alfio

I picked up a pair fairly nice 4runner seats for my '92 pickup. the donor vehicle was a 2nd gen 4runner so i'm not concerned about the bolts lining up but i do want to work on repairing the typical tear on the drivers side. would it be possible to use the passenger seat and swap out the fabric onto the driver's side (on the lower seat cushion)?

the passenger seat on my 60/40 bench is in good shape so if i could make the two 4runner seats into one good one, i could run the pickup seat on the passenger side for a while (until i found another 4runner seat which should be fairly easy as the passenger sides are usually in good shape).

aviator

The bottom pans are the same the tilt function is part of the mount not the cushion so sure you could swap one for the other. You need some pliers to undo the 'hog rings' and some patience, just take you time... undo all the bolts and separate the pans from the frames first... of course another option is just take both parts to an auto upholstery place and get them to do it...

I'm not 100% sure but you may be able to just swap the pans and not worry about removing the covers... it's been a while since I did mine...

wait a min... you want to take the cover off a normal single seat pan and put it on the sport seat pan? That won't work the sport seat pan is a diff. shape, bigger and uses more material. An upholstery shop is your best bet... if you only want to do the bottom a close match should be pos. and won't cost very much either.

alfio

starting backwards on this to clarify. no, i know the two sets of seats are different size. i want to do what you are talking about below.

nice. that's what i wasn't sure on. i'm going to try and take them apart then to see if i can 'borrow' the good bottom cushion from the passenger side and slap it on the driver's side.

not too many auto upholstery places around here and i'm a DIY person anyhow. thanks.

i will look into it and report back (with some pics maybe). i searched but couldn't find anything on this seemingly simple solution to driver side seat fatigue.

aviator

OK once you take the plastic sides off you will see the pan is attached with four bolts on the sides... I think you need to lift the corners of the cloth the bolts are under the cloth if I remember right...

Migs

Hey Alfio,

I pretty much have your truck's twin. '91 white extended cab with goofy early 90's decals (which I just remove this weekend).

Anyways...I swapped in the premium 4Runner SR5/Sport/Whatever seats into my truck shortly after I got it. Same deal, the driver's seat was ripped.

I waited a few months until I found another 4Runner with the same interior arrive at the junkyard, and I bought it's passenger seat which was in perfect condition.

Just as you're suggesting, I pulled the material off the upper section of the passenger seat, and installed in onto my driver's seat. The bottom section simply bolts out so that was the easy part.

So yes....do it!



Migs

alfio

ok, confirmed that bottom bolts off and matches without a problem.

Migs, the upper switch didn't require any gluing or anything else ? Thanks

Migs

I don't know of any manufacturers that ever use glue when it come to upholstery. If the seats themselves are a match, the covers can be swapped. it's just a matter of taking your time

Migs

alfio

thanks Migs, i will give a go as soon as i can get done with the work that puts food on the table i asked about glue because i've had experiences with some honda seats that had elements of the cloth and trim glued to the foam/padding. glad to hear these don't, the swap should work out fine.

alfio

ok, finally getting around to posting on this.

as i said above, a while back i'd picked up a set of 4runner (89-95) seats from the junkyard. the fabric on the driver's seat had the typical tears (seat belt and side). the passenger seat was clean. a couple of week later i found another clean passenger seat and ended up using that to replace the torn fabric on the driver's side. i pulled the covers and took them to a laundremat with a big commercial washing machine. $5.00 later i had two clean and relatively new looking 4runner seats ready to install into the Hilux.

here are a few pics that show where the clips are. it wasn't too hard to do although there are a few semi-hidden copper o-rings grabbing the fabric onto the seat (metal) frame.

the bottom seat is attached to the frame via four bolts, two on either side:



the upper padding has an interlocking plastic tab at the back (easy to pop open using a flathead:



shape of the fabric is held in place by two rubber straps that run down the face of the seat and criss-cross in the back (they are held in place by the little copper o-rings against the lower brace of the seat):



if you start slowly lifting the upper seat cover you will find more o-rings (these down the center of the front padding but on the back (inside) side:





there's another row above those:



by this point you should be able to stick your hand in and undo the plastic clips that hold the head rests in place; they have a forked catch at the bottom and pop up relatively easily:



once the bottom seat cushion is separated from the metal (spring) base, there are some o-rings holding the fabric to the foam part of the seat (you will have to undo those to put it in the washing machine):


after that it was relatively easy. i swapped upper and lower covers from the passenger side over to the good driver's side frame. you will have to make some holes in the fabric to allow the lumber adjustments to go through but those can also be opened up with the fabric in place.

it is key to tie those rubber straps down to get the fabric to fall into place and countour to the upper foam so take your time securing those in place. other than that, fairly easy to get a couple of nice buckets done for not a whole lot of money (and retaining the OEM toyota look and fit).

alfio

installed pic: