Time goes quickly. It's been about a year since this 4Runner was transformed from a mild-mannered stocker into the machine it is today. No rig is ever left completely alone, so we've been refining the 'Runner ever since.
Last time we showed the 4Runner, we were in the thick of a custom Mastercraft seat installation. We'd finished the mount for the second-row seats and had attempted to adapt the front seats to the stock seat sliders. Unfortunately, the stock sliders were too tall and the resulting seat height had our noggins too close to the roof. We started over, custom-building a new set of mounts and designing them around Mastercraft's 6030 seat sliders. The second time was the charm, as we're now sitting at stock height where we wanted to be.
Our rear shocks needed some attention, as many miles of high-speed running in 4WD had pelted the rear shocks hard enough to chip the shafts. Leaking rear shock oil announced the problem. Thankfully, Sway-A-Way offers replacement parts and upgraded rear shock shafts.
If you've ever peeked under the back of a 4Runner or FJ Cruiser, you know how flimsy the stock rear suspension links are. The lower links are a decent diameter, but the wall thickness is lacking. The stock lower rear links are very easy to bend. The upper links aren't much thicker than a pencil (no joke) so they're also, literally, weak links. The rear track bar has a decent wall thickness, but like the rest of the rear suspension links, it pivots on rubber bushings that bind up and don't allow the suspension to move as it should.
Suffice it to say that our fortified 4Runner is more fun than ever.
Here's the attempt to adapt...
Here's the attempt to adapt to the stock seat sliders. Note the distance (circled) from the bottom of the side bolsters to the line in the center console.
Mastercraft 6030 seat sliders...
Mastercraft 6030 seat sliders (AKA adjusters) are available for custom installations like this one. Mastercraft also offers a heavier-duty towel-bar version under part number 6030-T.
The stock mounting points...
The stock mounting points are offset side-to-side and asymmetrical front-to-rear. The challenge is to build a new mounting bracket that's the correct height, is correctly centered, and faces straight forward.
No, Rube Goldberg was not...
No, Rube Goldberg was not involved with this project! Although it may look a bit involved, this bracket was made using a hole-saw-style tubing notcher, a chop saw, and a TIG welder. Round tubing, pre-stamped tabs, and pre-made machined weld washers rounded out the bill of materials. No TIG welder? No problem. This same bracket can easily be made using the MIG welding process.
The seat belt buckle must...
The seat belt buckle must travel with the seat, so a new buckle bracket had to be made. Two pre-stamped tabs and a short length of one-inch-diameter round tubing comprised the main structure of the buckle bracket.
The stock buckle bracket was...
The stock buckle bracket was cut off and adapted to the new bracket. You can also see the spacers (circled) that were welded to the top of the 6030 sliders to create needed clearance between the seat's mounting flanges and the adjuster pivot pin on the seat sliders.
Here's a test-fit before final...
Here's a test-fit before final welding. Remember the distance between the bottom of the side bolster and the line on the center console? It's much greater now, indicating how much head room we've gained. The front of the seat is tilted upward on purpose. The higher the front of the seat, the higher your knees will be and the more legroom you'll have. We've still got to run the wiring for the front seat heaters, and find a good location for the heater switches.
Finally, sitting pretty f...
Finally, sitting pretty front...
...and rear.