Tacoma Seat swap?

There are two types of 4Runner seats, the basic ones with a more flat backing, that I believe are identical to double can Tacoma seats, and there are late (98 and up) SR5 and sport seats that hug you a bit more.

Not sure if the photos I posted earlier are showing up or not. So I'll try again

 

If I'm not mistaken scion seats take a little more work. 4Runner seats are really easy. Not quite a direct fit, but something you can do without welding - just needs some cutting and mending. I used a Dremel tool to cut the foot off.

 

ok so when you speak of side cushions your just talking about the raised edges that hug you in the seat.

we have to ask because some people use seats from vans and suv that do have folding armrest on them

I have a line on two 4runners that have been in the parts yard for about 7 days now so im planning to go down and look tomorrow hoping one has a good set of seats but when you said the had side cushions I stayed home today until I knew the answer to that question since its a 2 hour drive to get there.

 

Oh, sorry for the confusion

 

if you don't mind, I have a few more questions im curious about:

are the 4runner seats better then the tacomas?

are they softer or support better?

do the seats sit higher, lower?

do the seats move more forward or to the rear then the Tacoma or about the same?

in other words what do you like best about them?

and did the seat belts work or did you have to swap those out with the Tacoma ones?

 

They are better in every way - to me.

They sit about an inch higher, the side support is great for off roading, helps from being jostled around too much. The driver seat has adjustable lumbar support.

I bought my truck at 350k miles and the two previous owners both weighed more than 280, least to say there was no padding in my original bench seat.

Honestly these seats have been my favorite upgrade. They are firm but not harsh. Mine came out of a truck with 80k and had rolled, no telling how long they sat and they were on the dirty side when I got them but I steam vacuumed them and the whole truck when I had the seats out.

They move forward about the same, the only downside, the original bench both moved up and forward when you hit the lever, these you have to do one at a time forward then up or visa versa.

Seat belts had no issues, I did take the buckle (female part with release button) off the original seat but it's just a bolt and lock washer

 

sounds great, I have the 60/40 bench so the seats already move separately so that's normal for me. they are in decent shape. on a 1-10 scale with 10 being brand new, I say the fabric condition is about a 6 but they feel like a worn out cheap sofa cushion and you can feel the wire springs.

its just stupid Toyota would put a solid part in the middle so you have no access behind the seats unless you stop and get out of the truck first.

I will be going down in the morning and hope they have a decent set, good lord willing they might be a brown color to match my interior.

 

Good luck!

Pull a center console from a Tacoma (typically double cab) if you can. Some TRD models had a console in the access cab.

The 4Runner console will work but you have a nice gaping hole from the e-brake

 

I have a column shift auto so the e-brake is in the dash so no worries with a naked floor hump but I have plans to just make a wooden console, they are just a basic box with a lid and very easy to do and are much better then the cheap plastic crap consoles anyway.

tacomas never go to the scrap yard around here, they take them home and sell the parts so a tacoma at the salvage yard is like going home to find a supermodel waiting in bed for you, pure fantasy lol.

I swear if you don't wait at the scene of the accident and follow a wrecked Tacoma to where the tow truck drops it off at, it vanishes into thin air around here like free money. after 2 years calling all yards around here and having my number on their bulletin boards with the message "sold sight unseen" I still haven't herd a peep about one

 

well sorta good news (for me) I found a drivers side brown bucket seat from a 98 4runner in great condition but the passenger seat was already gone.

im happy I got at least the one for drivers side but that's the one that everyone wants and needs so im shocked that was there and the passenger side hardly anyone is ever needing was missing. the color is a good match for my passenger bucket seat from the 60/40 but the shapes are noticeably different in foam, fabric pattern, and design, so unless your at a distance you instantly see they don't match.

oh well at least it wasn't a wasted trip, I will have to keep watching and hope to find another truck there soon with matching brown seats.

EDIT: (removed baseless speculation that didn't pan out)

 

With my seat swap I don't think I am putting in a console I might put a sub in instead. oh and sshirley would it be to much trouble to post pics of where you screwed in the seats and their tracks? if you can't I understand. and one more question for me: can I take out the bench seat, tracks and all, and put the 4 runner tracks and all in with reasonable success?

 

yes, that is what he did and what I was planning to do.

what he was saying is, the front outside corner of the your old seat, that foot needs to be removed from your seat and added to the front outside corner of the 4runner seats so they can mount in the old seats bolt hole location on that one corner. the other 3 corners line up perfectly and bolts right in place. the only thing that isn't an exact match is the front outside (door side) foot.


