Rear seat swap. Is it practical?

[DeclansDaddy]

My 86 DLX has the 3 lap belts in the back with the rear seat that the seatback just velcros to. I see a lot of threads on mounting the shoulder belts in the back but is the do-able with my seat. My belts don't have a lap retractor. And where everyone bolts up the shoulder retractor and pivot point is taken up by the hardware to catch the seat latch. So could I find a newer model and take the whole works seat and all? Would mounting the lap contractor be possible?

 

[flagbasher]

The retractor goes on the roll bar.

Explanation of where I got mine. In hindsight, I would have gone with the 12" receivers instead of the 8" ones.

This post has a section describing what/where and the next one has some pictures of the install.

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/class...ck-burgundy-1987-22re-auto-3.html#post1773489

 

[DeclansDaddy]

The retractor goes on the roll bar.

I see the shoulder retractor bolts to the rollber but wouldn't there be a retractor on the lap belt end also? Where does that bolt to? Also now that you've bolted this stuff to the roll bar how does your seatback lock into place?

 

[DeclansDaddy]

Ok now I see there is only 1 retractor. Also I see your truck uses a different type of latch system than mine. This is where I am stuck. I'm thinking I'd have to find the back seat and brackets in a 88-89 and relocate them in my truck. My latches actually are bolted to the roll at in the exact hole you are using for the belts.

 

[flagbasher]

When I got my truck, there were no latches on the truck at all. The seat just leaned against the bar. The seat itself had the latch mechanism, but the catches were gone.

I bought rear seat latch catches from a 2nd gen. The mounting holes are probably there for you as well.

Check these rear panels out: 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 Gray SR5 Toyota 4Runner Cargo Panels with Doors | eBay

Do you have the sideways slots "/" in yours? That's where the latch catch goes. Even on the panels that don't have the slots cut out, the backside of the panel is etched a bit to show you where to cut that hole for seat latch catches.

This is the kind of latch catch I bought and bolted in: 1995 Toyota 4Runner Hilux Surf Rear Back Seat Lock Latch Catch Bolt 94 93 92 91 | eBay

I'd be interested to see what your bar/latch setup looks like.

 

[DeclansDaddy]

I'll snap some pics of it tomorrow. It's a pretty primitive setup. I don't believe my panel has that hole. I'm guessing 84-86 has the setup like mine????

 

[flagbasher]

Also worthy of note, my seats are aftermarket. The mounting brackets and hinges aren't factory style. They're clearly period for the time the truck was made, but I doubt they were standard Toyota stuff.

The upside, though, is that the shoulder latch seemed to be in the stock location as the SR5 models that came with back seats, so they just fit when I got the latch catch installed.

 

[flagbasher]

I'll snap some pics of it tomorrow. It's a pretty primitive setup. I don't believe my panel has that hole. I'm guessing 84-86 has the setup like mine????

I think it depends on whether it was shipped from Japan with seats in it or not.

I think mine shipped without rear seats, having rear panels without "/" slots. After getting to the dealer it was lazily fitted (not adding latch catches and cutting the hole in the panel) for aftermarket rear seats.

Who knows how many different seat varieties they had as dealer options.

 

[DeclansDaddy]

Well I'd definitely like to get a new back seat. Mine is dangerous looking. It's just a piece of metal with a 2" thick cushion that velcros to it. Who makes aftermarket seats like yours. I think that may be my next investment. I want to carry my kids around in this rig but I can't put them back there. It's just to sketchy.

 

[flagbasher]

I don't think anybody makes them anymore. Mine were probably in there since the truck was purchased.

When you take pics, get good ones of all the hinges and latches. It will be interesting to compare.

I know my hinges are different, but the latch is in the same place.

My seats had lost whatever center hinge existed for the seat backs, so I used a 2nd gen hinge and screwed it to the frames.

I've got some actual 1st gen hinges in the mail now to compare with.

 

[DeclansDaddy]

Here's a couple pics. The hinge on the back is just a piano type hinge the whole width of the seat. There is no sign of a spot to put the catches in the side panel but I looked in my 95 and see that's how that one is. I believe with a little modding I may be able to put a second gen setup in my truck.

 

[DeclansDaddy]

 

[DeclansDaddy]

 

[flagbasher]

Behind your plastic panels, you should find these mounting points for the latch. Not that you need to use those since yours probably work just fine. Just want to point out that they're probably back behind the plastic panel in case you want to swap in stock rear seats, these points should be there for you to latch to.

I leaned the seat a bit so you could see how far forward of the roll bar the stock latch goes.

I would think you could put the belt retractor and shoulder clip on your roll bar, even with your seat latch there. The bar you have attached only looks like 1/4" thick or so. You can easily fit the retractor and shoulder clip over the bar. Just use the new seat belt bolts to attach it all.

More info on the plastic panels. I assumed that all the plastic panels outlined where to cut for the slots, but I was wrong. I have 4 panels now. 2 gray with the slots, one blue and one red without. The blue without has no outline on the back, but the red one does.

Gray and blue.

Backside of the red where you can see the outline for cutting the slot.

 

[Nervo19]

I have an '89 DLX and the back seats are exactly like the ones that were in my '88. The backs are split. I know some earlier 4Runners had a one piece back cushion. If you have the ones I have, I consider them plenty safe. I left the middle lap belt in place. I got seat belts from a 1992 truck. They have the plastic retractor covers. I also got the "female" buckle ends too. The original female ends wouldn't click with the new belts. As shown above the retractor mounts on the roll bar. LMK if you need better pictures.

I live in VA too. I think I told you about the Toyota junk yard near Suffolk. I have the pick n' pulls in the Richmond area bookmarked and I check their "new in yard" list frequently. They rarely get an early pickup and they never get a 1st gen 4Runner. I got my belts from eBay for about $30. I've noticed the earlier belts go for much more. They match my front seatbelts perfectly. So you can safely expand your search to 89-95 pickups for the belts.

 

[DeclansDaddy]

Yea my seat is the one piece. I really want to put a split seat in. I was looking at my second gen yesterday and I think a seat from a second gen would work with a little fab. The belts Flagbasher spoke of seems like a good candidate. I went to chesterfield auto parts a couple weeks ago and they had a first gen but it was stripped clean. Found a guy on Craig's with a 92 that has a back seat for $50. I keep it touch with the guy with that junkyard so he looks around for me too. I'll get something going here soon.

 

[flagbasher]

I have an '89 DLX and the back seats are exactly like the ones that were in my '88. The backs are split. I know some earlier 4Runners had a one piece back cushion. If you have the ones I have, I consider them plenty safe. I left the middle lap belt in place. I got seat belts from a 1992 truck. They have the plastic retractor covers. I also got the "female" buckle ends too. The original female ends wouldn't click with the new belts. As shown above the retractor mounts on the roll bar. LMK if you need better pictures.

I live in VA too. I think I told you about the Toyota junk yard near Suffolk. I have the pick n' pulls in the Richmond area bookmarked and I check their "new in yard" list frequently. They rarely get an early pickup and they never get a 1st gen 4Runner. I got my belts from eBay for about $30. I've noticed the earlier belts go for much more. They match my front seatbelts perfectly. So you can safely expand your search to 89-95 pickups for the belts.

Do you have slack when the shoulder belts are fully retracted in the back?