'98 Reg Cab 3-Link SAS

Hey man!

You were certainly a huge inspiration! I think I followed you for a while....did you use to have white SAS Tundra some years back as well?

Anyway, I read every single page of your build thread. I am also copying your idea about racing seats and harness bar LOL. Ordered custom PRP seats...different model than the ones you had. They arrived a couple of weeks ago, but haven't had time to install them.

And wow, thank so much for your feedback on flat beds! Appreciate your honesty! You now convinced me not to go that route hahaha. It's easy to make assumptions. Your flat bed looked so good that anybody could easily think you were all crazy about it. Interesting to hear your thoughts also on bobbed/dovetailed beds too.

 

Bobbed beds matter too


Thing stopped being a useful truck when I got a full-size spare lol. Not much room for anything else.
Cage looks good though. I go back and forth every time I think about doing one between an internal or external.

 

Yup, had the 02 Tundra on one tons from around 07-12. That was a fun truck, and learned a lot while building it.

Loved the PRP's I had except for two things... I should have got the reclining version because they would have just flat out fit better in a regular cab, and I wish I would have got at least tweed centers instead of the vinyl.... the back sweat from the Florida heat was unbearable lol.

I should have elaborated more on the bed I had, I loved the look of the flat/tube bed (the second/last version that was on the truck, the first version with the major dovetail was just plain awful) and it was functional, but the biggest drawback of it here in Florida was all the mud and water that would come up between the fender skins and the tube bed itself.... you couldn't keep anything clean that was in the bed no matter what you did (full width axles made this worse too). So for me and the terrain I have to deal with, the stock bed would have been better in the long run for me. For someone that doesn't have to deal with mud and water like I do, a flat bed will make more sense. But, the truck was built to be a crawler originally, but my needs changed as time went on and the tube bed got less desirable. So take all that for what it's worth, don't let me dictate what you end up doing

 

Your truck is bad ass man.

I carry my 40" spare on the bed. I just drop it there and strap it down. No tire mounts or anything. Still enough room for a full size tool box and all the other crap . If I bobbed the bed, I wouldn't be able to carry the tool box at all.

Your bobbed bed looks actually good!

I personally do not like how reg cabs look with bobbed beds. It's just personal preference.

 

Well, you inspired my build so I'm easily influenced haha!

I appreciate the additional details you shared about the process with your bed. It makes a lot of sense. Being that I am in AZ in the desert, the flat bed would not have wet weather issues you described there in FL. Still inclined to keep the full bed...but if go flat bed, since I've copied so much stuff from your truck I might as well copy the flat bed idea too LOL.

So you were the owner of that SAS tundra. I think we chatted through PM way back years ago on the TTORA forum when it was the place to go. Now that forum is a ghost town.

Well, lucky me that I ordered the recliner PRP seats! It was a tough call because the recliner seats are significantly more expensive than the fixed back seats. But I read somewhere that recliner seats are indeed a better fit for reg cabs. I am glad you are confirming that that information is actually true! I guess it makes sense because the fixed back seats have a steeper angle.

 

I wish the recliners had a taller side and bolster. I’ll probably end up with a fixed back for those reasons. Those did turn out nice though

 

Tks. PRP really did a great job. They have soooo many colors and fabrics. It's overwhelming if you do a custom build. Heck, you can even choose the stitching color. But they also have some standard colors pre-made if you would rather just buy whatever they have.

You are correct. The recliners are not very aggressive with the bolsters. I spoke with PRP about it. Apparently the recliners were designed targeting people who daily drive their vehicles, to make it easier to get in/out. I bet their #1 customer for those are Jeep owners LOL.

So yea, for aggressive bolsters, you gotta go with fixed back. There's no way around that with PRP. You will be fine since you have an extended cab which gives you more room to locate the seat exactly where you want it.

 

True on the full size spare, you have to start building up lol!!

 

Great build, I just got through the whole thread. I've had 2 flat beds on a couple of my pickups and once you have only you won't regret it. If you make one make sure you have plenty of places to tie stuff down have some dry storage too. The flat bed I built for my Tacoma has a 5' drawer that slides underneath the deck for storing tools and spare parts. Another thing about flat beds is they are a lot tougher than a stock bed. Hopefully this gives you a little perspective from someone who likes flat beds.

 

Thanks for sharing your insights and perspectives. I really appreciate it. All good points!

It sound like you built a very elaborate and solid flat bed. Do you have build thread for that? Would like to see what you did and get some ideas.

For the time being I am not looking forward to start another project haha. Mostly leaning towards not doing a flat bed, but I'm always thinking about stuff lol

 

No build thread but here's a couple pictures.
Here's one with the drawer pulled out.

 

Looks good!

Dang, when you mentioned a "drawer" I thought it was a little thing to put a few wrenches and hand tools. That things is massive! Love it.

 

Go big right. The drawer is 5' long and the slides are good for 550lbs. I love flat beds. Its also nice to have the roof rack built into it also. It comes in handy when the bed is full of elk.

 

Now I see why you like flat beds so much lol. That's pretty bad ass.

 

Quick update on the PRP "Enduro Elite" seats.

Installing these seats was a bit of a headache. The first issue I encountered was that the mounts PRP sent did not fit at all in the factory seat location. None of the holes aligned. Also the PRP seats were close to 2" taller than the factory bench seat, I had to do a significant amount of fabrication to the mounts on both sides to make the holes fit and to lower everything close factory height.

