Swivel front seats in a 4Runner?

[wlfmachine]

So guys, I introduced my rig yesterday, and y'all saw that its outfitted primarily for camping that's off the beaten path, and this idea is along those lines. I know many of you wouldn't have much use for swivel front seats if you are mostly rock crawling.

So has anyone ever tried installing swivel front seats in a 4Runner? Any experience you can share or links to someone who has been successful (or not)?

The idea is that if the two front seats can turn around and face the back when you are camping then the sleeping platform becomes a table for eating, cooking, or for a laptop, and the interior of the 4Runner becomes much more livable during long trips in the backcountry when outside conditions are bad. The week long trip down the Baja coast, when a couple different nights its stormy, and that one spot is super buggy, becomes a lot more enjoyable.

Here is the most likely route to accomplish this that I have discovered so far. It involves picking up:
- A couple Corbeau 3rd Gen 4Runner seat brackets:
https://corbeau.com/toyota-4runner-96-02-seat-brackets.html
- A couple K&M seat swivels:
https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200487875_200487875
- And two new seats, like the Sport Seats from Corbeau or any two seats with a flat bottom that the swivel can be bolted to:
https://corbeau.com/sport-seat.html

I know that the seat area on a 4Runner is a lot tighter then the vans that usually are outfitted with swivel seats. But I'm thinking if the swivel was mounted as far forward on the seat slides as possible, and the seat mounted as far back on the swivel as possible, then moving the seat as far forward as it can go, with the door open, you could swivel the back end out into the door well, around, and into place facing the back of the vehicle.

I would love to hear any thoughts, ideas or suggestions for this. I'm thinking this may turn into a winter project for the 4Runner this year.

 

[Quantumkiwi]

Interesting, but I think that in order to get the seat to actually rotate, you would either have to have the bottom fold up, or have some sort of offset bearing and rotate it through the space when the front doors are open.

I'd also be worried about how putting seats on bearings would affect crash safety. TBH I don't know how other manufacturers actually implement swivel seats.

Personally, as a taller dude, I think I'll just learn to enjoy some bad weather.

 

[wlfmachine]

Personally, as a taller dude, I think I'll just learn to enjoy some bad weather.

See that's the thing, I'm tall too, and with a sleeping platform in the back of a 4Runner there isn't enough headroom for someone to sit up. Here is the type of situation I'm talking about:
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/E2LIkQmqG24?start=109" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

It was super windy, in the 20s, the snow was blowing sideways, and we were parked in a quagmire of mud. We basically just ate dinner at like 5pm and by 6pm my buddy and I put a movie on in the truck to get us through till when it would be dark and we would be tired enough to sleep.

Having the seats swivel backward would have made the whole evening way better... cooking, eating, and watching a movie from a chair instead of laying down with our heads propped up to be able to see.

You mentioned that the seat would have to swivel out into the door well, and I agree, but I don;t think bearings would be needed. I'm thinking that if the swivel was mounted as far forward on the seat as possible then by moving the seat forward (and maybe leaning the back forward to) then it could swing out into the door well...

 

[Quantumkiwi]

See that's the thing, I'm tall too, and with a sleeping platform in the back of a 4Runner there isn't enough headroom for someone to sit up.

It was super windy, in the 20s, the snow was blowing sideways, and we were parked in a quagmire of mud. We basically just ate dinner at like 5pm and by 6pm my buddy and I put a movie on in the truck to get us through till when it would be dark and we would be tired enough to sleep.

Having the seats swivel backward would have made the whole evening way better... cooking, eating, and watching a movie from a chair instead of laying down with our heads propped up to be able to see.

To be totally honest, I sleep outside of my 4runner most of the time. Most of my need for a sleeping platform is storage. When I don't feel like pitching a tarp, I just throw some bouldering pads in the back of my car and crash there with the hatch open. I backpack a lot (and live in the NM mountains), so bad weather, etc, really isn't that big of a deal for most of the year.

I'm not sure what you mean by not having to use bearings, imho, you kind need them in order to rotate something like a seat without having to undo all the seat mounts. My ideal design would probably use a significantly overrated bearing mounted on towards the front of the front-rear centerline of the seat with two latches of some sort preventing side-to-side movement when locked down.

But hey, most of my fab experience come from building robots in high school and college, so take my shit with a grain of salt.

 

[wlfmachine]

My ideal design would probably use a significantly overrated bearing mounted on towards the front of the front-rear centerline of the seat

Oh yeah sorry, I get what you are saying now. In my original post I was talking about using this swivel https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200487875_200487875
as you are describing using bearings. Agreed, front of center on the seat would allow the back end to swivel out into the wheel well.

 

[Twisted Sid]

I just dont think there is enough room to make the seats swivel around. The seat bottoms will probably hit the door panel and center console at the same time. And on the driver side, you will have that annoying steering wheel in the way. Seems like it would be easier to make the front seats slide farther up to make more platform room than to make them swivel.

