My 1987 4Runner overall has fairly decent front "sport" seats. The passenger side is obviously better, but the driver's side is decent for the age. The frame, tracks, etc are all in great shape. So if possible I'd like to fix what I have.
The driver's side could definitely benefit from new foam. Has anyone had any luck in making foam from a newer gen. work? I've seen some threads where people replaced the rear seat fabric and foam with 2nd gen 4Runner, but I haven't found anything similar for the front. I've seen Dorman has aftermarket foam for select vehicles, but not 1st gen. 4Runners. I see a few that resemble mine, but I'm not fond of ordering parts where I'm guessing.
When I restored a 1987 Suzuki Samurai I got rid of the badly broken front seats and installed aftermarket. I wasn't terribly fond of them, and would rather not go down that path again.

 

I taught myself to recover seats on both my hobby cars over the last two years. I really enjoy the learning curve. But from what you describe, and videos i’ve seen, i think a decent upholstery shop could repair or rebuild your foam for a great fit. You can also steam foam to restore it’s shape. The effect seems temporary. It worked on my couch, not so well on the Yota seats.
You can easily swap the better foam to the driver’s seat and supplement the passenger side.

 

Thank you for responding. When I first got the truck I stripped the seats down to their frames. I cleaned the foam as best I could by submerging in hot water with Dawn soap, then squeezing out. Over and over. After that I took some upholstery foam and tried to repair the areas where the foam had deteriorated, mostly the bolsters on the driver’s side. Then I cleaned the seat material and machine-sewed a few patches where the fabric had worn through. Then hog ringed everything back together.
The repair on the foam helped, but new/newer foam would be the way to go.

 

The seat bottoms can be swapped left and right, foam, structure, cover, and all. Just unbolt from the frame and swap over. The backs cannot be directly swapped on the SR5 seats due to the holes cut in the driver's seat for the two adjustment knobs. If you had a junkyard passenger seat cover you might be able to use that on the driver's side and cut the right holes. I'm not sure if the foam can be swapped left to right on the SR5 seats since the SR5 seats have the lumbar and side bolster adjustment mechanisms.

 

How bad is the deteriorated part? Do you need to repair the bottom and the back of the drivers' seat?
The seat bottoms can be swapped left and right, the frame's different.
Pics for reference:

 

One pic more for reference:

 

Interesting:

 

What did the most damage to the foam on the bolsters to their bottom and back was the fairly beefy bar that’s part of the frame that helps keep the foam raised. It pretty much just wore through the foam on the underside.
i cut out out bad sections, then replaced with fairly dense cell upholstery foam. I then shaped it to look pretty much like the original. On the underside of the foam there’s the slot where that bar I mentioned slides in to keep the foam elevated. I took sections of vinyl material and lined the slot with it to lessen the impact of the bar and spread the load over a bigger area. So far it’s been working ok on the bottom, but the side bolster on the seat back isn’t faring as well.
after I did the repairs I got CoverKing neoprene covers, so they look decent. I was just wondering if anyone had ever managed to source out new foam or successfully use one from a different vehicle, while still using the OEM seat material.

edit: good video, gave me some ideas! It was cool seeing at the end where he did the scrap fabric on the underside like I did. Of course, he did a better job.😃

 

How hard is it to remove and reattach the fabric on these seats? I want to add heated seats but I have no idea how the factory cushion covers go on. I've watched lots of videos on various models but they are all a little different. Some use plastic channel clips. Others use velco etc. I realize I am going to just have to pull the seat covers off to figure it out and take it to an automotive shop if I can't get the cover attached again.

 

It is very easy. I did it with the front seats of my wife's 4Runner. I believe I made a thread about it, but I am not sure. You will need some upholstery metal rings and the pliers. That is all. Post photos when you start with it, we could guide you.

Edit:

I uploaded the photos in this same thread, this is the post:
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116.../#post52446765

 

A strong pair of diagonal cutting pliers is what you need to cut off the existing rings. Just replace them in the same areas.