Power seats?

2014 XSP X · Apr 5, 2014

Looking to install a power seat into my tacoma from a 4runner, any tips that will help me with the install along the way?

LP_Y_SO_SRS · Jun 17, 2015

So i guess to answer the original question.

No one can tell you how to add power seats.

You will need to figure it out yourself.

Maybe taking the mounting brackets from the 4Runner , and drilling holes to match up with the mounting points on the Tacoma and the original seat.

not sure how you would run power to them, might have to run a line directly from the battery.

This is just my guess best of luck please post your progress.

dcaplan · Jun 17, 2015

Have a look here:

ranger098 · Jun 17, 2015

Ive been into this for a while but havent ever seen a power seat swap done so im hesitant to be the first. Maybe if i got some 4runner seats cheap enough...

But i think the real issue of not getting comfortable has nothing to do with the seat, it has to do with the really high floorboards.

LP_Y_SO_SRS · Jun 17, 2015

MCE1;222913 said:

I took my 4Runner seats out and looked at the mechanics from the underside, and looked at the seats in a double cab Tacoma over at the dealership. The slide rails looked identical. Of course the legs that were attached to the rails were somewhat different.

While I couldn't look at the underside of the Tacoma seats (I told the dealer why I was looking at them but I wasn't going to ask to take them out of his truck!), I'm fairly convinced from looking at the 4Runner seats that the mounting point between the seat base and seat back and the slide rails is universal. There were two bolts on each side of each piece that held the frame of the seat (inside the cushions) to the rails. This would only be good engineering so they could increase the volume on the slide rails - and probably the frame inside the cushions as well - thereby improving economies.

If this is true, then the seat base and seat back from the 4Runner seats will bolt into the Tacoma slide rails. The only possible issue might be clearance between the seat cushion and the console or door pillar - which I don't think should be a problem. If the cushion is thicker (which I think it is a bit) there could be a slight reduction in head room as well.

I checked around a few used parts places both local to me in Florida and one online that turned out to be in CA (ship to FL for $85). The price of the seats ranged from $300 for a pair of grey leather from a FL wholesaler to $600-800 through the local FL and the CA parts houses.

I'm basing all this on my '98 4Runner seats which are probably a factory 'sport' seat with a generous side bolster that comes up under the armpit. They are very comfortable. Probably seats out of a '96-'02 4Runner would all work.

Before I would actually go through with this type of change I would get both types of seats side-side to confirm these assumptions. But from what I saw I'm 95% sure it would work. I have not bought the Tacoma, and am starting to think I'm going to wait on the redesigned 2005 model, so I may never find out though.
Click to expand...

dcaplan said: ↑

Have a look here:
Click to expand...

thank you for the reply, but the article is just more speculation on the 4runner conversion. So far no one has confirmed the viability of doing the swap.

Does anyone know of a 12v power supply under the seats? I assume there is since people have added heat warmers.

ranger098 · Jun 17, 2015

Pretty sure theres no power under there since you cant get a yota with a power seat. I know for sure my 05 TRD Sport doesnt have power. People that added heated seats would have ran aux power. Thats the least of your problems tho, you can just run power from the battery and problem solved. the tough part here is getting the seats SAFELY and securely mounted to the truck

LP_Y_SO_SRS · Jun 18, 2015

Looks like This will be the best way to route a 12v power supply to the seat.

primer said: ↑

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As always - do this at your own risk. I am not a professional or an expert and have no business giving advice on complex subjects such as modifying your trucks electrical system.

First you have to install the heating elements. Check out the Katzkin install threads for full instructions on removing/reinstalling upholstery. I suspect most will add heat when you are already doing this part of the project.

The elements I got for my truck were pretty small. Hopefully they’ll be fine. They have a peel and stick type of adhesive and just stuck right to the foam of the seat. I cut a slit in the foam to route the wiring through.

I put the bottom heater under my butt. When I sit in my seats now, I think it would be better, if you only have one small element to put it under your thighs on the other part of the seat bottom. I didn’t do this because I worried that the wire passing under the bar would cause problems. I’ll bet you could just run the wire directly through the foam to the bottom of the seat and avoid that all together. If it wasn’t such a hassle to mess with this stuff I’d probably change it. Oh well.

I ran the wiring harness for the R seat under the carpet to the area under the center console then to the L kick panel. The L harness went to the L kick panel as well.

To get them into the engine bay, I connected them together and ran one power and one ground wired out one of the rubber plugs under the drivers seat.

These pics were taken from when I ran other stuff through here - but I just ran these right with them.

You also have to find a wire that is “hot” when the ignition is on and “cold” when it’s not. This is the one I found that fits the bill:

It is the blue wire with the yellow stripe. I tapped into it with a wire tap and ran this with the rest of the heater harness to the engine bay.

All the wires were zip tied together and routed to the drivers side of the engine bay. At this point you could just run them to the Pos battery terminal and to ground, but If you want to have them controlled by the ignition you need to wire them through a relay.

This is a diagram of what I did:

I used this relay and relay socket:

$12 HELLA 003510087 30 Amp 12V Mini SPST Relay with Bracket

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000VUAJIM

$229 Autoloc Keep It Clean RAS12 12" Plug and Play Deluxe Relay Harness Socket

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BTO1HS

The relay is necessary because it uses the ignition power to switch on power to the seat heaters. If ignition is off now power will reach the seat heaters - even if you flip the switches in the cab.

I mounted the relay through the hole in the top to one of the holes on the side of the engine bay. It turns out that the bolts that hold the jump seats in place for the Access cab fit these holes perfectly. I had to leave one of my seats out for a little while and tried the bolt here. If I can find a part number or something, I’ll post it - but the closest thing I could find at Home Depot didn’t fit the threads.

Before installing you need to put a diode in the circuit. Apparently a relay wired like this can allow a spike of current back through your system. It is definitely above my head - but it was recommended to me that I put a diode between the white and blue wires. This allows current to flow in only one direction. I’m afraid if I try to explain my understanding of this someone who really knows what they are talking about will expose my ignorance. If you can explain this to others well - please post it here.

I used this diode:
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2036268&CAWELAID=107597561

You can see that it has a white line at one end - that end should be connected to the white wire. The other end is connected to the blue wire:

I put some clear shrink wrap over it all so I could still see what I had done if I forgot:

The relay socket has five contacts. The center is red and I just trimmed it short.
The remaining 5 wires connect as follows:

Black - Pos battery terminal (I put one of the fuse holders from my seat kit here)
Yellow - Red power wire from seat heater harness
White - to 12v ignition power (the wire I tapped into at the steering wheel)
Blue - Ground

The black (Ground) wire from seat heater harness goes directly to ground as well.

I need to get a little accessory fuse box, but until then I tried to zip tie everything in place neatly. Sorry for the poor pics:

Finally (and to me the best part) I installed the heater switches in the center console. If you remove the shift knob you can pop up the silver cover on the top of the console.

I drew out where I wanted the holes:

Then I used on of these drill bits to drill them:

I had to make the holes a little larger than the instructions said but they fit fine:

This is what it looks like underneath:

There are some friction clips to attach the cover very close to these spots. I had to use my dremel tool to clean them up so the switches fit OK.

Now it works just like I want. Heaters are disabled and will not work if the ignition isn’t on. With the ignition on the heaters work perfectly:

The drivers side switch is on high, the passenger side is on low:

Click to expand...

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