Anyone figured out what if any power seats might work in the 3rd Gen?

Yes I know, I'm pushing the envelope but good power seats have adjustability and the ease of adjustment not found in manual seats and the 3rd Gen seats while reasonably comfortable are somewhat lacking in adjustability especially if you have like I do a bad back. I just had Katzkin leather seats done and now Katzkin offers heating and cooling and the electronics that control them could be modified to work where our seat heating switch is currently which makes me wonder if anyone has determined what if any power seats could work in the 3rd Gen? I intend to remove the rear jump seats once my local Toyota dealership can figure what all the part numbers are for the rear seat delete not just the back panel and power seats are high on my list of mods and I'd really like a memory function too. Anyone?

 

I wouldnt be surprised if it's added in 18. I remember seat belt mike talking about adding them in an interview when the truck first came out.

 

2017 Tacoma limited has power/heated-cooled*? seats might be able to go that route. That's only if
it would work with the equipment that is in your truck now - I don't know just a thought

 

Limited has heated seats... not power seats, not cooled seats.

 

The only real issue here is changing the current seat heat switch to accommodate a cooling function as well. With the advent of 3D printers just about anything is possible these days. Electronics are a different story but he who never ventures never knows...

 

Other than wiring to power the features the only real headache I can for-see would be the occupancy sensors that tie into the air bag system. Not having too much experience with different sensors from other Toyota/Lexus products one would hope that they would be similar, if not identical to allow a swap of a donor seat onto your Tacoma seat base.

For all of those features I'd probably start with looking at the Sienna van seats, 4Runner w/ Limited trim, Lexus GX 460, or a LandCruiser 200 if you really wanted to try and stay within the Toyota family. My wife's 4Runner trail premium came with heated seats and the drivers seat is powered, can't recall if the passenger side is or not. If you aren't concerned with staying with a Toyota seat then you open up a whole world full of options.

 

For reasons you've mentioned I'd like to keep it in the Toyota/Lexus family if I can but sensors really aren't that difficult to address. I'd prefer as many adjustable positioning/s as possible as well a memory feature since EVERY TIME someone else (wife) drives my truck they change my seat which pisses me off to no end. The folks that did my Katzkin have been around a LONG time and used to build custom seats and leather interiors until they became a Katzkin dealer, they are willing to work with me to build these seats and make 'em work. My other ace-in-the-hole is a friend who runs the CAD/CNC machine for a local custom yacht builder and they just purchased a badass 5-axis machine, he did the engraving on my custom bodyside molding.

 

I would check the Lexus truck ... I think the 2017 LX-570 has 14 way adjustable seats in leather and 12 way for the passenger and I'm sure heating and cooling and definitely has a memory button.

Here's the rub tho and why I suggested Lexus. You have seat rails that the seats are attached to. You need to find a seat that has the same seat rails as the Tacoma which would probably mean finding a truck/SUV in the Toyota family with the same or very similar chassis ... lots of manufactures try and build parts that are interchangeable so they can save costs and not have to design and build a shit ton of different parts. Rear view mirrors/engines/transmissions... maybe even seat rails.

Easy enough take a ride to a Lexus dealer park beside a LX-570 and look at the seat rails and measure the spread between the rails on each vehicle (2 seat rails measure distance between each rail on drivers side or passenger side)... same width then you may have a winner.

With that price tag tho... those seats ain't gonna be cheap.

 

That's a brilliant idea, thanks Bob! I will look into that this week and yes I agree keeping it in the family for the reasons you mention are helpful. Oh and I have no doubt it won't be cheap, so far nothing I've done to my Taco has been cheap but...you get what you pay for.

 

Yer welcome... been there on the seat rail deal... racing seats in sport touring cars even had seat rails fabricated to fit stock chassis rails. You could go that route as well and save a lot of money. Not hard to do...