Went with this specific model for a few reasons. First, it is their only reclining suspension seat (or was at the time of purchase) with a slider mechanism. I wanted a recliner with sliders because they provide multiple angles and positions, which makes it easier to fit the seats in a reg cab truck (fixed back seats have a very steep angle on the back rest that push the entire seat close to the steering wheel)

Second, this seat model is a hybrid meant for off-road vehicles that are also driven on the street. The bolsters around the thigh area are shallow and not as aggressive as traditional race seats. This makes it easier to get in/out of the truck, which I can appreciate (the bolsters on the back rest are more aggressive than the thigh bolsters and keep your back in place quite tightly). To compensate for the shallow thigh bolsters, the bottom cushions are not flat. Instead, they have this high point in the foam right in the middle between your legs. It's hard to describe, but the high point locks your legs in place, as if you are on a horse saddle for lack of a better comparison. It is super comfortable, quite a clever idea from PRP.

I ordered my seats with the back rest 4" taller than their standard option, and am so glad did. It looks like a many of these aftermarket seats are for short people lol. I really hate it when the back of seats are short without providing enough neck and head support. The opening for the harness is literally at my shoulder height. It is perfect for me. PRP has instructions on their website to help you measure seat heights before you custom order.

I have the standard width. I am fairly thin guy (6' tall, 175lbs) and the seats are certainly on the narrow side. They work for me, but if you are a bigger fella, you may need to custom order wider seats. I believe most PRP seats have the option of 2" or 4" wider. Also added the old school hand pump to inflate the lumbar support. It's really cool and it inflates fast.

Overall, I am very happy with these PRP seats so far. They are very comfortable. The customization options PRP offers are overwhelming. You could literally spend hours using their online builder coming up with various combinations of colors, fabrics, etc. I chose a military theme with their digital camo fabric, which is actually the same fabric the military uses. It is super strong but surprisingly comfortable. Then I chose tweed for the arm rests, and a textured tan vinyl with for all the other parts. Finished it up with an American flag for the logo.... 'cause we need more patriotic offroad seats out there.

Have to say that PRP is a great company to deal with. Very responsive customer service. And yep...the tweed is super nice and softer than it seems.

 

Just when I thought I was done with the seat install, I realized I had not figured out how to attach the five point harness. And a new set of headaches unfolded right away.

One negative thing of having an exo cage is that, if you want to install a multi-point harness, you are screwed since there's not an internal structure to attach the harness to. With an internal cage this is obviously not an issue.

Race harnesses need to be installed within specific angles to prevent injuries. The shoulder straps in particular, are problematic because they are supposed to be installed at a very specific angle in relation to your shoulders.

I underestimated how tricky installing a 5-point harness would be be with reclining seats/sliders - as opposed to fixed seats. With fixed seats, you set everything up and are done. With reclining seats, you have to account for changes you make when adjusting the seat.

Decided to build a bolt-on, removable harness bar by borrowing an idea from @allenfab . Used the factory seatbelt mounting holes and bolts. It took a lot of measuring and mock up to get the bar on the right spot with some wiggle room to allow for the seat adjustments while keeping the shoulder straps at the right angles. The horizontal bar is 1.5" X .120 wall DOM, and it attaches to the factory seatbelt upper mounting holes through a custom plate and crossmember bushing sleeve kit. The crossmember kit is overkill because the tabs are too thick. But that's all I had in the garage lol.

The two vertical bars are 1" X.120 DOM, and they attach to the factory lower seatbelt mounting holes through a custom plate with 1/2" heim joints on both ends. It looks like the the horizontal bar by itself would be plenty in terms of strength. But I figured it wouldn't hurt to have the vertical reinforcements at an angle to spread the load from the mounting locations. Now there are 8 mounting holes with bolts supporting everything vs just four if I just used the horizontal bar by itself.

All plates use the factory bolts. Have to finish welding everything, then remove, paint, re-install. But it looks like soon I'll be able to get the 5-point harness installed finally.

 

Finally got done installing the 5-point harness. It was tricky, but I am happy with the final results especially after reinstalling the carpet. From 5 feet away it almost looks like a factory installed option lol.

What a huge difference a harness makes. Not sure why I waited this long. It is a much more pleasant - and safer - wheeling experience when you are not moving around the seat so much. Also...if you are thinking about a harness, I highly recommend to pay extra for the "cam lock" style. It is double the price (or more) of the latch/link option. But the cam lock style makes the process of strapping in/out so much easier and faster.

 

As my luck would have it, PRP recently announced a new options for their Enduro Elite reclining seats. https://www.prpseats.com/enduro-series-seats/

They now offer four different levels of back/thigh bolster aggressiveness for these seats. Before, when I got mine, they only offered one level (the least aggressive in the Series). The shoulder harness slot is different now as well, divided in two separate slots vs the one big slot in the past.

Wish these options were available when I ordered my seats! The shoulder harness slot is not that big of a deal. It looks cool to have the two separate slots, but the single slot actually made things easier when building the harness bar and installing the belts.

But I would have probably ordered the middle of the road bolster option for more grip especially around the thigh area. The ones I have work well in that regard, but that's only because the 5-point harness immobilizes you pretty good. If I had the factory seat belts it would not be enough.


Not sure I would have ordered the most aggressive bolster option though...unless my truck was a trail only rig. But it's cool they have that option now with their reclining seats.