Scheel-man into your Tacoma, new member intro

I would really like to do this, if I somehow get my hands on $6k (would mean paying off my truck and completing some home improvement projects first). But after poking around the Scheel Mann USA site I “decided” that Vario F seats (heated, which my Taco doesn’t have) in Pendleton Blanket or Blue/Red/Gray plaid cloth (Porsche fabrics, special order) would be awesome. I also dig the thigh extension and map pockets. In this fantasy I would also have my rear seats recovered to add the cloth as an insert. Dream on!

 

This seems to be a popular option. Scheel-mann USA stocks reams of all their fabrics for this exact reason.

 

Correct. We don't specifically mention it on the site but it has been brought up. I will add the info for others. Thanks. We do not have access currently to a bench seat equipped 2nd gen but very curious to see how it was accomplished.

 

Once the KLIMA heated and cooled seats were announced by scheel-mann we had hoped that the seats themselves would stay the same physical dimensions. It wasn't until we got one of the seats in that we soon realized that there was a cooling fan and duct work that we needed to develop around. This forced a retooling to make sure the same completeness of install would follow to the KLIMA seats.

Enter the Tolerance STACK seat mounts developed specifically for scheel-mann's the KLIMA heated/cooled seats. In order to clear all of the new bits added to the KLIMA seat we now INCLUDE storage as part of the design. Not only does this give you the added feature of storage but in doing so we also added in two switch slots designed for Toyota's 22.2mm cube-style switches. Extra features and extra function for a seat that added a cooling feature.

These KLIMA mounting brackets are now headed into production, after going thru a rigorous QC regimen, and we expect to be shipping by end of Jan to early Feb.
We will start with KLIMA solutions for 2nd and 3rd Gen Tacomas, FJ Cruisers and driver side of the 4th Gen 4Runners. Other vehicle models are in development now.

https://www.tolerance-stack.com/category/klima-cooled-seat

 

We realize this isn't an FJ Cruiser forum but did want to point out that we are constantly educating ourselves to the small differences between the Tacoma and the FJC mounting setup. In this instance the seat belt mounting bracket is different. On the Tacoma it's flat and on the FJC it has an offset for the armrest. Otherwise it mounts the same but just needs a longer mounting bolt.

 

Driver side occupancy sensor extension harness. Sorry nothing fancy but we do want to make sure we have everything covered for every install.

This is now an included harness as part of all driver side installs with a two-wire occupancy hall-effect sensor. You do NOT need this as a new installation.

When working on the driver side of Toyota vehicles there is no load-cell or seat pressure pad. There is instead a magnetic hall-effect sensor that is mounted to the seat and uses end points on a metal tab on the rail to determine the driver seat's position. It's a simple off-on configuration for the sensor operation.

Toyota puts the sensor on one side for Tacomas and on the opposite side for 4Runners and FJ Cruisers. This because of the ratcheting seat adjuster for on 4Runners and FJCs.

Typically the plan is to order the exact connector from our Japanese supplier and then supply a new extended harness, but the connector needed is PCB mounted and not available separately.

Next best option is to just extend the two wires. That is where this wire harness comes into play. All you need to do is cut the two wires going to the connector that attaches to the occupancy sensor and splice into this harness to extend those wires.

NOTE: your OEM wires are going to be either white/gray or orange/brown. The color of the actual wires used don't make a difference.

 

Hey, very very interested, do any of your brackets lower the overall seat position (drivers side)?

 

Technically no. But if you are using seat jackers you can remove those and gain height. Due to the limitations on seat height for the passenger seat (we had to reposition the load-cells) we had to get the driver's side to match but the issue was kinda moot because the height was dictated for us with the OEM seat rails. We HAD to keep all of the sensors in play so height was set.

 

After designing our solution to integrate the driver's seat position sensor we felt it might help folks thinking about a DIY setup to switch out seats or going with a solution that keeps all sensors and wiring intake when upgrading to the scheel-mann Vario seats.

A quick snippet from our latest blog post:

Sensor Placement and Components
The driver’s side Hall IC (integrated circuit) sensor found in vehicles like the Toyota 4Runner, Tacoma, and FJ Cruiser is mounted on the seat rail, which is part of the seat frame that attaches to the vehicle floor. This sensor is positioned on the inside face of the seat rail, directly beneath the driver’s seat. It works in conjunction with a shielding plate that is permanently mounted on the rail.

