Bucket to Bench Seat Swap?

John,

How are you going to rig up a solid bench seat to come forward and retract enough forward when you want to get into the back of your extra-cab? I am not saying it can't be done. I, certainly, don't know how to do it, but this is definitely something you want to think about before throwing engineering time into this equation. Re-engineering is a huge pain in the ass.

Take it easy,
Paul

 

It still slides forward, just not automatically. You just pull on the lever under the seat like you do on bucket seats.

 

Agreed middle seat is a penalty seat, but it's a nice option. Call me old school but I dig bench seats. Ive have actually thought about putting the bench from 95 in my double cab. It's a split bench with shifter cutout and fold down armrest.

 

Agreed middle seat is a penalty seat, but it's a nice option. Call me old school but I dig bench seats. Ive have actually thought about putting the bench from 95 in my double cab. It's a split bench with shifter cutout and fold down armrest.

 

wondering how to re-cushion bench seats

 

Most upholstery places should do it. There's a place near me that advertises re-stuffing and re-shaping of vehicle seats

Will that shifter boot fit over the automatic shifter? I haven't seen one of those before

 

Stick shifter boot is square so I don't think it will work on auto. I'm not sure if Toyota made the cup holder to the side for auto floor shifter.

 

I found an aftermarket one on Amazon that I'm just going to bolt to the side of the shifter boot if I can't relocate the stock setup.

 

95.5-97 has a pullout cupholder on the dash. I saw 1 for sell on here not long ago

 

That style cup holder was in my ‘89 truck. It’s old.

 

Yea but will the dash piece from a pickup will fit a Tacoma?

 

Maybe. They always carried some things over from the previous gen. The entire ‘95.5 dash looks a lot like my ‘89 dash.

 

the hardest thing I see is that the pre-'98 had slide controls, '99 and up has dials and I'm almost sure that whole piece has to change. It was pretty much the extent of the interior face lift.

 

I don't have any space on my dash where a pull-out cup holder could go.

On the plus side, I secured a bench seat so when it gets here I'll start a build thread and see how it goes.

 

Dang, there's one in my color within driving distance for $50 that looks decent. I may give this a shot. I also realize I'm crazy, but even if no one ever rides in the middle seat (let's be honest, the cabs of our trucks are WAY too f*ckin narrow for three adults), I still like the idea of a one-piece bench for setting stuff on better than a center console with its state-of-the-art CD holder (wooooo). Haha. I'm really gonna have to get my flamesuit on for this one, but... I wish the auto Tacomas came with column shifters. It's an automatic, you're not fooling anyone. Just put the damn shifter on the column.

 

I'll let you know how mine goes, maybe it's worth it. I think we're in the same boat, I would also love a column shifter. Give me a bench seat and floor space all the way across over buckets and a shifter any day. The only problem I have to solve now, I think, is where to put the stuff I do have in the console.

 

Yes 98-04 don't have the pullout cup holders. The ac vents may be a smaller to accommodate for them or the ac controls

 

I miss the days of column shifters too but did always think it looked odd on a 4x4 to have the lone stick coming out of the floor and a bench seat like on the old Bronco.

Face it though, I bet next Gen won't even have a shifter. Everything push button.

 

Lets not worry about some cup holders for now...

 

The cup holder and console delete mods required for the seat swap are the most concerning parts for me. I keep a lot of stuff there. The add on cup holders I found should work but I still need a console replacement