captains chair in 1st gen 4runner?

[Devilmans Hand]

Yea, another one of these damn seat threads.

The stock driver's seat in my 86 4runner has about 300k worth of ass in it so I've been looking for alternate options.
People seem to want more than I want to spend for the famed SR5 seats.

I stumbled upon a fold up leather captains chair from a 2004 toyota sienna for $25 and figured what the hell. I've been wanting to put some comf captains chairs in my trucks, but the 4runner stock seats sit too low in the cabin to allow for the taller seats. The smaller 2nd row captains chairs from the vans look like they'll fit in the front of the 4runner, but might need some modifications.

I've noticed that the seats fold up pretty flat, and now i'm wondering if this would be a benefit for the expo style rigs. If i wanted to sleep in the truck I could fold both front seats down which would allow for a longer sleeping platform. Same goes for folding the passenger seat down to increase usable cargo space.

Anyone else do something like this in their Toyota trucks/cruisers? I'm just curious.
I'll prob find a way to stick the seat in there during the next few weeks, so I'll post up my findings.

 

[Redneck92]

Why not go with some aftermarket racing seats(corbeaus etc). Unless your really short or get creative I don't for see captain chairs working.

 

[Devilmans Hand]

B/c im cheap. I got this chair for $25. I like to modify things instead of buying off the shelf items.
I think it will work. Now im figuring how to attach the stock sliders/mounts to the new seat.
Most of the height from the captains chair is in the mount with its quick attack/disconnect base.

 

[Devilmans Hand]

We all love pictures, so I took some for you.

first off, its 'rivets' and not rivits like i've typed in the pics.

Still fits between the b-pillar and the center console fairly well.

If you look close, the seat is waving at you.
The seat is sitting in the truck w/o the base/sliders
Right now it is as far back as possible b/c of the folded rear tumble seat. Now I have an excuse to remove the rear seat.

Now some pics of the stock mounts/sliders.
I'm thinking that the easiest thing will be to remove the lower 2/3rds of the stock base and then bolt them to some flat stock bolted to the new seat.

Things not seen.
The captains chair had some cables from the folding mechanism to the floor locks on the quick attach mounts. Those had to be cut/removed. In this case cut b/c they were attached to a riveted pin.

I still might use the stock captain's chair slider and just bolt that to a piece of flat stock bolted to the body. The new sliders are a hell of a lot nicer, but I don't really anticipate sliding my chair around all too often. The 4runner mounts are lower profile as they are.
I could chop the captain's chair mount down some. We'll see.

Stay tuned.

 

[Redneck92]

Looks good, got those things at a steal. They fit better than I thought, all the captain chairs I've seen have been real tall at the base, which wont work to well in a 4runner. You practically sit on the floor in these things.

 

[Devilmans Hand]

I finally got it bolted in.

I ended up ditching the sliders, made it a fixed seat and gave myself a few extra inches of leg room.

In order to move the seat back those few inches I had to remove the back seat. You could get away w/o having to do this if you dont' want to extend your legs or always have the rear seat in the usable "up" position. When folded the cushion occupies the rear legroom part.


I picked up some 1/8" flat stock, maybe 2" wide.

Put the seat in the car and figured out the placement, which ended up about 6" back from the front floor holes and the front of the seat frame.

I used the torch to heat up the flat stock so I could more easily bend the ends where they'll need to curve at the front. The bend will need to be about 75-80degrees.

figure out the floor bolts and where the holes will need to be in the flat stock, then do the same for the bolt holes for the seat frame.

I used some 3/8" bolts, lock washers, and nuts to attack the seat to the flat stock.

I used some M10-1.25 x 50mm bolts w/ lock washers and a few nylon spacers to attack the flat stock to the floor in the rear, and some M10-1.25 x 45mm with some nylon spacers inbetween the flat stock and the floor in the front.

The seat sits a little higher than stock, and it doesn't feel like i'm sitting on the floor anymore. I still have headroom, and now plenty of legroom. It feels more like driving the landcruiser now.

Plenty of room to fold down both arm rests.

The seat folds up flat w/ plenty of room.
Now I just need to find a matching seat to swap in the passenger seat.
Pretty damn comf.
Total cost is about $40 for the seat, flatstock, and hardware. Not Bad

how the seat is bolted to the flatstock

how the flatstock is bolted to the floor in the front

all folded up

I didnt' take a pic of the rear of the seat when folded, but it is pretty close to the same height of the metal backing hinged plate to which the rear seat was velcro'd. One could put a platform across the gap pretty conveniently.

 

[TCinVA]

Nice job at a great price!

 

[Devilmans Hand]

thanks. Now i'm looking for a matching seat for the passenger, and a set for the 40.