Toyota 4Runner Forum - Largest 4Runner Forum - I found/fixed my seat rattle/squeak

Good News I found that annoying seat squeak on my 03 4runner SE. I have manual seats with driver side lumbar support for comparison. My original goal was to install heated seats, but since I had taken everything out of my truck to do so, I was determined to find that damn squeak as well. The source of my squeak originated from two different places beneath the seat.

Location#1: (Refer to Picture 1 posted below in thread) There was a metal to metal contact underneath my seat on the wire support for the padding. The wire support is similar to the wire on a bedframe. There is basically two networks of support that join under the middle of the seat and attach by a metal collar. This metal collar was rubbing against one of the cross sections of wire support on one side. I would assume that this is a mass production part and If one piece is messed up, there are a lot more. The overlap was very slight, but enough to make a noise so I grinded down the contact point using my dremel tool until they did not touch anymore when weight was added to the seat. Problem#1 was solved.

Location#2: (Refer to Picture 2 below, the bar is highlighted in red on the image) There is a bar that runs beneath the seat that is close too where the the seat back and bottom join the seat frame. This bar was causing a squeak from both ends where it connected to the outer seat frame. The seat back has a little play in it which causes this bar connection to move very slight and cause this second squeak. I added a generous amount of white lithium grease to these contact points and both sources of noise were resolved.

If other people have seat noises similar to mine the fix should be very simple. The seat back noise can be eliminated without removing the seat. Just detach the little flap on the back of the seat and carefully grease the two ends of the pivot bar. If the squeak is also coming from underneath the seat, then you have to remove the seat which is also pretty easy. Just detach the electrical connections, remove the 4 plastic covers, 4 bolts and take out. Flip the seat and you can probably grind the collar down without removing the padding, just don't burn the seat. Maybe put something to pry it out of the way(carefull it's foam) so you can access the metal collar without obstruction. Hopefully this helps some of you out there. This noise is very annoying. I want to thank all of you who have participated in the various forums regarding this noise which led me to believe this problem was not fixable by switching seat parts. At least not a permanent fix. Chances are the noise on the seat back will come back eventually and then i'll grease it again, no big deal. Oh ya, my heated seat install went great as well. I will have a separate thread started for that one.