Easy Low-No Cost Middle Row Seat Recline Mod (1 Viewer)

[dgerst]

No disassembly of hinge needed. Just remove hinge and pop off spring. First grind off the stop as mentioned in other threads.
https://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-tech/17888-reclining-seat-mod.html
Then make more teeth. I used an 1/8" shank .094 diameter end mill (available on EBay). I don't have a milling machine but I do have a drill press and a cross-slide vise.

I milled two extra teeth into the hinge. You can add one or two more if you think you need them.

Go slow and mill the new teeth to match the existing ones. Oops. As you can see below I kind of hit the plate with the mill.

Here's the end result

If you don't have what's needed to do it yourself I'm sure a local machine shop wouldn't charge much.

 

[yotaslave]

Been curious about that method. Thanks for taking the plunge. How is the gear mesh? Solid?

 

[SouthCo]

Nice mod... I like it.

 

[86tuning]

Awesome!

 

[dgerst]

Been curious about that method. Thanks for taking the plunge. How is the gear mesh? Solid?

Gears mesh fine. Just use calipers or something to make sure the tooth spacing is the same as factory. I had one a little narrow and it wanted to slip so I cut it a bit wider. Then it was good. .

 

[Qball]

wow that's awesome!

 

[newtomelx]

A mod I can afford!! LOL , really nice!!

 

[dgerst]

I just removed my third row stop pins also. If you make sure to leave the headrests down they'll recline all the way to where they'll safely clear the rear glass.

 

[BRKLYN1]

Brilliant!
... did you have to remove the seat from the truck to get the hinges out ...or just flip them forward?

 

[dgerst]

Nope. Fold the seat down. Pull off the handle on the recline lever. Remove the scew and cover. Remove the four 14mm head bolts and the hinges then come right off.

 

[dgerst]

After living with this for some time, I gotta say this is one of the the best things I've ever done to my truck. If you regularly carry more than two people, do it. Plus when you fold the middle and recline the third row (remember the third row already has the extra adjustment teeth, you just need to grind off the stop pin) it's like sitting in a limo. I have no idea why Toyota didn't do this from the factory.

 

[half k cruiser]

Two thoughts :

1. For those that don't have a press and milling bit, you could do that by roughing in with an angle grinder then using a file to finish it out. I would take a bit longer but would work just as well.
2. Anybody checked to see if you can just buy the third row hinges and swap them into the middle row ?
2a. Cool mod, always wanted my middle row to recline, thanks for the post.

 

[dgerst]

The problem with the grinder/file method is that since the gear is recessed into the hinge you have to disassemble it, which means grinding out all the rivets and replacing them with something at least as stout. I suppose you could get in there with a small file but it would be slow. The complete hinge assemblies won't swap as the middle and third are different. You could put the third row gears in the middle row hinges but again that would require disassembly. The mills are cheap on ebay

http://www.ebay.com/itm/20-NEW-1-8-...659?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item56639a531b

and I think a guy could chuck one up in a Dremel or Rotozip and do it by hand if he were careful.

 

[TYM4FUN]

This is a really nice mod! Thank you for the pics and details.

 

[canman]

Excellent tip. I will give this a try on the weekend.

 

[MoeGasim]

great write up....thanx

 

[White Stripe]

Anyone know what the milling bit is used for this is called or where to get one? I know nothing about them.

 

[cheeese]

It’s called an end mill bit, the first post has the shank and diameter info you would need, although you could use a different shank size.