I wanted to post an update to a thread I opened back in December. For anyone interested or having a similar problem, the stock cloth seat in my 99 4Runner SR5 was killing my back on my 120 mile round trip commute. I'm 6'3", 215 lbs. I ended up ordering a Recaro seat to replace it. What a difference! I bought a Recaro "Style" with the "Option" package (heating, cooling, electrical height and tilt adjustment), seat also has manual side bolster adj, air lumbar adj, under knee support extension. I can fine tune it to literally fit like a glove.
Installation was straightforward, though a bit time consuming because the 99' cockpit is very tight so I had to determine a sequence that worked. Some of the issues included; 1) for example, I could not mount the seatbelt anchor with the adapter bracket bolted into the car because of the center console clearance. 2) I had to modify the seatbelt anchor; coming off the stock seat, it has a slight "s" shape, and the mounting hole is much larger than that on the adapter, therefore I needed to cut it, straighten it, and drill a new mounting hole. 3) Working out the angle that I wanted for the seat base; the Recaro sliders have 3 sets of mounting holes on each end that allow you to roughly set an angle for the seat base. Depending upon what you prefer, this may involve cutting down the mount tab on the right front because of limited clearance there; that point is higher than the others because it is on the "uphill" sloping part of the body pan next to the transmission tunnel.
In general, the installation sequence was (Note, use Loctite or similar on all bolts!):
1) Mount Recaro sliders to bottom of seat
2) Attach lever for forward/reverse slide adjustment
3) Remove stock seat from car
4) "Fit" Recaro 4Runner adapter bracket in car; check mounting holes, but do not yet mount
5) Check seatbelt anchor clearance and position
6) Modify seatbelt anchor
7) Install adapter bracket, with seatbelt anchor pre-attached, in car (hook up the seatbelt indicator wiring too, so you don't have to look at the annoying idiot light on the dash)
8) Hook up wiring before you put in the seat; you have more room to work!
9) Final wiring/ground test, and clean up (cable ties etc) before installing seat. BTW the best ground was the adapter bracket itself; drill a small hole and use a self tapping metal screw.
10) Install seat (I did a "loose" install first, I didn't torque everyting down) and check angles and operation before final torquing, then torque it all down.
11) Go for a test drive!
Other notes:
1) Recaro claims 2 weeks but seems to have a 3 week "build" time on these seats. So including shipping to the dealer, and shipping to me, I waited 5 weeks.
2) Recaro stocks very few adapter brackets, and they only ship from Europe via container so they have a 12 week wait. However, there is a company in California called Wedge Engineering, that builds them. My dealer got me the bracket from Wedge. You need the seat, a 4runner adapter, and the sliders.
3) I mentioned the cockpit is tight on the 99; which most of you who own one are aware of. Everything fits but: The bolt for the seatbelt anchor will press against the center console. Personally I don't care about that but some might. I don't think there is a solution for that. Also, using the controls, which are mounted on the left side of the seat, I have to wiggle my hand down between the door pocket and the seat; it is a tight fit but it does work. It only took me a minute or so to work out the best way to slide my hand down, and know what controls I was touching.
4) If you get a manual seat without the "option" package you don't have to deal with wiring. I opted to hard-wire, through the firewall right to the battery. I didn't feel like monkeying with all the tightly wrapped bundles under the dash, looking for a switched hot lead. It was too damn cold out when I was doing it; I admit I didn't really know what the heck to look for and I didn't have the patience. (Maybe when it warms up I'll re-wire it). I did buy, though didn't use, a little 30 amp circuit breaker, which I'll wire in when I set it up "switched"
If anyone wants to see some pictures I'd be happy to send them along; just email me.
Thanks for the advice I received in this forum, and I hope this is helpful.
Installation was straightforward, though a bit time consuming because the 99' cockpit is very tight so I had to determine a sequence that worked. Some of the issues included; 1) for example, I could not mount the seatbelt anchor with the adapter bracket bolted into the car because of the center console clearance. 2) I had to modify the seatbelt anchor; coming off the stock seat, it has a slight "s" shape, and the mounting hole is much larger than that on the adapter, therefore I needed to cut it, straighten it, and drill a new mounting hole. 3) Working out the angle that I wanted for the seat base; the Recaro sliders have 3 sets of mounting holes on each end that allow you to roughly set an angle for the seat base. Depending upon what you prefer, this may involve cutting down the mount tab on the right front because of limited clearance there; that point is higher than the others because it is on the "uphill" sloping part of the body pan next to the transmission tunnel.
In general, the installation sequence was (Note, use Loctite or similar on all bolts!):
1) Mount Recaro sliders to bottom of seat
2) Attach lever for forward/reverse slide adjustment
3) Remove stock seat from car
4) "Fit" Recaro 4Runner adapter bracket in car; check mounting holes, but do not yet mount
5) Check seatbelt anchor clearance and position
6) Modify seatbelt anchor
7) Install adapter bracket, with seatbelt anchor pre-attached, in car (hook up the seatbelt indicator wiring too, so you don't have to look at the annoying idiot light on the dash)
8) Hook up wiring before you put in the seat; you have more room to work!
9) Final wiring/ground test, and clean up (cable ties etc) before installing seat. BTW the best ground was the adapter bracket itself; drill a small hole and use a self tapping metal screw.
10) Install seat (I did a "loose" install first, I didn't torque everyting down) and check angles and operation before final torquing, then torque it all down.
11) Go for a test drive!
Other notes:
1) Recaro claims 2 weeks but seems to have a 3 week "build" time on these seats. So including shipping to the dealer, and shipping to me, I waited 5 weeks.
2) Recaro stocks very few adapter brackets, and they only ship from Europe via container so they have a 12 week wait. However, there is a company in California called Wedge Engineering, that builds them. My dealer got me the bracket from Wedge. You need the seat, a 4runner adapter, and the sliders.
3) I mentioned the cockpit is tight on the 99; which most of you who own one are aware of. Everything fits but: The bolt for the seatbelt anchor will press against the center console. Personally I don't care about that but some might. I don't think there is a solution for that. Also, using the controls, which are mounted on the left side of the seat, I have to wiggle my hand down between the door pocket and the seat; it is a tight fit but it does work. It only took me a minute or so to work out the best way to slide my hand down, and know what controls I was touching.
4) If you get a manual seat without the "option" package you don't have to deal with wiring. I opted to hard-wire, through the firewall right to the battery. I didn't feel like monkeying with all the tightly wrapped bundles under the dash, looking for a switched hot lead. It was too damn cold out when I was doing it; I admit I didn't really know what the heck to look for and I didn't have the patience. (Maybe when it warms up I'll re-wire it). I did buy, though didn't use, a little 30 amp circuit breaker, which I'll wire in when I set it up "switched"
If anyone wants to see some pictures I'd be happy to send them along; just email me.
Thanks for the advice I received in this forum, and I hope this is helpful.
