Front Passenger Seat Comfort... aint there

A

Ammomac

New member
just completed another road trip in our TRDP

on the first one my wife complained about her seat being uncomfortable. 2nd one she mentioned it again. This time we switched positions and I have to agree, the passenger seat is a torture device. Def a difference from the drivers position.

anyone else have this issue?

so.... are the seat the same across the model lines the same?

I'm thinking my options are

1 - replace the seat with one from a limited if those would solve the problem

2- replace the passenger seat with a right hand drive drivers seat?

3- have local upholstery shop rebuild/modify the seat to fit out arses

4- Lexus GS

I searched forums but didn't come up with anything

grrrr.......
 
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ST1FLER said:
post a picture of the seat and of the wife and lets see if we can solve this
Click to expand...

neither of us are plus sized or anything weird

wife is 5'4" and about 135 - I'm 6'2" 190 we both agree it sucks, I'm just slow to realize this due to never sitting over there

seat is the TRDP softex covered offering, nothing weird or funky looking about it.

feels way too flat, hard, and tall for me - I was able to make it slightly better by fold up a towel and placing it along the sides and under my knees making it slight more "bowled" but it was still not agreeable.

the height shouldn't matter for her, but for me its an issue.

if pics would truly help then I can post, however if you're just wanting to check out my 'ol lady I'll skip the seat pics ;-)
 
The seat in the Limited is annoying. It sits high and that coupled with the sunroof means my head literally crunches against the ceiling. They could have at least put in a manual option to lower the seat.... not that the driver side is amazing or anything. I never noticed it during the test-drives... fortunately I'm only really ever in the pass seat when my wife is DD'ing.
 
 
I didn't think there was a difference in seats across models other than surface materials?

Who's to say a GX would be more comfortable? Personally I just care about my comfort in the driver seat but having the seat redone by a shop might be worth it to your wife. :lol:
 
I have the same problem, only also with the driver seat. It was said that this topic has been beaten to death, which it has come up in several different threads. I've read through all of them including one on the GX forum and one on the Rav4 forum, however there never seems to be a solution found and the threads just kind of end.

I just looked at 3 new 4runners last night at the dealer, and other than being a few months newer, they all exhibited the same problem. I've heard some say the seats break in over time. Maybe this would hold true for your specific problem.

For the problem I am having I don't believe breaking in will help, it will probably only get worse over time. I wish I could offer some suggestions, but I'm at a loss myself and don't know what to try next. 20 minute drive last night and my back is still bothering me today.
 
I'm sure it's difficult, from a manufacturer's point of view, to design a seat that is "comfortable" to all 100% that sit in it. Probably impossible. There will always be someone to complain the seat is too high, too short, too stiff, too soft, fabric color, material, etc...

Maybe you should sell it and get a jeep. I hear they have great seats.
 
Based on my limited experience, it seems that the seats do break in and become more comfortable over time.

My wife has had 2 GX470s that she loved, and when the 2nd was totaled last summer, my first suggestion was for her to look at 4Runners. (She doesn't like the GX460) I did not own my 4Runner at the time.

Within 5 seconds of sitting in the first 4Runner we looked at, she commented that the seats sucked. She still drove it, and I had her sit in a couple different trucks - softex, cloth, or leather made no difference to her. We ended up getting her an X5.

I had no issue with the 4Runner seats, although I did agree that they felt much harder than the GX's. A few months later I ended up getting my '13 SR5 Premium, and she has no complaints at all about my seats. The only explanation I can offer is that they broke in over the 30k miles that the previous owner drove it.
 
BlacknTan said:
Just goes to show how different we all are ... I find the seats pretty comfy.
Click to expand...

No kidding. We took my wife's 2014 LE to Destin, FL last summer and the 10+ hr drive was fine. We switched off driving duties every 2-3 hrs but neither of us had comfort issues.

My buddy on the other hand had a 2010 Trail that he had to trade in due to driver side comfort issues.
 
Yeah the drivers seat can be very painful on long trips... but I found a way to fix it, I remove my wallet from my back pocket and boom, super comfortable.

I have never had an issue with the passenger seat being uncomfortable... let alone so uncomfortable I use dramatic descriptions like "torture" device.
 
I havent kept my wallet in my back pocket since the 90's!

OP- Take it to the upholstery shop to see what they say or what they can do. Im sure they can work some magic.
 
 
well, none of those links were really much help. :-(

truck has 18,000+ on it now and her arse has been in that seat majority of the time so it should be nearly as broken in as the drivers side

I did visit our local upholstery shop yesterday - sounds like hard, uncomfy seats are common across the brands these days. I guess they're built for fat asses and not ours ;-)

He said he can shave out some of the hard foam, graft in some softer in its place, shape it a bit better. for the price of a couple C notes its worth trying before looking for a different rig. I just need to make the commitment to have it done now.
 
biggest issue I have is my belt line sits right at the bottom of the lumbar bag, ends up pushing the belt into my back.

also I never put my wallet in my pocket unless I am not using a coat. otherwise the wallet sits in the center, or bottle holder area on the driver side.

long trips I tend to use a very soft pillow to sit on since I have a boney ass apparently :)

cue incoming jokes ....
 
NoDak said:
biggest issue I have is my belt line sits right at the bottom of the lumbar bag, ends up pushing the belt into my back.....
Click to expand...

This.

It's more of a plastic plate rather than a bag. And the entire frame it's mounted to, along with the paddle for the active headrest, sticks out right there.

There are a few threads on this, some of which I started. I haven't found a solution yet.
 
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