1st generation Tundra leg room conundrum/problem/option...

Jola,
New member here. Just wanted to post/share a solution I discovered this evening to the leg room problem some of us big/tall guys experience with 1st generation Tundra manual seats. I'm 6'3" and about 290 lbs. and generally love my SR5 access cab that I bought about two years ago. The only hitch is I can't extend both legs fully even with the seat all the way back...my knees remain bent and I can't straighten out or stretch my left foot that sits on the floorboard foot stop right under the emergency brake pedal. And there's no room to slide my left foot down and up/under the pedals.
I got my Tundra to replace my Ranger XLT supercab that was totalled in a T-bone wreck that broke all my left ribs, left me with an airbag concussion and chipped teeth, and two banged up knees. About 3 months ago, my left knee started aching badly and getting stiff even just driving around town due to how I had to keep my knees/legs bent.
I was gonna replace it with a 1st gen Sequoia power seat but faced the challenge of powering a power seat in a truck made for manual bucket seats. Then I saw this vid on Utube when I was searching for solutions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNK0cszn4sw
It shows exactly what I did in the driveway this evening after work to get another 1 to 1.5" of backward travel on my manual driver's seat. I pulled the seat and flipped it over to look at the rails as I worked the seat adjust handle and moved the rails forward and back. I discovered there are two little peens/dimples on both seat rails...one toward the front and one toward the rear. The front peen/dimple is what stops the rearward travel of your seat. Having nothing to lose but my knee ache/pain, I drilled through the peen/dimple...leaving only a hole in the rail where the peen/dimple used to be. Flipped the seat over, put it back in the truck and discovered I can now straighten my legs/knees out with the seat all the way back...don't have to keep both knees bent upward and sit on the back of my butt cheeks. Huzzah! Bob's yer uncle!
And no need to spend a chunk of fun money on finding/buying a decent Sequoia power driver's seat and then wiring it up from scratch. Sorry I don't have any pix to post, but you'll understand completely if you watch the video on the link above...same concept, different vehicle, same good result.

 

Thank you for posting this! Very helpful for another tall Tundra owner. I look forward to completing this mod this summer!

 

Good tip tmac.

Another trick I’ve done is to install a few washers under the front rail at each of the two front bolts at each seat. Loosen the bolts, slide washers under, feed the bolts back thru the washer holes, and retighten.

This trick turns the flat seat pan feeling into a nestle type feeling. Gives a better incline to the seat. In my case, I only raised the seat front 3/16” (about 3 washers).

 

Just shorten your legs to be shorter. Problem solved.

 

I can't shorten my legs on account I didn't kill fiddy men, just wouldn't be right since I didn't earn it!

I will definitely be doing this mod! Just had the seats out and I could have done it then, oh well!

 

I'm only 5'8 and even I feel cramped sometimes. The AC's really don't have enough legroom. This is an awesome mod. Thanks for sharing!

 

I'm 6ft'ish
I drove an Astro van for a few years and suffered cramped quarters. My fix was to unbolt the seat from the rails and drill new holes as far back as possible and sticking washers in the front bolts to get the front up a bit. Down side was I could not see out of the drivers side window any longer, so I reclined the seat a bit more gangster and started to use the rear side window.
All of that history/experience stopped me from modifying the seat in the 01 tundra. Now the 05 DC has plenty of legroom for me but I definitely could use some washers in the front.

 

I've never owned a vehicle I could straighten my legs in. I didn't know that was a thing people did in cars.

 

You can't simply move a 1st gen Tundra seat back by unbolting it and drilling new holes...the font seat rail anchors don't sit flat on the floor. A power seat from a 1st gen Sequoia will bolt right in, and provides all the necessary adjustments to make this a comfortable option...up/down, tilt, and more rearward travel...but you have to power the seat somehow, which is do-able with enough creative electrical engineering.
On long trips, regardless of how spacious the vehicle is, I stop every 90 minutes or 2 hours and stretch my legs. Even with that, the manual seats don't allow someone over 6' to straighten their legs out...your feet remained cocked back, toes up, and your knees remain bent. This gets REAL crampy when you reach/exceed the age where you no longer bounce when you fall, and instead just go "Thud." It happens to everyone, so be prepared. The body slows down and ages long before the mind does.

 

Fred Flintstone never had these problems.

 

Yeah, but that was a long time ago. No AAA back then, either.

 

Dang i hate when this happens

 

Awesome! I'm big and tall too. But I have power seats. I wonder if I can do something similar

 

Are the seats bolted perpendicular to the floor on the 02's? I have an 05 and the bolt is facing mostly forward, so not sure if this would work the same way. I know the 05 and 06's had some differences in the seats, but not sure if the mounting hardware is the same.

 

Don't know about the 2nd generation and later, but on my 1st gen 2000 Tundra the rear bolts on the seat rails thread straight down into the floor...whereas the front bolts don't. They thread into the floor pan almost parallel to the seat rails, with the heads facing the firewall and pedals...this: |--- (front bolt) instead of this: T (rear bolt).

 

Cheaper to just cut a foot off your legs.

