lumbar support 'crunching'

[sandcrawler]

VENT ALERT: As this thread states Ive had my seatback replaced already. Toyota of Santa Cruz is my local dealership where I bought my truck and have it serviced. The crunching started again and I told them and they ordered a new seatback a while ago. They called me when they got the part and I made an appt to leave my truck for the day to have it replaced again. I got a call about 3pm to hear that the same faulty part had come in so they figured it was gonna fail again so what s the point in replacing it. They knew a new part was in the works and told me sorry for the inconvience, we will call you when we get the new updated part. Fast forward to this past monday when I got a call from my dealership that me part was in and too make an appt to have my seat replaced for, hopefully, the last time. I made the appt for today. Mind you I work 24hr ****s and am a single father which leaves me 3-4 days a month where I am free to leave my truck to be worked on. I dropped my truck off this morning at 730am. Got a call at 230pm to hear that they cant find the part anywhere and as far as they can tell it vanished and they reordered a new part again! So this is the 2nd time in a row that they had my truck all day and nothing was done and they didnt tell me till the afternoon. They said they will comp me a loaner for the day next time when the part finally does come in, YAY! Whatever. Im so close to going on the war path and doing what I can with those I know against Toyota Santa Cruz. Thank you for listening and be sure to tip your waitress.

so they've been replacing the entire seatback for you? and supposedly there's a new part/design now... good to hear. hope they take care of you properly soon.

curious: have your driver's seatbacks creaked as well? with the lumbar fully deflated mine doesn't crunch much (i still want it fixed under warranty) but even more annoying is the fact that my seat creaks whenever you corner or your weight shifts. it's not every day, and seems worse when the weather is cooler, but when it does start to creak it just goes on and on.... drives me mad.

hoping the seatback is the source of the creak and it's rectified by a newly redesigned part.

 

[sandcrawler]

Thanks for the pics. The only difference I see between our pics is you have a white sticker that says" NEW MOTOR"

Maybe that was the fix even though I don't see how unless they changed something else too. Let us know if and when it's starts making noise again.

There is a TSB on the passenger side "not reclining on one side" and they need one on this issue as well as the headlight lens fogging on top

hey Harper, do you know what that TSB # is?
everybody else's passenger seat "stutter" as it motors forward/backward along the rails? recall seeing other folks mention that as well.

 

[emsmatt]

I havent noticed any creaking or stutter to passenger seat. Maybe Ive just been lucky so far.

 

[sevenstorydrop]

I just got mine back from having the 'seatback' replaced. They essentially remove the cover, and replace the frame, and used the same cover. Popping has stopped, but the seat is more unconfortable than before. Trading it today. Good luck with your seats!

 

[Saltshaker]

I'm in for my 15k svc now. Any updates on this I can talk to them about? Thanks!

 

[emsmatt]

I'm in for my 15k svc now. Any updates on this I can talk to them about? Thanks!

Just that there is a new redesigned part available to replace the defective one in the seatback.

 

[sandcrawler]

Just that there is a new redesigned part available to replace the defective one in the seatback.

could you post a scan of your work order? or post the part #s?

 

[swansong04]

update ..
sorry for the late response .. i had my 4runner into the dealership a couple months back and they replaced the seat back mine was really bad .. the tech that took it out couldn't believe how bad it was .. so they replaced but it still does it .. so when i drive now i turn the lumbar right off... seems pointless buying a limited 4runner if you can't use the options ... anyway we are going to leave it for a while longer maybe on our next service ...
does anybody know if there was an official TSB for this issue ?? and where can i access if there was ..

thanks Gary

 

[emsmatt]

This is the part numbers for the new seatback that I had installed. Not sure which numbers are the ones needed but this is exactly from my invoice. This is the updated seatback. Been a few months now without any issues.

711021 FRONT SEAT BACK ASSY R&R
99WT94
1 71440-35A70-B3 BACK ASSY, FR SEAT
1 71640-35060 SPRING ASSY, FR SEAT

 

[DC4R]

I brought my LE in to North Shore Toyota in N. Vancouver and they inspected my lumbar seat and replace the upper half of the seat, leather and all within a couple of weeks. If anyone one else lives in the area it might be worth giving them a try. Sandra was really good to deal with.

I have had the new back in for a few days now and i haven't had any problems with it.

 

[swansong04]

I brought my LE in to North Shore Toyota in N. Vancouver and they inspected my lumbar seat and replace the upper half of the seat, leather and all within a couple of weeks. If anyone one else lives in the area it might be worth giving them a try. Sandra was really good to deal with.

I have had the new back in for a few days now and i haven't had any problems with it.

