So, I need a 3rd row seat pretty soon in the 4runner. I figured that I would look into Jeep seats. So, I ended up ordering a Jeep YJ rear seat from bestop. Its a fold and tumble seat that includes the brackets for install it. Drill six holes, and bolt it in. Works like a champ.












Installed:







FWIW, I got the seat from JCwhitney with a 20% off coupon and Free Shipping. $248 shipped to my shop.

 

Looks awesome! Are you gonna do anything about seat belts?

 

nice choice on the seat. i like how it folds up like that.

 

Yeah. I am hitting the pic and pull tomorrow to grab some cheap. It will require drilling two more 7/16" holes with some thick fender washers underneath.

 

looks awsome man good job..I would do the same but man do I love my sound system..

 

Dude is that legal??! lol!!!

Awesome man, maybe I should do that with my 4th gen...

 

Hey Scotty,

Resurrecting this old thread for a moment.

Now that we have had our 99 3rd gen for awhile and sold our 89 suburban and the family has grown to 3 kids w/ 2 in car seats I have been wrestling with my options.

I come back to this idea of yours and the other project you did on the FJ60 http://toyotaholics.com/support/topi...52&whichpage=2

If you could bear with my questions:

1)Will this seat fold up and pull out like a 3rd row in a old suburban?
2)Now that you have run this setup for awhile how do you like it compared to fabbing in the FJ jump seats?

The JCwhitney seats install is more my level of fabrication but I do like how the FJ jumpseats turned out.

Really struggling with the amount of room for everyone in the 4runner. I find myself looking at the 80's and the Sequoias a lot lately.

As much as I want to keep my 4runner and finally build it up the fact is that a fam o 5, gear, and 2 shepherd dogs won't fit.

So I have been kicking the 3rd row fab idea around and then some sort of rocket box cargo carrier on top for gear with a trailer on long adventures. Just haven't figured out where to put the dogs lol.

 

80 Series likely won't fit due to the wheel well. They are pretty wide. The fold n tumble I still have actually. In fact, I plan to put it into Hunter's 98' 4runner shortly. Its an easy install, but it will only allow for a lap belt only. Just keep that in mind. It will fold up into the 2nd row for hauling stuff too. I just use a bungee cord to hold it in place. IMHO, its a good mod if you need a 3rd row.

 

You mentioned on your yotaholics post about considering something like a 1st gen rollbar deal to possibly mount a shoulder harness belt? You think that would fit in the right location for the fold and tumble?

Obviously you can accomplish anything with enough money. This fold and tumble was a great idea and cost effective as well.

Doesn't LandRover Disco's use a type of fold away jump seat? You think they would have the same issue regarding the wheel well?

 

That looks good! I like that it folds up and you still got alot of room in the back!

 

The wheel well is the issue on the rear. And, there is literally no headroom. Even my 10yr old is a tight fit back there. The Jeep seat is really the only option. No chance in getting that roll bar far enough back for shoulder harness belts.

 

Thanks Scotty. That is what I was thinking. I looked at the jeep seats and think that is still the way to go. Now too bad they don't have a split bench with headrests. I found split bench fold and tumbles but no headrests. So looks like the fold and tumble will be it (if) I go this route.

What did you end up using for the lap belts?

Any chance we could get some pics of how you mounted that all up?

 

what is the seat bolted to? the sheet metal in the cargo area? i've seen options where the seats were turn-buckled to the D-rings. don't know if that's secure though.

i'm not too optimistic the roll bar i installed in the back (with 1/8" mounting plates on either side of the sheet metal) would withstand any harsh abuse (ie rollover, side/rear impact), but i'm also not trusting lives to the install.

with one or two bodies (~125lbs?) belted to those seats, would they stay put or rip out of the floor in a rollover? that would have me worried.

 

A lot of that area is double walled in places. The seat comes with brackets to mount below the body as well to spread the load. IMHO, its just as secure as the factory stuff given that your seats are simply bolted through sheet metal as well.

I do use large fender washers for the seat belts as well.

 

I have a 2002 4Runner and we have a "little passenger" 3rd row install and we love it. My daughter is five and she and her friend can seat in it comfortably. It has seat belts. Install is easy. We bought it off of craiglist list about 2-3 years for about 350. Good luck.

 

What seats did you use and how did you install them? Thanks