Extending and Raising seat

I wanted more leg room and more visibility, especially after installing the larger ProEFX towing mirrors. I explored some aftermarket companies, but no one made a complete kit for the Tacoma. So......
I had a local machine shop cut a steel plate, thread two holes at top, and drill two holes at bottom. Plate approximately 18" x 4". Then had them cut two square tubes 4" long, tap one hole to mount seat on top and drill a hole to get socket through to put bolt through hole in bottom mounting to floorboard.

Then took it out, painted and reinstalled.

Strongly encourage the ImMrYo rearview mirror lift bracket if you try this modification!

But that couple inches of height, and extended legroom makes a huge difference. No regrets, and totally reversible.

 

Great job, thanks for the pics! I just used washers to get some height increase, but this is better.

 

Did you use all grade 8 hardware for remounting?

I did the seat lift using the kit linked in my sig, which includes grade 8 hardware. Makes the seating position better, and better visibility over the hood for off road use. I wouldn't do it stacking washers. I would also suggest keeping the lift to a minimum (I'm 6' and I did 1") you don't want to end up sloping the seat forward.

 

Yes, I went to local salvage yard and pulled four seat bolts from Toyotas there. I had the bushings from the kit in your link, but it only raised the rear, and offered no, (actually slightly less since tilted forward) legroom. This mod I did offers legroom and height, while keeping the seat tilted at the same angle as stock.

 

After several months the front plate began causing a short in the wires beneath the carpet on the floor board.

This can be solved by further cutting the plate into more of a "c" shape, so that it does not contact the floor except where the seat attaches.



Ignore the brackets in the middle, they are just to hold the Maglite.

 

Also..here is a better view of the square tubes used for rear brackets. The larger hole is there to allow socket wrench to fit down in to bolt bracket into original hole in floorboard. The smaller threaded hole is where second seat bolt threads into the bracket. (I got extra seat bolts from Toyotas in a salvage yard)

 

Nice job, like your solution. Seems like the two original mounting angles at the end of the seat rails are just riveted onto the rails. Maybe you can take those off and make a whole new angle to go from floor to rail. The hard part would be figuring out where you really want the seat to be, which there was just some height adjustment.

I also hear people worried about using the correct grade of bolts if you are doing this. Doesn't make much sense to me as the rivets are the weekest section in those brackets.

 

Thanks. The correct grade bolts are easy to get. A good percentage of Toyota cars in salvage yards have exact same bolts holding the seats in. You may be correct about being able to change angles etc. by taking the brackets off of the rails. One of the things I like about what I did it that it is completely reversible in a few minutes with one socket wrench.

 

How much do you think the front bracket would raise the front of the seat without using the rear blocks? Still waiting for mine to arrive but the couple of times I've driven them the front of the seat isn't high enough for my taste. The seat cushion is shorter than in some of the vehicles I've owned and in the Tacoma I feel like half of my thigh is left with no support. I'm hoping that lifting the front of the seat a little would help solve that problem.

 

It raises it about 2". Doesn't sound like much, but it makes a big difference. Problem is, because of the angle, it pushes the seat back as it goes up. It is almost a 45 degree angle. Therefore, if you raise the front using my method, you must add a bracket at the rear as well. You could possible use a thinner rear support, but it must be at least as thick as the seat bolts are long, and a decent grade of steel.

 

like

 

I also like this. How far apart are the upper and lower mounting holes on the plate? Looks like a couple inches?

 

How much legroom is lost for rear passenger behind that seat?

 

3 1/8" but doesn't raise the seat but a couple inches since it is at an angle. Make sure read through the thread. Cutting the plate into the "c" shape is critical because there are wires under carpet in that area.

 

About 2" when all the way back, but of course you can still slide forward. But you can't slide as far forward as you can pre-mod, so a super short driver may have an issue. But you would have, to be SUPER short.

 

Like 5"4' short?

 

Nice design and good work using the correct grade bolts.

 

I definitely see the benefits, but are we worried about insurance at all if *knock on wood, there's an accident?

 

I think 5'4" would be fine

 

I think there could definately be a safety issue in the event of a serious accident. I don't think the seat would go anywhere but I don't know where the side curtain airbags would hit or if the roof would be too close in a rollover etc. valid concerns. The one thing I like is that it is easily reversible, so when I pass the truck down to my son I can make it stock again.