I agree with you, an upholstery shop should be able to add some foam to the seat if it bothers you that much. I would recommend as others have said going to the dealer and verifying that there isn't an issue with your specific seat.

A friend of mine, who is heavier than you broke one of my kitchen chairs not that long ago... it happens and it was funny. He felt bad though.

I guess the next stop would be the dealer to look at another 4runner. I have to find out if something is wrong, or if it's just they way the seat is supposed to be first.

I've tried adding all different types of upholstery foam up to 1" thickness between the black lumbar plate and the backside of the backrest foam.

The backrest foam has sort of a hard backside to it. So adding anything between the foam and the lumbar frame doesn't really work. Might be a little softer, but it feels like the backrest is pushing you out of the seat more. I think I would have to have a shop add the foam directly under the seat cover to make any difference.

The other problem with adding any type of material is that area of the seat already sticks out, which is probably what is causing this problem in the first place.

I have a 2015 SR-5. I’m puzzled that no one has mentioned the lumbar adjustment feature. It feels like an inflatable bag at the lower part of your back that is controlled by a switch on the side of the seat.

And, by the way, I cannot feel any metal in that part of the seat.

ellis

Thanks for the reply, I understand about the lumbar. I, am not a fan of lumbar in most vehicles. I am still having this issue even with the lumbar all of the way off. this is the bottom edge of the lumbar frame, so changing the lumbar makes no difference.

Have you sat in another 4Runner, or the passenger side of your own car, and experienced the same thing?
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I do notice it in the passenger seat, but to a much lesser degree than the driver seat. Possibly because there is no lumbar in the passenger seat.

I have yet to make it to a dealer to sit in a another new 4runner. I know all of the seats are the same, but I would like to find the same model with the softex seats.

I didn't notice this when I test drove mine, however it was a 90° day in June and the factory plastic was still on the seats, in a Black truck. So all I noticed was how hot I was at the time.

Is it possible that the foam compressed in 4 months? I doubt it. But that is next on the list, go sit in another new 4runner. I believe that will be the turning point of were to go from here.

If its the same - I feel like I'm kind of SOL. If its different it would open up some other options that maybe I could fight it out with Toyota and get part or all of the seat replaced.

Thanks again, I appreciate all of the responses.


I really want to keep this truck, I feel like there's nothing else on the market for me, other than maybe a full size pickup, which I don't really need.

Well, I went to the dealer and sat in an SR5 with cloth; A trail with cloth and an SR5P with softex and they all pretty much felt the same as mine. maybe a bit softer being brand new, but overall they certainly didn't make mine seem like there's something wrong.....other than the design itself. Well, back to the drawing board I guess.

The seats in the 2016 tundra parked right next to the 4runners didn't seem to have this problem......

What is everyone's opinion of disabling the active headrest altogether. I've been told by a few members on here that that's what they did. If you disconnect the cable that runs between the upper and lower headrest units, then the bottom of the seat can be collapsed and the paddle will no longer be sticking out into the seat.

I personally would worry about any type of repercussions from the insurance company if anyone was injured while driving the vehicle, and they could prove that the active headrest had been modified or disabled.

as far as safety goes I don't think it would make a difference for me. I sit with my head pretty far forward, so I don't think it would help me much anyway. On the other hand, my wife sits all of the way back against the headrest, so that may be a different story.

I know a lot of you drive pretty heavily modified vehicles, and I would assume insurance companies aren't too fond of this. If you were injured in a modified vehicle with a several inch lift and different bumpers, couldn't the insurance company deny any medical coverage, due to the fact that the vehicle was modified, and was not crash tested in its current form?

I would think the same would go for the seats..... I've heard in some states its illegal to disconnect airbags, how would this be any different.

I think I had the same problem with my 17 that you're having. When I bought it (brand new), I had issues like this with the lumbar control. I played around with it, and eventually, the lumbar button stopped functioning completely. It would not adjust forward or backward (and of course got stuck at the max setting). Since the button itself stopped working, they replaced it. I am not sure how the actuator itself works, but I didn't have the poking problem that you're describing.

Then again, you mention that the feel is similar on other T4Rs on the lot, so I am not sure if this is helpful or not.