Seat upgrade ideas for a first gen

Haha, I want like lazy boy comfort at this point I’m not ruling out Recaros, let’s just say that.

The biggest frustration is I’m used to getting stuff to work, but there’s a limitation obviously when you’re dealing with the aftermarket

 

If you haven’t got it dialed in with your skill set then I know I’m gonna have to get creative. That’s why I’m so grateful for your willingness to share cuz I would’ve had to pay someone mucho dinero to run into the same dead end. I’m gonna play around with it this weekend so if I somehow get lucky then I’ll be sure to post here.

 

I put Recaros in my 1st Gen and it cost a heck a lot more than $1,000. However, they are THE most comfortable seats ever and one of the reasons I'm reluctant to part with my 1st Gen.

 

Are those the Experts? That’s kind of where I’m looking, and yeah, they’re $1045 a piece from what I’ve been seeing

 

Yes, they are the Experts and they cost me $1,089 each back in 2016. Recaro Slider Kit was $135 each and the seat brackets that were fab'ed by the installation guys cost $145 each. Labor was 8 hours. Expensive, but OH so worth it!

 

I’m leaning that way for sure, seems with it to me. I have sliders and can do install myself so it would just be the cost of the seats

 

A few more questions since you’ve been kind enough to share this info-
1. The seats are ambidextrous, meaning same seat for driver and passenger, correct!

2. How are the seat belt buckles mounted? Are they to the track so they stay in a fixed position as the seats go forward and back or are they mounted to the seat? The latter would be preferable to me so I don’t have the issues I’m dealing with now

3. Fitment wise the seats obviously fit in the space, any clearance issues? I’m 5-10 190#, it looks like you have the M (can’t tell for sure) which has the adjustable thigh support, how does the seat fit for your body type? Would you recommend the M or does the S work which is about $100 less per seat?

 

Here are your answers:

1. The seats are ambidextrous with controls on both side of the seats. I'll try and take a few more photos when I get home tonight.

2. The seat buckles are mounted to the track, so choose your position carefully.

3. I'm 5'9", a lean 140 lbs, and chose the M style seat which does have the adjustable thigh support, though I haven't used it. However, I have adjusted the side bolsters for a tighter fit and the seat fits me like a glove. For that kind of money, I'd spend the extra $100 to be able to adjust the seat in as many ways as possible, especially for long-distance driving. You never know how your body will change as you age and I'd rather have the seat flexibility and not need it, rather than need it and not have it.

BTW, the electrically-adjustable driver's seat in the latest 3rd Gen is very comfortable and firm. That, the MT and other electronic doohickies are what convinced me to purchase it last year.

 

Thank you for your input.

I have an major issue with my current seat belt buckle mounting to the Corbeau seat base. I am thinking if there’s a way to fab up a bracket that would go between the seat base and active portion of the slider track so it travels with the seat like every oem seat belt buckle I know of, I want to make that happen. It sucks the way it’s set up now burying the seat belt buckle when you move the seat forward and back.

Do you know what the mounting system is for the Recaro seat to the slider? It has to bolt on somehow. If it’s robust enough fabbing a bracket would work, the only issue then being the slider strength on the ones I have which have an ECE R17 approved rating. The ones I have I want to keep for the 9” of travel not to mention the Recaro sliders would then be another $280ish.

Not sure if that means much to have that rating because most oem seat sliders are multiple times the amount required in that standard, and with Recaro’s reputation as an oem provider for Volkswagen, Porsche, Ford and several others, I bet their sliders are really well made like their seats.

That’s another issue with my current seats- as I mentioned they felt cheap. Their 4 mounting points are literally little 5/16” nuts welded to the seat subframe, which is also pretty wimpy, like 3/8” round rod.
I’m not trying to bag on these seats too heavily, but there’s an obvious difference in how stout they are even compared to the factory Tacoma seats let alone the Subarus.

At 44 I’m at a point I need good seats in whatever I drive. I have a 2018 Silverado and drove a 2020 Ford Transit Connect, both have awesome seats. I don’t know if I’ll ever buy a new Toyota, and that’s after having owned 7 from 16 years old to current. I just don’t care for the offerings, so I’ll be sticking with my first gen- just needs to be comfortable as well as capable.

My days of being able to drive 8 hours in a lifted Tacoma with stiff suspension and uncomfortable oem seats are long gone. I’ll update when I drop in Recaros in like half a year

 

Below are several photos of the brackets and the buckles. Sorry for the poor quality. The buckles are mounted adjacent the bottom of the mounting bracket with a pivot point near the hinge of the seat.





I had a 2001 Subaru Forester that had outstanding seats; put 533,000 miles on that car before selling it in 2017. I purchased my 2004 Tacoma in 2007 (at that time, 10K on the odometer), but never put a lot of mileage on it because the factory seats were so uncomfortable. That changed when I put the Recaros in (it's currently at 91K), but then I purchased a 2015 MB GLK 350 back in 2018, and that's been my daily driver these past three years. When you spend so much time in a vehicle, you HAVE to be comfortable.

 

Agreed

 

I have the leather limited power seats with lumbar and they seem ok. Not as good as my old Acura tl seats, but decent for a early 2000s vehicle

 

out of curiosity did you gain or lose any headroom with the Recaros? I'm looking at changing my seats in the distant future, with the main motivation being gaining headroom since I'm too tall for the cab as is

 

Looking at DMZ’s picks in his latest post the Recaros have adjustable mounting height. The other thing I noticed from the dimensions is they have a really low seat cushion depth, which could really help out with getting them lowered. I had this issue with the Subaru seats I had. The Procar I have now are much better. Gotta do a little metric conversion Expert (what DMZ has)Specialist

 

The lower back pain is a thing, I was using lumbar support from TJ Maxx for a bit, but it pushes you up against the steering wheel

 

Thank you for the honest review.

As they say… buy once, cry once.

 

Inhave to go measure the current stock seat depth. But that dimension (18.5” on the Recaro) is what makes my legs/ass go numb on long drives. There’s no support from the stock seats.

For these Recaros I wonder what the softness/stiffness is of the cushion material?

 

Hello. I see you're in N.C. I'm interested in doing the same Recaro gray front seats and replacing my 60/40 OEM Taco seats on my '98. Not sure how well the gray will match my bluish/grey (moon mist) interior, but assume it would look better than black. Do you mind telling where you bought your seats and who installed them? I'm in Anderson, S.C. but have relatives in the Charlotte, N.C. area. Thanks.

 

For these Recaros I wonder what the softness/stiffness is of the cushion material?[/QUOTE]

The cushion material is firm/stiff; that's the way I like my seats. The factory seats were WAY too soft and long trips in excess of 4 hours were very uncomfortable.

 

This is where I purchased the seats and they did the installation as well:

Kevin Kahle /// Customer Support Specialist

GMP Performance
710 Pressley Road
Charlotte, North Carolina 28217
Ph: 704-525-0941 x 255
Em: Kevin@GMPperformance.com
Web: www.GMPperformance.com