I did this write up showing how I installed the top tether anchors from a '01/'02 in to a '00 or '99 (not sure if the same seats fit a '98-'96). These are only the top tethers for forward facing car seats and not the lower LATCH anchors, you would still need to secure the car seat with a seatbelt whether using a forward or rear facing car seat.

Be sure to always consult with a NHTSA trained Child Passenger Safety Technician for all things car seats, not just a fire or police station unless they themselves are certified. If they are, they will have a certification number and a card to prove it. If they don't they may have gone through a one day familiarization course or something, but a CPST has been through a 40 hour course (yes there really is that much you can learn about car seats). Get a Car Seat Checked | National CPS Certification


Anyway, here's the write up:
3rd Gen child car seat tether install


Special thanks to @Brique for helping me get this project started by supplying me with pictures and videos of how the anchors were installed.

Anyone have the pictures saved for this?

Yes, Top Tether pics on my site, 3rd Gen section. Good upgrade, highly recommended!

I will try to get the pics hosted somewhere else one day, but in the mean time if you just copy the link for the photo in to a new browser you can look at the pics on Photobucket’s website. They just turned off 3rd party hosting, not deleted the pics.

@J.A. ‘s write up Toyota 4Runner Highlander Top Tether Bracket Child Restraint System shows how to bolt in top tether mounts in to the rear cargo area. It’s a much cheaper (~$10 total) and simpler option. The negatives are that you can only use it on the outboard seats (no top tether for middle, the safest seating position) and it can intrude with cargo depending on how much crap you’re trying to haul. You could actually add the center tether mount by replacing the center pivot hinge for the upper seat backs like in a ‘01-‘02.

My write up 3rd Gen child car seat tether install covers retrofitting the top tether anchors from an ‘01/‘02 model which gives you top tether for all 3 seating positions and the mounts do not obstruct anything in the cargo area. It will very likely be more than $10 and you will have to work to source all your parts. I think I was able to get all my stuff for around $50 from junked runners and it was a bit of a project to retrofit everything in.

Ultimately I needed to do my method as I have a storage box in the rear, and when I go camping my rig is full to the brim. Both methods are safe so you just have to decide which method fits you best.

Good luck and let me know if you have any questions.

Thank you for the efforts. However, I tried to copy/paste the link in a new tab, and open picture in a new tab, and still face the photobucket hotlinking warning. Maybe the pictures are in a private album? (Sorry, peeked at everything that you have made publically available, but the tether pics are not among them).

Thank you in advance!

Try this link: Car Seat by John Doe | Photobucket

The link to overlandlv is broken but I did find a post by you in another thread https://www.toyota-4runner.org/3168063-post11.html does that cover everything you had posted on the other site? Thanks for the info

I did this mod as well, here's a little info from my mod thread about it:
https://www.toyota-4runner.org/2729508-post92.html