I'm in Chilliwack ,
Mines has already been replaced and i think its worse than it was before they fixed it .. the next oil change i was going to get them to look at it again .. if i have no success i might phone her ... is your cured now ??

thanks for the info

 

[DC4R]

I'm in Chilliwack ,
Mines has already been replaced and i think its worse than it was before they fixed it .. the next oil change i was going to get them to look at it again .. if i have no success i might phone her ... is your cured now ??

thanks for the info

The seat was just replaced on wednesday. So far its good but I will keep on eye on it.
One thing they said they might try and replace for me is the driver's seat on the side.
My leather is kind of cracked and worn, I'm gonna keep mentioning it until they get it replaced. Hope it happens.

 

[swansong04]

funny you say that ours is the same ... bought ours in may and our seat looks like its ten yrs old ... and we baby that thing like crazy .

 

[Saltshaker]

So there's part numbers now? Any tech note? Sorry if already posted. I'm a bit torn, I have svc coming up in a week but I haven't noticed the crunching for a few months. I think I just have my seat positioned so it doesn't do it....

 

[deekoi]

I fixed mine when I had the cover off by putting a 2"x2" piece of foam about a foot long behind it creating my own lumbar support.The lumbar is right for me now and quiet so I leave it alone.I added some strips of foam on the bolsters too to fit me a little better.

It's real easy to get at this bolster thing-a-ma-jiggy if you don't like to mess with dealers like me. That bottom flap on the lower back of your seat has a elastic band that wraps around the springs underneath. Take it loose and the flap comes up revealing the ends of the zippers for the seat cover.Unzip both sides a foot or two and wala,there it is.

Thanks Harper, How is your fix holding up?

This is the part numbers for the new seatback that I had installed. Not sure which numbers are the ones needed but this is exactly from my invoice. This is the updated seatback. Been a few months now without any issues.

711021 FRONT SEAT BACK ASSY R&R
99WT94
1 71440-35A70-B3 BACK ASSY, FR SEAT
1 71640-35060 SPRING ASSY, FR SEAT

Thanks for the info emsmatt,

Any update on how the new seat is doing?


Much appreciated for the updates! I'm at 12,500 miles and mine's been getting worse. Almost up for the 15k check so I wanted to bring this up and have them change the seat (hopefully only once)

 

[emsmatt]

Thanks Harper, How is your fix holding up?



Thanks for the info emsmatt,

Any update on how the new seat is doing?


Much appreciated for the updates! I'm at 12,500 miles and mine's been getting worse. Almost up for the 15k check so I wanted to bring this up and have them change the seat (hopefully only once)

My lumbar is holding up great. No signs of crunching again. Interesting side note tho. Recently I was installing my Wet Okoles and could not remove the drivers side headrest. It was totally frozen. Tried pulling it and it was gonna rip the inards out before the headrest adjusted. I typically dont adjust my headrest so I never noticed it. Toyota had to take the seat apart for the 4th time now and replace something inside. If you get this repair just make sure you check that the headrest still moves post-repair. I got busy and forgot to add this info but luckily it only happened 2 weeks ago.

 

[453030]

I will probably rue posting this, but my seat has not creaked in months. I have experienced it off an on before. I am now at 20k. The other day I though about just tilting the seatback up a bit but I don't want to mess with it since it has been so quiet .

 

[StuB]

I have a new seatback under warranty

I know this is the 8th page of this thread, but I'll post it here instead of starting a new thread anyways. In other words, some threads stick around too long and people start to ignore them IMHO.

Took my 2010 TE in last week for it's 30,000 mile service and finally had them deal with my crunchy lumbar support that quit working some 15,000 miles ago anyways. All the updated part numbers I've found (my dealer too) regarding this issue so far seem to have been replaced with just one: PART# 71440-35A50-B3 ('BACK ASSY, FR SEAT,') It is an entire seatback that is pre-assembled. Motor, frame(s), padding, fabric and all. Just swap it out at the hinges, plug the power for the lumbar motor in and toss in the headrest. My dealer farmed it out to a local automotive upholstery shop anyhow with my approval and it was done in one hour once they had it. It seems that this is the third part redesign regarding this issue and is coming from the same assembly that the seats came from in Japan in the first place.

Keep in mind that the part number listed above is for a TE with it's unique fabric.

 

[V8 AWD 4EVR]

I have a 5th Gen Limited, and it has had lumbar crunching and movement from the beginning.

After reading this thread, I went to local dealer for 10K service and explained issue.

They were not familiar with the issue, but after checking with Toyota, they agreed to replace the entire seat back mechanism, and like Stu above me, a local auto upholstery firm is handling the job. I am not in Portland, OR, by the way.

They did say that there are no TSB's or NEW part numbers, so I am not sure what the story really is.

Love my 5th Gen so far, except for the lumbar crunch, and the lack of a V8!

V8

 

[nashman69g]

Just an update...I got another phone call from the Toyota Customer Care and they told me that there is a TSB that will be released (soon--ish)...So hopefully this gets resolved.