Read all about the Toyota truck's seat position sensor here:
https://www.tolerance-stack.com/post/driver-occupancy-sensor

 

Important Information About Pricing and Quote Validity

We're writing to let you know about some potential price adjustments for Scheel-Mann seats and our own Tolerance Stack products, along with a change in how long our quotes are good for. These changes are driven by the return of Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum.

Scheel-Mann seats, made in Germany, could see price increases. While the tariffs might not directly target the seats themselves, the ripple effect across the global market will likely impact costs. If you're thinking about upgrading your seats, now's a great time to lock-in current pricing.

For our Tolerance Stack products, which are made almost entirely of aluminum and steel, the reinstated 25% tariff is a big deal. It affects all steel and aluminum coming into the US, including from places like Canada, Mexico, the EU, and more. Plus, there are no more exceptions to the tariffs, and other countries are likely to respond with their own trade actions. Even US-sourced raw material prices are expected to rise as pricing no longer needs to be as competitive and demand on domestic foundries increases. This all means our material costs are going up significantly.

Because of all this market uncertainty, we're shortening our quote validity to 7 days instead of the usual 30. This lets us give you the most up-to-date pricing we can. We know this might mean quicker decisions for you, and we appreciate your understanding.

We're still committed to offering you the best products at the fairest prices. We're keeping a close eye on the tariff situation and will keep you in the loop. Although we have no current pricing increases we do expect them in as soon as a month. Have questions? Email us at services@tolerance-stack.com.

Thanks for your continued support.

Sincerely,

Tolerance Stack

 

ARB Twin compressor with Tolerance Stack mounts

We have been getting a handful of inquiries about shoe-horning the ARB twin compressor UNDER the Tolerance Stack seat mounts for the scheel-mann Vario F seats.

What we have found is it does appear as though the ARB twin should be able to fit without an issue, as seen in these renders, without the need of the seat jackers under the driver’ seat. That being said this "assumes" the FJ seat height being at least at the half-way point for you where it currently fits under the OEM seat.

The Tacoma’s driver seat may have factory computers under the driver seat that could make mounting the arb challenging. But the addition of the seat jackers, at least on the rear, likely would remedy that issue.

For sure mounting an ARB twin compressor would NOT work on the passenger seat because the load-cell array is relocated.

For sure the ARB twin would not be compatible with ANY of the Klima solutions, so If cooled seats are a consideration then ARB option is out for mounting under the seat.

A quick note on the ARB twin compressor, in order to get the leader hose routed properly you would have to either replace the ARB’s air coupler with a 90º fitting or rotate the manifold so that the fitting is facing 90º inline with the compressors.

 

Started a new thread but figured the post should be here as well. Wrote a new blog post about the load-cells and why permanently modifying is a bad idea:

https://www.tolerance-stack.com/pos...unction-and-why-modifying-isn-t-the-best-idea

 

Hi. I am a third-generation owner who thinks the Toyota OE seats are absolute trash. I would consider this solution after I finish some other repairs that are eating into my "Things that would be fun to do" budget.

One question though for OP:

My SPOD BantamX is under my driver's side, and my GMRS radio is under the Passenger Side. Will your solution be able to accommodate this configuration? (GMRS is a Midland MTX 575

 

Totally. Pretty much sums up the majority interested in this.

If non-Klima scheel-mann seats (heat only), and no additional storage boxes, would be no problem at all. For either seat mount and everything you have mounted now stays as is. Just mount seats and enjoy.

If non-Klima but WITH storage might require some creativity. Passenger side storage box is a fixed unit mounted onto the crossmembers. But it means remounting units and running wires thru the provided USB mounting hole. If you want the S-pod in the same location you could probably just mount in the storage box on the driver side but there’s a lot more wires probably going to your S-pod. But the only consideration there is the driver's side box actually moves with the seat. The passenger's does not.

Just a note, it was an important consideration to forcing the passenger side to be a fixed storage unit; anything placed inside it would have added to the SRS computer's calibrated weight of the seat and adjusted airbag accordingly.

If Klima (heated and cooled seats) mount the radio in the box and use the cube switch hole in the front to mount a pass through. On KLIMA the storage is included with both seats but we intentionally make the passenger side much smaller to not have as much weight added. That is all noted in the installation instructions.

 

Another little blog posting about storage. We had some confusion with a customer about his storage options so wanted to get the details more flushed out for anyone in case the subject comes up again:

https://www.tolerance-stack.com/post/storage-under-your-scheel-mann-vario-f

 

Starting with the basics



Yes we’ve always known we don’t have much to offer by way of videos. We have been so entrenched in solving design and manufacturing issues that we hadn’t expelled much effort into the video world. Well we are here today to start trying.

