Tolerance STACK and scheel-mann 5th gen seat mounting

Hello everyone. Now that the holidays are over and we have started a New Year, we can finally focus more on the new products we will be introducing coming up shortly. One of those products is the seat mounting for the 5th Gen 4Runner, and the best part is it works for scheel-mann's Vario line of heated seats but also their Vario KLIMA line of heated AND cooled seats.

We have been testing with several 5th Gens from different years, with and without factory heat, and with and without powered seats. The idea is to check all the boxes.

If you have been craving a scheel-mann seat into your 4Runner and never thought it would be possible AND keep the dash lights off after the seat upgrade. know we have you covered.

Exact timing is to be determined but we are working feverishly to get them ready.

Right now we are just hoping to gather feedback about what folks are looking for along with suggestions, worries, concerns...basically don't make us weep in the corner huddled into the fetal position but we are looking for feedback.

 

Since the notice of pending release of our 5th Gen 4Runner seat bracket kits for scheel-mann seats, we’ve been getting a few questions from our site about the wiring and connectors.

We are specifically looking at the passenger side right now because there is more into the wiring bundles than the driver side.

Under the non-powered passenger side seat you have the always yellow SRS/airbag connector. ANYTIME you are even considering removing this plug you MUST disconnect the battery ground and wait for 90 seconds per the Toyota factory FSM. This means even if you are removing the seat just to give the carpet a good cleaning, the battery gets disconnected.

The next up is the seatbelt/occupancy sensor harness. This connector is just bring together the seatbelt sensor wires and the occupancy computer wires to the truck harness on the floor.

The white plug ONLY on non-powered passenger seats is just a connector dummy plug. This is because the truck is pre-wired for power seats and if you don’t have passenger power seats then this whole plug goes nowhere. It just holds the power harness from the floor.

The occupancy sensor computer basically takes strain calculations from the load-cell array and send that’s info to the truck computer thru the seatbelt/occupancy sensor harness.

Above all those in the pick is the seatbelt connector. Depending on the year of your 4Runner this could be two or four wires.

 

3D Printing the Prototypes

All of our development is done in stages. We decide on the vehicle, do tons of research, then start putting pencil paper. Literally, kinda. Its a whiteboard and tons of back and forth on what we need to accomplish. Then its 3D scanning and CAD engineering the solution. But its not always perfect. You have to prototype to make sure you have the fit and finish you were going for. Now more than ever you will see development shops using 3D printing to help in this process. We are no different in that respect. You have the freedom to make mistakes using 3D printing because it may cost $15 in PETG filament and 14 hours of printing overnight, but for a prototype JUST to check for fitment, it beats waiting a week or more that 15-20x the cost to have a metal prototype made.

Before we do ANY prototyping in metal we always do prototyping with our Bambu X1-Carbon 3D printer and have a 3D printed facsimile so that we can test for fitment, placement, installation, aesthetics. Everything. For THIS application we are finalizing the last 3D print after we found a few areas that could use some adjustment actually to both form and function. From here we will KNOW if we got everything right. Once it gets installed and tested and confirmed, we are off to the races and we can send out to have the first production run. 5th Gen 4Runner mounts are another step closer.

https://youtu.be/cJ4AoG0_p5s

 

Another 5th Gen Update

The first image shows of what we are doing to develop a side train panel for the 5th Gen 4Runners. Because that vehicle is so different than the others we have been working on, we needed a new side trim panel solution because the pan design itself will be fairly shallow and there is the OEM seat rail that protrudes out more. This shows the prototype stage that is 3D printed strictly for fit checks before we start having aluminum formed.

This means a flat side trim panel wouldn’t work without looking very out of place. So instead we put a smooth redesign to incorporate a double fold in the sheet metal to give us the look we wanted.

This Side Panel’s function is to hide all of the bits and bobs necessary to install a scheel-mann seat into your Toyota 5th Gen 4Runner. It’s not that it’s unsightly, it just doesn’t look “finished” without the side panel.

Almost every model of Toyota will get a specific side panel only because there are very minor differences between seat options and floor between models. So once the scheel-mann seat is in the point is to look like it belongs.

Once the panels are laser cut they are de-burred and tumbled for a few hours. This process gives us the final look we were aiming for. Having perfect machined CNC end-mill cuts just didn’t give the softer look we were going for. We then design laser marking “jigs” since the Tacoma and FJC panels had to be made flat on the side we needed for the fiber laser we were using. This was an easy process that just required a quick 3D print. Once the print is in place the jig acts as a guide for the laser engraving. For the 5thGen we will design something a little different to get a consistent lasering each time.

 

Starting with the basics


Yes we’ve always known we don’t have much to offer by way of videos. We have been so entrenched in solving design and manufacturing issues that we hadn’t expelled much effort into the video world. Well we are here today to start trying.

We figured it was a good start with the basics. After having as many conversations as we’ve had in the short time Tolerance Stack has been around, we have discovered that our costumer base really runs the gamut of lifestyle and expertise. Issues that we figured were intrinsic, if not basic, were just that obvious to some folks.

So we are removing all judgement on mechanical skill levels and will start at the beginning. If you have made the leap to committing to a pair of scheel-mann Vario F seats into your Tacoma. FJ Cruiser or 4th Gen 4Runner (5th Gen on its way, as seen in this video) then maybe showing how to just remove the seat would be helpful. We don’t go into super detail but just an overview of the basics.

Each video we drop will go on all of our social media accounts going forward.

 

We are starting to see it more and more- folks surprised by rusty rails (no, not rusty nail, that's Scotch and Drambuie). Unless you live in the Southwest desert you are likely going to see some rust on your seat rails. There are a few reasons for this: maybe you live near the coast, maybe you live in a rain prone area, maybe you've spilled a few drinks...

maybe you sweat–like a LOT!

So what happens when you commit to your scheel-mann Vario investment to help mitigate your sore back issues on long drives, and you are knee-deep into the tear-down of your crappy OEM seats, and then you are confronted with rusty rails?

Well, its definitely not the end of the world. You could absolutely ignore it because only the seat feet will be seen at the end. You could simply spray the rust with some silicone oil to prevent any further rusting. You absolutely could take the time to slap a wire wheel to your cordless drill, put on some safety goggles, and spend a bit of time making the rails pretty again. Or you could simply purchase a gallon of industrial vinegar (acetic/ethanoic acid) for $10 from your neighborhood hardware store. Then find yourself an unused disposable aluminum turkey pan, fill it up with the vinegar, and place the rails into the vinegar upside down.

Keep the feet, sliders (bearings and grease), above the vinegar. Let sit and check on it every few hours. Most if not all of the rust will be gone or easy to wipe off. Once you remove the rails from the bath just make sure to full wipe down and don't let it drip into the slider mechanism. Good to go.

 

This will be more relevant the moment we release the 5th Gen mounts...

We've been fielding quite a few questions about the wiring needed for 's seats. Everything needed for a basic install is supplied by both scheel-mann (on the seat side) and Tolerance Stack (on the mounting side) for doing your seat upgrade for your Tacoma, FJ Cruiser or 4Runner.

We figured it would be more helpful to do a quick explainer on the wiring and what is involved. You can see that all here on our newest blog posting:

https://www.tolerance-stack.com/post/scheel-mann-klima-wiring-harnesses-explained

 

The time has come.

The ONLY reason we are releasing it now and not when the units are completed and ready to ship is because we wanted to give all of you folks the opportunity to AVOID the pending tariffs (these are German made seats after-all) and lock in pricing before the seat prices increase starting May 3. Yes that's just a few days away. Any orders BEFORE May 3rd will be locked in for pricing. Anything on or after May 3rd will be subjected to the new pricing.

So...

We are formally announcing the production of the 5th Gen 4Runner seat mounting system for scheel-mann seats.

This is been a development for quite sometime and we have selected two individuals to receive the pre-production units for them to test and give their final feedback but we don't foresee anything major or even minor at this point. We are confident enough that we have gone into production with the kits and, although we believe it will be sooner, we are giving ourselves breathing room for expected shipping on or around mid-June.

Read our latest blog posting for more info about the 5th Gen offerings:
https://www.tolerance-stack.com/pos...ount-system-for-scheel-mann-s-vario-line-of-s

https://www.tolerance-stack.com/product-page/5th-gen-4runner-mounting-kit-driver-side