Driver’s Seat Comfort

Just traded my ‘21 Tundra for my ‘22 Tacoma. Thank you for kicking this off Withdraw. I thought I was the only one experiencing the discomfort. I was blinded some too - it’s so popular, how can it be? I rent a lot of cars, even Tacomas, and don’t experience the problem. But I guess those are for short trips. I had my car a month, drove 4 hrs x2 in one day and I am slowly recovering. I am fit - yes I have L5 torn disc in my history, but I do daily floor exercises for years and no probs - had a ‘19 Highlander and Tundra above. No issues. Had an ‘03 Tacoma before the Highlander and swore I would not drive it again because it kicked my butt. Now I am back in a Tacoma and it is repeating. I had such high hopes. So disappointing. I am 5’ 10’ 190#.

I think I want to try jackers in the back to get the seat front down (relative) and butt up. Does anyone have a link on where to find them? Thanks.

 

I have similar back problems to the OP (probably worse because I'm 80 years old). Honestly, my Tacoma driver's seat is more comfortable than my sofa at home. It took a little experimenting to get all the many adjustments optimally set for me, but after that there have been no problems.

 

I may have some however I think my reserve list is full for March 1st. I will pm you if I have any extra. I only make and release monthly based on request/reserve quantities. Better and 30% cheaper than the desert washer stacks.

 

I’m 5’9” 175# and went with the front seat jackers. So far, so good. Not perfect, but def better. I haven’t tried lifting the back of the seat yet. At least the kits for the rear lift are cheap ~ $20. (Couple of bolts and some spacers). Just search ‘tacoma seat lift’ on Ama$on - plenty of choices.

 

So far my rear bracket, front seat, 4th gen spacers (seat leveler) are mounted in, or enroute for installation, to 8 total people. So far mounting in 2024 and 2025 SR5, Sport and Off Road models, with both automatic and manual transmissions. To my knowledge all are non-hybrid vehicles. Not sure if the hybrid will require a different shape of spacers. Here is what I know so far.
(1) The mounting area of the seat frame, the area under the frame where the bolt passes through, is completely flat just like the bottom of my spacers have always been. The dimensions of that flat seat frame area will indeed fit within the pocket machined in the spacers.

(2) The aforementioned floor mounting surface, regarded as a "hump'', is an odd shape however the spacer is virtually identically flat on the bottom as the actual frame mount of the seat. I made a mod on the bottom of some recent spacers however that mod is not required and will be discontinued.

(3) I have received all positive feedback with regards to comfort. Only the 1st person mounted his with the pocket down. All others have mounted them as designed with the pocket up directly against the seat frame mounting point. Otherwise I have had no complaints with the fit and installation.
I started, and soon deleted, an ad for these in the 4th gen marketplace. I did not have enough data and feedback to justify selling them yet. I am now more confident yet I will await all feedback from all 8 individuals before moving forward. I do provide a return-for-refund option. I just want to be certain that my spacers meet all of your expectations as well as my own standards before marketing them. If any of the 1st eight want to follow up with a review, or change recommendations, I invite you to do so.

 

Roid intertube helps a good bit. I have an 02 sr5 and a2019 sr5 dclb and can tell you there was not an improvement other than looks with the 2.

 

I am not looking for any arguments. Generally speaking this is the recommended seat posture from Chiropractors and Osteopaths from around the world. It is easily found with a google search. From insurance companies, tire companies, medical studies and medical professionals. This is the sole reason I have sold so many rear sets of spacers over the past 7 years primarily to 2nd gen/3rd gen Taco and FJ owners. I have not had a bad long drive in my 2008, 2012 or 2016 Tacoma since installing the 1st set in 2018. Before then I could not make a 4 hour drive without terrible lower back pain. The information posted in the illustration comes directly from a Chiropractor/repeat customer.

 

Just an FYI post. I have steadily received more requests for my rear bracket 4th gen seat spacers. I have been forced to take rear spacers from my Honda front & rear kits to supply them to 4th gen owners. This has caused me to defer sales to Honda customers. I have now purchased extra material for exclusively making rear 4th gen spacers. I am hoping to stockpile an available inventory for 4th gens. This will eliminate the current waiting list system that I have been using for several months. Once I have in-stock inventory I will post an official ad in the 4th gen classifieds. I appreciate the interest and apologize to those that have waited for weeks for available inventory. I know that I am the only one making rear spacer kits for your 2024-2025 Tacoma.