I found this taco seat swap info that is very informative: http://www.customtacos.com/tech.old/index.php?article=168

 

upon further review:

I thought I was onto something but investigating more I found out those bolts I was looking at are for removing the seat bottom "only" and the seat back and full frame don't come off with it so its not a solution for switching seat brackets out.

no big deal but I wanted to share that.

this does mean though that I cant just find second gen 4runner seat brackets and put good condition 3rd gen 4runner seats on them without doing upholstery work to swap the seat backs which defeats the whole idea of just having to drill one hole to mount then rather then trying to remove and swap out a front foot for each seat. I doubt I can find second gen 4runner buckets in usable shape so sticking with the plan sshirley told us how to do it.

 

can you describe in more detail what you did.

cutting the foot off and swapping them seams plain and straight forward enough but without seeing it I want to use your experience to help me do it the easiest and best way. like with anything, after you did it once you can do it better they next time knowing things or wasted steps to avoid.

 

ok, in addition to the one unmatched brown drivers seat from a 4runner I got the other day, I now have a matching set of 2 bucket seats with all the moldings and covers from another 1999 4runner.

none of the 98 4runners I saw today had the correct seat brackets so I guess the seat has to be from a 99-02 4runner to match.

the cushions are shaped different and look flatter then the ones in sshirley's pictures and there is no lumbar support adjustment on these seats so I think these must be the base model seats. they look just like the Tacoma bucket seats but with more padding to it.

one main problem I have now is I have the blue/gray seats and my truck has brown interior so I really don't want to leave the mismatched look of it.

so I need to get the seats recovered by a shop or just buy seat covers that I can install myself but I dont want those crappy "elastic s-hook and strings tied to the seat" seat covers, you know the ones I mean, the ones that last a month and start sliding off and look like crap from day 1.

im in laplace just outside new Orleans Louisiana so anybody have a suggestion where to look to have it done or where to buy "real" replacement cloth seat covers at a decent price?

 

There is a small tack weld on one end and a large bolt rivet thing holding down the foot to the rail, I grinded the rivet thing down from the rail side and twisted the foot to break loose the tack weld. Then I just rewelded the rivet thing on the new rail and added another tack weld. Or you could try bolting down the foot to the new rail.

 

I was thinking about this whole process and decided we might be overthinking things too much here.

I put this theory out there:

assume we have the 99 4runner seat, it fits front and rear inside bolt holes as is, the issue needed to be resolved is only the outside rail fitment.

what if you simply grind off the outside rail stop only, remove that rail, grind off the stop on the outside rail of the original taco seat and slide that rail off, slide the taco outside rail onto the 4runner seat outside rail track and your done, install the seat.

I say your done because the factory seat stop is still in place on the inside rail and it only needs one rail stop to stop the seat from moving too far forward.

THERE IS NO PRESSURE ON IT BECAUSE ITS JUST TO STOP THE SEAT FROM ADJUSTING TOO FAR, IT DOESNT ACTUALLY DO ANYTHING TO SECURE THE SEAT SO TYHIS MEANS A QUICK AND EASY, NO WELD, NO FOOT REPLACEMENT, NOTHING BUT A TRUE BOLT IN REPLACEMENT AFTER YOU GRIND THE STOP OFF OF THE OUTSIDE SEAT TRACK SLIDE SO THAT ONE RAIL ONLY CAN BE SWAPPED OUT WHOLE.

wow, sorry I musta hit the cap lock button but im not going to retype all that lol.

opinions please? I think this is a better and simpler solution to retain full seat strength and mount integrity

 

I would say that is worth a shot. I think the reason I didn't do that is because it was an odd angle to grind off the bump stop so I just cut the foot off instead.

I did this over 6 months ago, I should have taken more pictures.. I will know for my next project.

 

I was planning on switching the rails when I started but couldn't quite figure out where to remove the stops, the rollers inside the rail also make it stop so you would have to remove those bump stops as well. Also on the seats I used the slides had different style locks so it wouln't have worked anyways. But in your case things may be easier and I say "do it".

 

My 2-door Taco has bucket seats that tilt/slide forward quite a ways, for better access to the area behind the seats. Since all 4runners since 1992 or so have 4 doors, then these seats likely don't have this feature.

Has that been an issue for those who are using 4R front buckets in there 2-door Tacos?