pinemind

Hey all, I'm in the process of acquiring an '85 4Runner. One upgrade I'm looking towards is the split folding rear seats which fold flat instead of the bench seat that folds against the front seats, leaving the cavity open (requiring a plate of some sort to make it more like a truck bed).

Would I be able to acquire any split seats from 84 - 89 and bolt them in to my '85? My only concern is the little knob which must be lifted to pull it forward. More specifically, how do the split seats lock into their upright position and will this work on my '85?

I can't wait to get this thing registered and moving down the trail. I've been looking for a 1st gen. for the past 4 months and I finally am able to get one now.

Any info on this situation would be greatly appreciated.

Peace,

J.

Lt. Dan

Yup, I did the same thing to my 85. I pulled a 50-50 set out of an 88 runner in my local Pick-a-part. I was able to bolt the latches from my original crappy bench seats right on to the new seats. They work just fine.
The holes for a 50-50 set are right where they need to be for either setup.
If you find a set that has a different latch setup, just take all the latch hardware off the donor runner and install it on yours.
Good luck! You got yourself a good Toy!
(I had a fella offer me almost twice what I paid for my 85, just so he could get the solid front axel for his yota!! )

Lt. Dan

Oh yeah...Welcome to Yodatech!!

waskillywabbit

iTrader: (-1)

I just acquired an 85 myself and it has a newly installed 86 interior (I think) with the rear fold down seats and they seem to fit fine by what I see in this pic.

Flamedx4

Yep, the attachment points for the seats were part of the body pan, so the split seats will bolt right in. The non-split seats were not made by Toyota. They were put in after the empty (no back seat) rig was landed, as a way of excaping the import tariff. There are a LOT of 84 and 85 4Runners out there with various interiors in them, some pretty nice and some pretty lame, installed right off the ships by local specialty companies contracted to do this.

When I bought my 85 new, it stickered at 18,500. (SR5, chrome pkg, power pkg, moonroof, 8way seats, stereo, clearcoat paint) I could have bought a Standard with an interior kit for 14,000ish. (A standard bed 4x4 with no frills was $9987 if you want to put it in perspective) No way was I gonna spend what was then a major pile of dough (I was 25 years old) and not get the SR5 interior, power everything, gauges! etc... It was hard making that payment at first, but I did drive it for 15 years and never regretted the purchase. I have regretted selling it though.

superjoe83

my '84 has a split bench, was that possible

Flamedx4

yep, the split rear seats were the Toyota seats. As far as I can remember, the only rear seats in the 4R actually made by Toyota were the split ones. The aftermarket interiors sometimes had 'solid' rear seats. There was also another vehicle whose back seat fit right in nicely, but I can't remember what it was. Especially in 84, there were a LOT of 4Runners imported as trucks with no rear seat - just a metal plate that made the floor level, and a metal floor... If anyone wants one of those plates, I know where a brand new one is.

Flamedx4

[[Would I be able to acquire any split seats from 84 - 89 and bolt them in to my '85? My only concern is the little knob which must be lifted to pull it forward. More specifically, how do the split seats lock into their upright position and will this work on my '85?]]

So, yes, get the seats from any 84-89 4Runner, and get all the hardware with them - the brackets, hinges, latches etc. Be sure to get the strikers that the latches (those knobs) latch into. It will all bolt right in to factory holes.