 

Lifting the back of the seat helped me a ton. I tried lifting the front and it nearly put my head in the headliner (I'm 6'). Taco seats from the factory are at just the right angle to be uncomfortable. All of my previous Toyotas had flatter seat bottoms so I'm happy to get that same seating position in this truck. Even gained some leg room at the dash with raising the rear of the seat and having 2 car seats in the back.

 

I feel for all of you - I've had back issues since I was in my 20's, but chronic back pain for the last 10 years (now 52 years old), after crushing my L5 disk in a lifting accident and discovering through a follow-up MRI that I have benign blood tumors on my L4 and to a lesser extend my L3 vertebrae, creating instability. Surgeon at the UW wanted to do a L2 - S1 fusion, then come back in after 6 mos and remove the L4 and L3 vertebrae with the tumors, to replace with cadaver bone. In all, a 1 year recovery and no movement in my lumbar region - needless to say, I opted to wait it out instead, as no one - even the head of surgery at the UW - could pinpoint the real root cause of my back pain, and with such a drastic fusion, all the pressure would end up on the L1/L2 disc, likely resulting in future surgeries.

Having said all that, seats have been my nemesis for this last decade. I wake up stiff and in pain, and it takes a 15 minute rest in my Stressless chair to get the low back to unwind. Vacations are brutal if the AirBnb has crappy furniture. Car seats, surprisingly, are the most comfortable for me, and I wish I could get similar seats for home use. Sometimes, I have to go sit in the car to get my back to relax if the rental has old, unsupportive furniture.

And... some vehicles just didn't work. I had a Ram 1500 tradesman and those seats were just fine before my accident. After the accident and waiting a few months, I had to trade off that truck because I couldn't sit in those seats for more than 5 minutes before the pain set in. The seats in my '24 Tacoma were pretty good, as was the seating position. But the truck itself was suffering from first year production gremlins so I traded it for a like new '22.

I'd read all about the 3G seating position, seat jackers, etc. I am fortunate that I have the power seat as standard equipment, but I find the seats themselves okay. Not the best, but not the worst. What is difficult is the seating position, especially when I'm in a low back flare up. I'm 6' 2", and I have to have the seat all the way back. The legs straight out position puts pressure on my low back and the muscles try to guard, leading to spasms and pain when its already irritated. And the steering wheel doesn't telescope out enough, so I kind of lean fwd when having to make turns, which also doesn't help when the seating position already somewhat has your legs in a more up/out position. When I'm just bombing down an interstate, I'm good as I just keep one hand on the bottom of the wheel and can relax back into the seat.

The only fix is to get rid of the truck, but I like it so much otherwise that I'm dealing with it for now. When I'm not in a flare up, I actually find the seats okay and have done several 2 hour trips without issue. But when I'm in a flare, my wife's '26 Passport is the vehicle of choice for me with the least amount of discomfort.

 

I am old school. I had tons of full size Ford trucks that had captains chairs. Pre-2015 they were the most comfortable seats I ever had. Since the NHSTA mandated/strongly recommended seat pan angle changes, 15+ years ago, nearly all newer vehicle seats cause some problems for people. In my 50+ years of driving I never really had a seat complaint until the mid/late 2000's. The latest import trend has been passenger seats 1 inch lower than driver seats. Now that is a huge issue in Honda and Nissan vehicles. The only reason suspected is better driver visibility at the cost of severe passenger discomfort. I never had a back injury. I didn't have any back pain until my 3rd Tacoma which was a 2nd gen. I bought a new 3rd gen Tacoma and it was worse. Long drives required pain meds. Now had spacers in the last 3 and all is good for me fortunately.

 

My seat would be perfect if I could move it 1-2” further back. Unfortunately there are no products on the market, and no obvious modifications, that allow for that.

 

I have seen track extensions for some vehicles before. A good fabricator could probably do that for any vehicle.

 

My 2001 Tahoe that I drove prior to my Tacoma, non leather plush fabric seats were the most comfortable seats that I've ever sat in other than maybe my sofa. I don't find the Tacoma seats as horrible as many others on here. Im 6'2" and nearly 300lbs. Pure muscle by the way, atleast it used to be 35 years ago. My body is fairly banged up with bad neck, shoulders and knee. I make a non stop 21 hour drive 2X per year in the Tacoma and don't find it so bad. The only complaint i have is that the steering wheel can't be raised any higher. That would go a long way. Rode in a buddy's F150 and didnt like how the seats were kind of molded to hold a smaller person. Not always the size of the truck.