[redtruck]

I'm starting a seat swap operation in my 97 tacoma. ext cab, 60/40 seat. I got some black leather vw seats off ebay, picked them up last weekend and today started surgery on the passenger side. I took the entire frame off the passenger seat and chopped each rail off flat with a cut off blade on a circular saw. then reinstalled rails, flat now, and measured up for new cross beams out of angle. Got that tacked up this afternoon. For any of you contemplating a swap, the VW seats are totally, totally different than the toyota. I took the new seat bottom apart, off the frame, its way too tall. So cut down all extremities off the bottom and notched out to fit lower over the new slider set up. Looks like over the weekend it will go in and I'll have some know how for the driver seat. Got to be able to do it in one session!

The worst part was cutting up the oem slider rails bc once I started cutting it was a point of no return. I'll post up some pics once I find my camera. I am enthusiastic about these replacements and having more room to access extra cab space as well.

i've read up on most of the seat swapping posts, tech info, etc but if anyone has advice, I'd love to hear it!

 

[EnolaGaia]

Sounds good! Please be sure to report everything (procedure, tips, etc.) and provide pics if possible. I'll be happy to include your install in my seat writeups over at CustomTacos. So far as I know, there've been a couple of mentions (but no proof) of VW seat transplants into Tacos prior to now.

And yes, you're right ... Toyota's seat construction scheme is different from many other manufacturers. Instead of a single mounting base atop which sliders and then the seat are attached, Toyota uses 2 separate pieces - each a base piece with slider parts - on each side of a bucket. This means that swapping in bottom-mount seats usually turns into an exercise in transplanting (or recreating) the Toyota twin-piece scheme.

 

[redtruck]

I got the passenger seat swap finished today. A whole lot more frankenstiening than I expected. But the black leather looks sweet and is real comfy.

Enola - not only are the toyota seat frame/sliders unique, but the vw's are totally strange. Had to do a lot of cutting to get the new seat on the old sliders low enough in the cab.

If I weren't such an idiot I'd post some pics, but can't quite figure it out. The ones I have to upload are too large. Anyway, here's a link to an online photoalbum with a few of them posted. http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/islandpreacha/my_photos

 

[redtruck]

seats swapped

I finished both the passenger and driver installation yesterday. The new seats are a vast improvement in comfort, support and looks over the old split bench. The downside ---- it's been a long time since germany and japan have been together! The vw seats were not a straightforward swap. I had to use not only the toyota slider mounts but also the slider assembly cut way down to get the seat pan low enough. I got a great deal on them and they're real nice ...so I guess it was worth it! I will post some pics and if Enola wants to add to tech database please do.

 

[EnolaGaia]

Congrats, redtruck, on getting it done to your satisfaction...

 

[scottnmos]

I finished both the passenger and driver installation yesterday. The new seats are a vast improvement in comfort, support and looks over the old split bench. The downside ---- it's been a long time since germany and japan have been together! The vw seats were not a straightforward swap. I had to use not only the toyota slider mounts but also the slider assembly cut way down to get the seat pan low enough. I got a great deal on them and they're real nice ...so I guess it was worth it! I will post some pics and if Enola wants to add to tech database please do.

I have got to have more pictures. I have some grey audi seats that I thought would be too much a pain in the ass to install, but now that I see this, its possible. PLEASE send all the pics you can to [email protected] I would love to have these seats installed instead of sitting on the garage floor. Thanks!!!