1st Gen Tacoma Seat Help (maybe Seat Swap)

Hi there, I have a 95 Regular Cab Tacoma and it is a manual with a bench seat. The seats currently are absolutely destroyed in and it is impossible to not slouch in them. This problem is made worse by the fact that I am a 6' 4" male that makes this car unbearingly uncomfortable to drive.

I was wondering how I could fix this...
I have looked at new seats, the 60/40 bench seat, reupholstering the older bench seat and at seat jackers/spacers that lift them up slightly.

Looking for any input on how I could go about making this truck much more enjoyable to drive and much less uncomfortable in an easy and cheap way? Thanks!

 

My brother has the same issue with a ‘96 (otherwise the same truck but he is only 5’ 11”).

 

The good news is that all 1st gen seats are interchangeable, so if you find a set in good shape, then it's an easy swap. The hard part is finding a set in good shape at a reasonable price. You could also swap in 3rd gen 4runner seats, but that requires a little bit of fab work to get the 4th foot lined up right. I think @nzbrock makes adapters for those as well.

The BEST option for your back (and probably most expensive) would be to grab a set of Corbeau seats. They make an adapter for our trucks, which isn't too expensive compared to the seats themselves.

 

If you decide to stick with a bench seat then hit me up. Mine is just sitting in my living room. Happy to part with it for very cheap.

 

This is a year old but is it still in your living room? If so I might take it. In Bend, OR but will be in Seattle area soon.

 

You guys exchange pix of seatbelt buckles and latches
Known to be different (Unk exactly what models)

I have a seat swap thread here somewhere

Me and other member did have success by only exchanging buckles on the swapped seats (same fasteners) but u need a 16mm box wrench (that I didn’t have) bc of clearance issues to take off said bolt
Made due with a standard size wrench
GL

 

I’ve had 5 toys , first thing I do is toss the bench or 60/40. And get 4Runner buckets from junk yard. At least toss the 60 side and get the driver bucket

 

will have a 1998 regular cab bench seat in good shape available as soon as i get a couple of buckets.

from your experience, was the 4runner seat swap seamless?

i am also looking at 2001-2004 extended cab buckets, but not sure if they would fit without some sort of adapter or jimmy rigging.

thoughts?

 

Think the belts/buckles will be the issue
Solved here
This is 96 Xtra cab bench and 99 single cab

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/bench-to-bucket……advice-received…-success.840578/

 

The extended cab buckets should work as is. As stated a few times prior, you may need to swap the buckle out of your bench to the new seats. I had to do this when I swapped my bench with 4Runner buckets (don’t worry it’s easy). If using 4Runner seats you’ll need to bend a rail tab in the front down slightly as Tacoma has a sharper angle than the 4R, and either drill a new hole for the outer back rail hole or use the adapter that a TW member sells here. When going to buckets you’ll have the opportunity to get a center console as well. I had to cut holes in the carpet for the console but the screw holes were there.

 

Im coming back to this to reconsider. First of all, whats a good price for some 3rd gen 4runner cloth buckets? And second, Ive seen people talking about and using the bracket created and sold by a member here, im just wondering if i (as someone with a full bench) will have the correct mounting holes for the 3rd gen 4runner buckets?

I have heard that you have to some bending to the seat brackets but how hard of an install is this?

 

-Price is usually ~$75-$150 range for the pair. The center console is in about the same range unless you can snag one from the junkyard (be sure the grab the console bracket too!). The harder seat to find is the driver seat, you can often find the passenger for free/cheap
-You should have the holes, you can check as they should be roughly on either side of the “hump.” You may have to cut some carpet away after removing the bench, and they may be plugged with some sort of epoxy/plastic that you’ll need to drill out, but it’s easy (I had to do this only to install the center console)
- The front tabs where the bolt holes are need to be bent at an angle slightly, it’s easy with a mallet once the seats in place

This install is quite easy, you’ll likely have to swap the seat buckle from your bench to the new buckets (one bolt) as the 4R uses a different seat belt than the Tacoma for some unknown reason. You could also swap the seat belt from the 4R instead but that’s more work.

here’s the after (I used to have the 60/40 bench) - if you look at the front bracket you’ll see the Tacoma is at ~90 degrees, that 4R seat was more like 60 degrees before bending. On the back of the bracket, zooming in you’ll see I drilled a new bolt, the TW member has a little adapter that will allow you to use the factory bolt location instead if you don’t want to drill. The other bolt locations lineup without jimmying

EDIT: NZBrock is the TW member, looks like they have a site now for the adapters: http://nzbsculpture.com/store/4runner-seat-adapters

 

FYI I only have 2 sets of the adapters left and I haven’t made any plans to make more. I may if there is more demand.

 

Full bench doesn't use all the same holes that buckets or 60/40 bench do. You'll have to drill a hole near the trans tunnel. You'll need to either weld a nut on the underside of the cab, or get a friend to help you get the nut started from under the truck. You'll also have a harder time swapping the seat belt buckle receivers if you need to do that, as the full bench uses a soft-mount receiver and buckets use a hard mount.