 

[Joelzy]

I just dont think there is enough room to make the seats swivel around. The seat bottoms will probably hit the door panel and center console at the same time. And on the driver side, you will have that annoying steering wheel in the way. Seems like it would be easier to make the front seats slide farther up to make more platform room than to make them swivel.

that's what i was thinking. unless the footprint was smaller, turning in that area would be tight.
I was thinking something like the hinges/sliders on a lot of coupes/2dr hatches that move the whole seat a bit further forward to access the backseat.

 

[Cree]

Super easy to do actually.......

1) Remove your radiator cap.
2) Reinstall cap on 4WD E350 with swiveling captain's chairs
3) ???????
4) Profit


You've just installed swiveling front seats. Good job.

 

[Quantumkiwi]

Super easy to do actually.......

1) Remove your radiator cap.
2) Reinstall cap on 4WD E350 with swiveling captain's chairs
3) ???????
4) Profit


You've just installed swiveling front seats. Good job.

You forgot the part where you put a TRD sticker on your radiator cap.

 

[Spktyr]

that's what i was thinking. unless the footprint was smaller, turning in that area would be tight.
I was thinking something like the hinges/sliders on a lot of coupes/2dr hatches that move the whole seat a bit further forward to access the backseat.

I have some ideas for a seat swap that may help out in that direction. Depends on what I pick up later today.

Unrelated: Joelzy, would you happen to work at the Plano Lexus dealer by any chance?

 

[Joelzy]

Unrelated: Joelzy, would you happen to work at the Plano Lexus dealer by any chance?

no sir, I'm in marketing with Service King for a couple more months.

 

[skcolb]

I've thought about this for similar situations as you describe, but dismissed it as not feasible without thinking too much about it. So, I'm very curious to see what you come up with if you attempt it!

Just spitballing here, you might be better off thinking up and installing some sort of quick-disconnect, such that you can pull a few pins, lift the whole seat up, rotate it 180, and set it back down. I agree with the others here that I don't think there's enough room to swivel the seat on a bearing.

 

[wlfmachine]

Just spitballing here, you might be better off thinking up and installing some sort of quick-disconnect, such that you can pull a few pins, lift the whole seat up, rotate it 180, and set it back down. I agree with the others here that I don't think there's enough room to swivel the seat on a bearing.

I like the idea of a quick disconnect. That's what I did for the lower seat cushions in the back seat, and it is great being able to take those out quickly.

For the front seats, as far as I can tell the slider bracket connects independently to the back rest as well as to the seat cushion, so there is no quick way to disconnect the current seat from the current slider. However using the Corbeau bracket and a new seat, a quick disconnect would work, and that will be a good backup solution if there isn't room for the swivel.

I'll keep this thread updated as I experiment with this!

 

[JackOfAllShades]

Maybe mounting strong sliding brackets on the sides of the seats. Ensuring that the swivel portion of the seat slides along with the top half of the seat. That would make the chair top slides forward and swivels into shape to be used as a set of inward facing seats. It wouldn't be 100% as comfortable but it would be 85% and thats enough for me. That's my best running plan at the moment.

 

[docoliver]

2019 Toyota 4Runner. Trying to figure the swivel front seats. any further information based on your post that I might use to figure this out?

 

[Twisted Sid]

2019 Toyota 4Runner. Trying to figure the swivel front seats. any further information based on your post that I might use to figure this out?

See post #8 in this thread for the answer

 

[jgue467]

If your arse cannot twist to get out of a Runner seat you probably do not deserve to be driving one (handicap folks excluded of course).

Jokes aside, I recall seeing 70s montecarlos and GPs with swivel seats from the factory, kinda cool I suppose but it does need the high upward movement steering to move out of the way. Luck all on this endeavor.

 

[SlickmisterN]

As a fabricator I see no great way to do this safely as there is simply not enough width inside the cabin to accomplish a 180* articulation of the seats

Just installing captains chairs with an arm rest would be somewhat of a challenge...

 

[Gonzilla!]

Possible solutions

I just stumbled across this old post. Are you still trying to figure this one out? Or did you figure it out? Or did you just get sick of messing with it??
Well I may have some input. So I am currently composing this message from the passengers seat of my 5th gen 4runner AND this seat is currently rear facing. I have all rear seats removed and use the 4runners' newly created space, for a laptop and a make shift Milwaukee packout table, which turns out to be decent mobile office. All I do is remove the 4 14mm bolts that affix the seat to the vehicle and with no effort pull the seat onto its back. I then sit on the back portion of the seat facing the rear, making the former place you sit on not the new seat back. I also remove the head rest. This is a fitting, easy and safe solution for me personally, as I only do this when the car isn't moving and it sounds like you wanted this feature in a similar scenario.

If you wanted to make this rear facing seat something permanent, there are a few ideas that come to mind. 1. The easiest, find or design a seat with a removable back that can be reinstalled into the opposite end of the bottom part of the seat. 2. Make adaptor dbrackets so the seat can just be removed and rotated. 3. The hardest, find or design a seat where the bottom part folds back snug to the back part, then the whole fixture can tilt and slide back just enough so that the seat can rotate 180 degrees in the tight space between the door and the center console.

Anyway,

Good luck man. Lemme know if you figure out anything else. I'll just be sitting here in the opposite direction in the meantime.