We figured it was a good start with the basics. After having as many conversations as we’ve had in the short time Tolerance Stack has been around, we have discovered that our costumer base really runs the gamut of lifestyle and expertise. Issues that we figured were intrinsic, if not basic, were just that obvious to some folks.

So we are removing all judgement on mechanical skill levels and will start at the beginning. If you have made the leap to committing to a pair of scheel-mann Vario F seats into your Tacoma. FJ Cruiser or 4th Gen 4Runner (5th Gen on its way, as seen in this video) then maybe showing how to just remove the seat would be helpful. We don’t go into super detail but just an overview of the basics.

Each video we drop will go on all of our social media accounts going forward.

 

When you have made the commitment to upgrade to scheel-mann seats for your 2nd/3rd Gen Tacoma (or FJ Cruiser or 4th Gen 4Runner), the first step is of course removing the seats from the vehicle which you can see in the SEAT REMOVAL video above. Once the driver seat is out you now have to remove the hardware necessary to remove the two sliding rails needed to complete the install onto a Tolerance Stack mounting bracket for your scheel-mann Vario seat. Video:

https://www.tolerance-stack.com/vid...ad60e535ea958d1&wix-vod-comp-id=comp-m6prsows

General steps:
• Lay the seat flat on a workbench
• Cut the hog rings holding the back panel/flap to the frame
• Remove the single screw in the rear
• Remove side panel plastic
• Remove the four T40 Torx screws on the inboard rail
• Remove the seat belt buckle and its bracket (save)
• Remove front two bolts to remove the front cross-member
• Remove the four T40 bolts on the outboard rail
• Access and remove the two bolts UNDER the fabric - either by prying up the material or by cutting slits into the material
• With those two bolts removed you can now remove the rails from the cross-member
• The inboard rail will still have the wiring harnesses, undo the retaining clips to remove the inboard rail
• Undo the rest of the harness clips and remove the wire harness connected to the seat belt and bracket

 

Nothing all that particularly special about this little BlueSea style outlet plug/pass-thru. Simply put, all Tolerance Stack storage boxes have a "keyed outlet cutout". This means you automatically get a keyed hole that allows you to add in either a BlueSea powered cig outlet or a USB outlet into your storage box.

Why? Because sometimes you want to put your laptop or ipad or cell phone into the storage box for charging while you go about your day.

Well what if you don't want nor need an outlet? Well that's where this guy comes in. We 3D print these plug/pass-thrus in flexible TPU. These are designed to plug the outlet hole or act as a pass-thru for you Lightning connector or USB-C cable.

 

We are starting to see it more and more- folks surprised by rusty rails (no not rusty nail, that's Scotch and Drambuie). Unless you live in the Southwest desert you are likely going to see some rust on your seat rails. There are a few reasons for this: maybe you live near the coast, maybe you live in a rain prone area, maybe you've spilled a few drinks...

maybe you sweat–like a LOT!

So what happens when you commit to your scheel-mann Vario investment to help mitigate your sore back issues on long drives, and you are knee-deep into the tear-down of your crappy OEM seats, and then you are confronted with rusty rails?

Well, its definitely not the end of the world. You could absolutely ignore it because only the seat feet will be seen at the end. You could simply spray the rust with some silicone oil to prevent any further rusting. You absolutely could take the time to slap a wire wheel to your cordless drill, put on some safety goggles, and spend a bit of time making the rails pretty again. Or you could simply purchase a gallon of industrial vinegar (acetic/ethanoic acid) for $10 from your neighborhood hardware store. Then find yourself an unused disposable aluminum turkey pan, fill it up with the vinegar, and place the rails into the vinegar upside down.

Keep the feet, sliders (bearings and grease), above the vinegar. Let sit and check on it every few hours. Most if not all of the rust will be gone or easy to wipe off. Once you remove the rails from the bath just make sure to full wipe down and don't let it drip into the slider mechanism. Good to go.

 

We've been fielding quite a few questions about the wiring needed for 's seats. Everything needed for a basic install is supplied by both scheel-mann (on the seat side) and Tolerance Stack (on the mounting side) for doing your seat upgrade for your Tacoma, FJ Cruiser or 4Runner.

We figured it would be more helpful to do a quick explainer on the wiring and what is involved. You can see that all here on our newest blog posting:

https://www.tolerance-stack.com/post/scheel-mann-klima-wiring-harnesses-explained