Front facing rear seat - where it comes from and how to mount (1 Viewer)

[cruiserBj42]

Hi,

due to a recently increased count of family members I bought, for my BJ42 from 1983, a front facing rear seat. Unfortunately any information, like e.g. exact model where it comes from and required parts to mount, is missing and I couldn't get this from the seller.
Can anyone help me with these parts?



I'd need following information:
- exact model the seat was used in
- photos showing the seat in a any J4 car and showing the details of mounting

As I'm located in Germany and I want to have a legal solution unfortunately only "original" solutions can help me... Life could be so easy...

Thank you all in advance!

 

[pbgbottle]

It Came from a BJ42 LX. Model.
You will have to research it.
There is info on this site about that model. You may search here also. I am not at home so can't read you the info I have saved on my home PC. Sorry.
Somebody on here has some pics for you I'm sure.

 

[cruiserBj42]

Thank you for your fast response!
I searched for the rear seats before and for the BJ42 LX I can only find two versions of seats. One taking the whole width of the car and the other one is splitted into two parts. This means the one I have would be the splitted version. But if I have a look to the OEM parts list TOYOTA LAND CRUISER 40 BJ42RV-KC - BODY - SEAT SEAT TRACK | Japan Parts EU it doesn't really match. At least the mounting points are incorrect, aren't they?
Or has somebody messed around with the seat?

 

[bikersmurf]

You'll likely need to get parts from Australia or Japan for that seat as the North American market never got those. I'd look for suppliers to in those parts.

SOR.com likely can get them. I'd check their site and contact them also. Most of us have never seen those seats... Only in pictures.

 

[Snowbound]

It doesn't look like the seat from a BJ42 LX. They are split 2+1 and the stripes run all the way across.

Most likely a JDM seat, possibly from a BJ44 or BJ46???? That's my best guess

TOYOTA LAND CRUISER S T H T BJ46V-MCM - BODY - SEAT SEAT TRACK | Japan Parts EU

 

[Bear]

Don't think that your seat originally was intended for the German market; rather, for domestic Japanese use.
If your regulating authority requires the ORIGINAL mounting hardware and won't accept any other fabrication, your best bet is to contact someone in Japan to source your parts-- this could be quite a project. Another regulatory issue could be that your vehicle was not the intended recipient of that seat, and thus does not have the ORIGINAL mounting points pre-welded on the underside of the body.

A concern to me, however, is that it appears the seatbelt anchors for that seat are tied to the seat bottom frame itself, rather than through anchors to the floor with substantial backing plates. While each country has different regulations, perhaps Japan felt this was okay for the home market. However, for the 1/3--2/3 arrangement you referenced above, for the Australian and European markets they chose floor anchors for the seat belts, and I'm wondering why.

If you're not required to have either original or approved engineered brackets for your seat, I'd fabricate my own substantial bracketry and be done with it, and forego any folding or tumbling arrangement. Just a thought.

 

[grishnakh]

It doesn't look like a BJ42LX seat (unless it has been heavily modified), as that seat has a frame that lifts it about 20cm from the floor, and allows for bolting the seatbelts to the floor itself. I agree that it's probably a 44/46 seat, which might cause a bit of trouble when mounting it in a SWB.

 

[cruiserBj42]

At first: thank you all for the hints and tips! Especially the hint with SOR, I think, I'll follow up. Like you I'm quite sure it was not intended for the European market. But as I don't know the exact model it's hard to start a worldwide search... Hope I can change that!

Before starting the search using this forum, I investigated myself as well.
I found
- compared to the version for BJ42 LX, the most obvious thing is the missmatch of types and locations of the mountings from the one linked on the OEM site.
- compared to the version for BJ44/46 LX two main things are different. One is the width of the seat - the part of the seat above the rear wheels is missing. The other is the front design of the mountings - mounting using the wheel housings even with the shown bracket seems not to be possible.
It seems to me that the version I have is either different to the versions previously mentioned (which I hope) or is heavily modified.
For me the hinges at the back of the seat in combination with the mounting of the belts at the bench frame give some hint, that the seat could be mounted directly on the floor in between the wheel housings. Has anybode seen something like that on a J4 before?

To the regulations in Germany:
you have to find an official TÜV engineer who approves your design. For some things, e.g. mounting points of a seat belt, this approval requests a destructive testing of the mountings. In an old car there are only two ways to get an approval: either you know the engineer and he simply addes the seat into the registration papers or you present an "original" design. If you don't have any of it you can try to rebuild some solution, showing pictures of the car and the mountings, hope that the official doesn't notice e.g. the difference between a BJ42 and a BJ44 and there you go. Once in the paper it will not be deleted again. Of course I myself wouldn't present a solution that is not safe in any way, but having the nicely installed seat belts been ripped out...

Hope tomfind a solution before next summer. We plan to go on an Island trip with that beloved car. But with seats facing sideways. ..

 

[cruiserBj42]

Seems I got the answer where the seats are coming from: they are out of an Australian version of the BJ42 LX. Unfortunately they can only be applied with the corresponding Australian rear pan which at least has a different part number than the one for "the rest of the world".

To summarize the whole story: nice seats but not matching to my car and - with the rigid regulations in Germany - unfortunately useless for me...

Again: thank you all for your help and tips! Now I have to find another solution!

 

[tls3601]

SOR