So I've only had my '99 limited for couple months and overall it's in great shape except for the one thing - the driver seat side panel of the leather seats...
As most of us know it isn't leather - so many manufacturers make the sides and back of seats in vinyl to save money and the 4runner seems to have this issue a lot - for those who don't know, I am referring to the part of the seat on the lower cushion that faces the drivers door.
The worst part is that it's the first thing you see when you open the door and after lifting it, it was even worse because it was more noticeable.
Since a few days after I bought the truck I had the idea that maybe, just maybe I could switch the seat cushion leather from left to right - making the cracked vinyl "invisible" since it would be against the console on the pass side after.
Well I DID IT!!!!
I removed both seats and studied them, after removing the plastic side covers I discovered that the two lower seat frames were held on only by 4 bolts - and the lower cushions and frames are - get this - TOTALLY IDENTICAL!
They are even stamped with L and R on each side of each part to signify where to put the wires if it is used as left or right.
The only hiccup in my project was my '99 had the weight sensor on the pass side to cancel the airbag if you put less than a certain weight on it -
I started to remove all the hog rings to pull the leather off as I was going to swap the covers, then I realized the sensor was just a ribbon cable glued to the seat. So what I did was carefully peel it off (with aid of a razor blade) You want to be extremely careful not to cut or rip the cable - I then peeled back the drivers side leather (pulled a few big rings) just enough to expose the part where the sensor sits - the foam in the driver seat is even indented in the spot where the sensor goes. As I said the L/R parts are identical!
I used some 3M 90 spray to glue it back in place and buttoned everything up!
Now my driver seat looks brand new, the ripped/cracked part is super unnoticeable because the damage is sandwiched against the console on the pass side and even more so because even the worn part of the bolster on top (mild wear) is further from your eyes when you open the door - nobody would notice if you didn't tell them!
Completely free repair and took me maybe 1.5 hours.
As most of us know it isn't leather - so many manufacturers make the sides and back of seats in vinyl to save money and the 4runner seems to have this issue a lot - for those who don't know, I am referring to the part of the seat on the lower cushion that faces the drivers door.
The worst part is that it's the first thing you see when you open the door and after lifting it, it was even worse because it was more noticeable.
Since a few days after I bought the truck I had the idea that maybe, just maybe I could switch the seat cushion leather from left to right - making the cracked vinyl "invisible" since it would be against the console on the pass side after.
Well I DID IT!!!!
I removed both seats and studied them, after removing the plastic side covers I discovered that the two lower seat frames were held on only by 4 bolts - and the lower cushions and frames are - get this - TOTALLY IDENTICAL!
They are even stamped with L and R on each side of each part to signify where to put the wires if it is used as left or right.
The only hiccup in my project was my '99 had the weight sensor on the pass side to cancel the airbag if you put less than a certain weight on it -
I started to remove all the hog rings to pull the leather off as I was going to swap the covers, then I realized the sensor was just a ribbon cable glued to the seat. So what I did was carefully peel it off (with aid of a razor blade) You want to be extremely careful not to cut or rip the cable - I then peeled back the drivers side leather (pulled a few big rings) just enough to expose the part where the sensor sits - the foam in the driver seat is even indented in the spot where the sensor goes. As I said the L/R parts are identical!
I used some 3M 90 spray to glue it back in place and buttoned everything up!
Now my driver seat looks brand new, the ripped/cracked part is super unnoticeable because the damage is sandwiched against the console on the pass side and even more so because even the worn part of the bolster on top (mild wear) is further from your eyes when you open the door - nobody would notice if you didn't tell them!
Completely free repair and took me maybe 1.5 hours.