 

If I did that the anaconda in my trousers would drag the ground...can't have that.

 

Must really suck having foot long legs

 

See?! That what I was saying!

 

Wouldn't know, mine are more than 1/2 meter long...a slide rule is a good converter

 

Thanks for posting this Tmac, I too suffer the bent leg syndrome and have tried various things to create more legroom. I can't elevate the seats in my 04 since the front bolts don't mount flush to the floor. I have been in 2004 models with the power seats and they go back much farther than our manual seats but I did not want to spend the money on those.

added 6-21-19 - I tried grinding down the nubs on the track rail, it did not work. After scrutinizing the mechanism on my 04 manual seats, the roller and latch mechanism max out at the end of the movement anyway. Removing the nubs does not help since the track can't go any farther back on the rail with or without them.

 

Well, that sux but your post did confirm that the power seats go further back. Just for the record, I drilled out the nubs cause that was easier than getting the grinder out and throwing sparks...got me another inch or so on my 2000 manual drivers seat. Latest on my achy left knee is osteo-arthritis, which means I will be sourcing/buying/installing a power driver's seat soon...probably from a 1st gen Sequoia since they share the same interior as 1st gen Tundras. Don't know about cheaper, but they are definitely easier to find...have 2-3 spotted so far but this will require taking a day off work to go and fetch one of them home...Yay, time off work is the best time!

 

Had a stroke of good luck and found an 04 Tundra power drivers seat fairly close to home. Took half a day off work and made the drive to check it out...dirtier than the pix indicated, missing the arm rest and the seat-back forward/back button...but the price was right so I bought it and put it in my truck this morning.
Found this thread that explains which wires on the main feeder loom of these electric seats are power and ground: https://www.tundras.com/threads/ret...ts-into-tundra-sr5-seats-without-power.35888/
I tested the seat wiring with my garden tractor battery and it powered up good...I had the parts-yard guy hook a jump box up to the 04 Tundra's dead battery just to make sure all the power functions worked okay, and it did. Knowing that the power/ground wire hookup in the thread above was good, I dropped the seat into my 2000 Tundra after I pulled the old manual bucket out and hooked the seat wires up to the tractor battery. Then I hopped in and adjusted the seat to my liking...SWEET! It goes about and inch further back, tilts up and down, goes up and down and the seat-back control and lumbar control worked, too. After I got the seat adjusted right, I disconnected the battery and ran to the auto parts store to pick up a 30A fused wire and some ring terminals (none lying around the shop).
Then I pulled the seat back out, cleaned it up real good with a bottle of Turtle Wax upholstery cleaner from Wallyworld and started running a fused power wire from the battery while the seat was drying/airing out.
Ran a 12-ga fused wire from the battery through the firewall where the wire loom goes through and routed the wire down under the side kick panel and under the door sill plate cover and carpet. This was a lot easier than I thought it would be.
Grounded the main wire-loom ground wire to the seat rail on the driver's side, put a spade connector on both ends of the power wire so I can disconnect it easily and bolted the seat down firmly. The only difference between manual seat anchor points on a 2000 1st gen Tundra and electric seat anchor points on an 04 Tundra is the length of the driver's side anchor rail. The rear anchor point on the 04 seat/slider rail is about 1.5 inches further back than the 2000 Tundra rear anchor point...the 04 rail is slightly longer. I have the seat bolted down at the other three anchor points (direct fit) and will drill the floor pan for the fourth anchor point when I get around to it. May also move the arm rest from my old seat to the new seat when I get around to it, but really don't miss it right now.
Started on this project about 7:30 a.m. and was done by 1:30 p.m., including a trip to the parts store, time out to clean the seat, and 2-3 cool-off breaks every 90 minutes or so. It was real hot/humid in the garage even though I was running a big fan...but it would probably take 2-3 hours working straight through in a cooler shop/garage.
Aside from my time/labor, the total cost was about $130...including $20 for the upholstery cleaner, fused wire and ring terminals. Definitely worth the time and cost.
AND I don't need to cut a foot off of my legs just to fit well in my old seat...no achy legs/knees when driving, just rockin in style while driving now.

 

I find the Tundra's ergonomics fair at best. Leg room is okay for me, but i can't get the relationship between the steering wheel and seat right, where the seat needs to be and distance to the steering wheel, is just not right for me. It's a great truck, just not comfortable for long trips. Unless i need a truck, i take a bike. Better mileage and more fun.

because we all love pictures.

 

Nice bikes. I've gained a new appreciation for my Tundra with the used power driver's seat installed. My new ultimate comfort spot has the seat bed higher, seat all the way back, seat back cranked back a little, and seat bed slightly tilted back. Now my arse and knees are on about the same horizontal plain and I can stretch my left leg out straight with foot against the firewall if I need to. I keep the steering wheel slightly down from the top notch, don't like to obstruct the gauges. Have to watch my head when I get in sometimes, but it's worth it...once in I have plenty of headroom. And I can reach all the controls just fine.
A few of my buds are bike fans...never managed to bite me though. They were fun when I was young, but I like having steel and several airbags around me when I have to travel with the crazies...which is like every day.