Hah! I have the same louod groan/squeak as well when cranking the wheel while turning in a parking lot - good to know I'm not alone. I too, tried greasing the stops but to no avail...

I recently did a seat swap (see my signature) and it was fun and pretty easy. I was lucky in that my passenger SR5 seat was in great condition and I could swap with the driver side.

The OP's new seats are, however, in a league a few notches above mine - WOW!

I'm always on the lookout for a lockable, durable center console to replace mine. Everything I find (like Tuffy) is too wide to fit :( Any of you guys find one that works well for the tunnel between the seats in a first gen 4runner?