I know people have done this but I don't recall seeing any details of how it to do it.
I know people have done this but I don't recall seeing any details of how it to do it.
You mean swap seats? After considering swapping the two front seats (because each wears more on the outer edge), I realized that only the driver seat needed attention, and the best candidate for that is the one directly behind (if the second row has individual chairs rather than a bench). Because that seat has no direct access from outside, it is in great condition to replace the driver seat.
I was referring to switching the butt cushion in the seat, which people have reported doing. But I don't know how.
I prefer the idea of replacing the entire seat. But when I've mentioned that in the past people acted like it wasn't possible. After pulling both front seats out of my 93 parts van and examining the undersides, I could not find any reason why a switch from one side to the other or to my 97 couldn't be done. However, those aren't in great condition so they aren't transplant candidates.
I have two rear captains chairs from my 95 that would be ideal to swap in as a new drivers seat for my 97, but they are buried under stuff and I haven't examined the bottoms. Whether the swivel can be removed leaving me with something I can bolt the 97's driver seat rails onto remains to be seen. Seat belt is another possible problem.
But cushion transplant would still be a possibility, if I could figure out how its done.
https://www.toyotavantech.com/forum/...1072#post41072
In this thread, I put a "poster"-style photo and description of what to do for a DIY seat full disassembly (I have dozens of other photos and a higher-res version as well I could post.) The executive summary is that a car-upholstery place can rebuild a section or totally replace your existing seat foam for not much money if that's all that's brought to them. Like a lot of other Previa stuff, there's money to be saved if you put in the labor yourself to dis-and re-assemble the seats to get to that cushion, and if you're leaving the seat back alone, there isn't much to it - all the complex stuff is involved with the seat back. It wouldn't hurt to get a quote to see what it would cost to have it done - maybe you could even get an in-the-ballpark estimate by emailing a photo.
"If you find yourself holding a sledgehammer or a crowbar, it's time for a break."
For the 1991-1993 there's four 12 mm bolts that hold the metal chassis that the foam sits inside of. It's very easy to see the four bolts once the seat is out and you can look underneath. These metal chassis are virtually identical and therefore interchangeable with the front seats.
I have replaced my driver's seat with a rear captain chair. The foam is in excellent shape because as mentioned there's no real wear on the left out edge of the seat cushion, since there's no access/exit on that side of the rear passenger compartment.
As for the newer 1994+ and 1996, 1997 seats? I'm not sure how interchangeable the seat components are. I would imagine that the seat frame is indeed the same, but I am not certain.
I have the swivel mechanism off of the rear seat and of the 95 while it initially looked promising the metal rails (which are different than the front rails) need to come off and it seems like they are either part of seat frame or attached somewhere to the side of the "bucket" that I can't find a way to. Wondering if you remember any more. Each rail has 2 bolts and they are out, but its still connected pretty firmly somehow. Will post pics if necessary.
I really want to use these seats because they have the nifty pockets on the back that my 97 DX seats don't have.
Plus, I called an auto upholstery shop to price new foam and it was not cheap.
I think the ‘95 seats are different design, which I do not have experience with. The ‘95 seat frame may be same? Not sure.
But the 12 mm bolts are in the corners of the metal frame that the foam is in. You have to look all the way up there to reach them. The rails are not associated with this metal chassis for the foam, if it indeed is the same design.
IMG_2544.jpg
the 93, just for comparison with the others
IMG_2542.jpg
The 97. Slight differences but they should be interchangeable, I think. Hard to get a good pic while its installed.
IMG_2545.jpg
The 95 rear captain seat after removing the swivel. This is my potential "transplant", but it has nonfunctional rails so I'd have to switch the 95 or 97s rails onto this.
The rails on the 93 and 97 are similar enough to be interchangeable, I think. The 95 seems to have about 1/4 inch less space between the 4 main attachment bolts but that doesn't trouble me. What troubles me is that with both the bolts off on one side (red circles) the rail still won't come off because its attached somewhere up the rear side of the bucket (red arrow) and I haven't figured out how to get it off there
The ‘95 does not look familiar to me, must be a slight design change. The 1991-1993 Seat bottom cushion chassis always came loose when removing the 4 corner bolts. I couldn’t be much help outside of being there myself.
After looking at the picture closer, is the rail attached to the hinge where the backrest pivots? Which means that if you remove all 4 bolts the seat bottom cushion chassis would separate from the two side rails that it is attached to.
It seems like the rail attaches to the hinge, but I cant really see why or how. I want to transplant the whole seat (if not too much trouble), not just the bottom cushion. However I will also take the path of least resistance if that's too much trouble because all I really need is the cushion. There is a bolt near the rear end of the rail on each side (right next to the arrow) but when I take that out nothing really changes. I thought maybe that was attaching the rail to the hinge
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote