in it!

Good luck!

 

5'-11", 190lbs, back, neck, shoulder, knee surgery and a hip replacement. I'm old, been very active sports wise all my life and clearly I am cursed with terrible genetics.

I loved my Frontier seats, my 23' Tacoma seats kill me after a couple hours. Seat jackers did not work for me. My solution is to raise my powered seat almost all the way up on long drives paying attention to the low side of the cab ceiling where the sun roof is. On very long drives I also vary the seat height. I leave the seat in a lower position around town.

The most comfortable seats I have ever had on really long 500-1,000 mile days were my motorcycles. Every hour or so I would stand on the pegs, or shift my feet to the rear pegs. Sadly, I can't do that in my truck.

 

Agreed - no other vehicle that I’ve driven has been this… out-of-proportion. (I had a 4Runner rental and did an 8-hour drive with no issues.)

I have added the seat jackers, and it has made an improvement (as far as back ache) but still not ideal. I get the seat adjusted (fore/aft) for leg length, then seat back angle adjusted for back comfort, and I’m too far away from the steering wheel.

Perhaps try: more lift / spacers under the front of the seat (or a foam wedge); lift / spacers at all four corners; steering wheel extension; added lumbar support or reshaping of the seat back; ???

Hope you find a solution, or at least a few improvements.

 

This is my long personal story and you can agree or disagree. Every 'body' is built differently and there is no one fix that cures all.

I am 5'11" and have owned 6 small/midsize Toyota trucks. I went from a 1987 to a 2000 with no back issue. Went from a 2000 to a 2008. I immediately struggled with lower back discomfort in the 2008. I just attributed that to the Camry style seats in the SR5. Then I bought a new 3rd gen and started taking longer road trips. That truck killed my back after a couple of hours. Every road trip was the same. We took a 4 hour road trip and I could barely stand up straight. At that time I saw where people were stacking washers or installing small diameter store bought spacers under the rear of the seat. I thought it was crazy to put yourself in such an unsafe position. An accident would surely snap off those cheap things. Around Christmas 2018 I decided to work on a cure for myself. Having a machine shop in my garage I started out by making a 1" tall set of spacers to try under the front brackets. Nobody else had done this. They were rather crude and not as fancy as the later DDI ones but they were a good fit and seemed safe enough. As soon as I sat in the truck I was not impressed with my knees being pushed up into my normal tilt of the steering wheel. A minor thing but still a thing. I left my house and drove 1 mile to the interstate. Drove 2 miles and came back home. My back was already hurting more than it ever did. Removed those and threw them in the trash. Back to the drawing board. I made a pair for the rear brackets. Square and planted better than the round ones. It absolutely fixed my back issue. This was only intended to fix my problem. As soon as I mentioned it on TW I was hit with tons of messages to make them for others. That turned into a little side hustle and I never received a single bad review. Later that year DDI came along making the round rear spacers. No problem because friendly competition is the American way. Eventually DDI started making their popular front jackers and I was shocked at how fast that was selling. I was more surprised knowing that front spacers added more pain to my driving experience. That wasn't a big deal to me since there is always a market for my rear spacers that are larger, now with a unique safer bracket-in-spacer pocket design and avg $20 cheaper per pair than the rear DDI stackable washers. I have been retired a few years so I am not looking for more than some extra monthly pocket change. I have sold over 5,000 pairs as a hobby so no complaints. My biggest complaint, and I know DDI would agree, is that around 2022 the Chinese stole my old design and the DDI designs and flooded the market with cheap imitations. We went from 10 sellers on eBay to, as of today, nearly 1500 sellers of seat spacers on eBay. 98% of those sellers are based in China. Thank you eBay and thank you people that send your money to Communist China. For the record I have installed my spacers in my last 3 trucks from the 2016 to the 2012 to the current 2008. I cannot drive a Tacoma without them.

The bottom line is that you buy what you need to make these terrible seats comfortable. If you are comfortable then don't ruin your seats, and the health of your spine, by installing spacers as a mod. They are not a mod like wheels or a bug shield. These are going to change the ergonomics of your seat and can lead to painful back issues later.

Forgive me for the shameless picture of my product