Small recessed area in instrument panel

Got my hopes up then smashed em down.

 

As Toyotas age, the interior plastic trim becomes terminally dry and brittle from UV exposure, and will break if touched. Junk yard examples will be deteriorated if you can find anything.

Consider having a cabinet maker build you a console of your design. It'll be cheaper if you or a family member is a woodworker. This was something I thought about as my old 4Runner console cracked and broke (you can only do so much with fiberglass and resin). Add as many cubbies and compartments as the space will provide...and don't forget the cupholders. Have him use cabinet grade veneered plywood. and use a round-over router bit to round the edges. Stain or paint according to your tastes. Screw some brackets to the hump floor to install. High end imports have wood trim on the interior...done right, it'll be outstanding. Functionally it should be fine unless you have a bad "crumple-zone" accident; having a plywood console as a middle passenger might not be cool then.

 

You can always do a bucket seat conversion with console. I swapped the driver side of the 60/40 bench in my 99 taco for a driver bucket (40) and console. Was super easy, all the holes were predrilled in the body from factory. once I made a small inscision in the carpet it was nothing.

 

Buckets bolt in!

 

I have a 04 sequoia console. Colors off but fits. It’ll tide me over till I find a tan one for now. The one I have is a darker tan

Ideally I need one from a 05 truck with the airbag kill switch in the console. As of now mine is behind the console Unreachable

 

I put my back up camera there.

 

Not having any (extended) console such as everyone has pictured, I’ve enjoyed all the extra space without one pinching my sciatica. Sometimes I consider using that area to land a helicopter due to the vast expanse it offers.

 

Interested as well.

Can you post up some pics? How’d you figure out before you bought, that it would fit and attachments would transfer?

This’d be a great use of space. But... no sun roof.

 

Unfortunately that truck was totalled in 2013. I can look but I don't have many interior pics anymore. I did a lot of research on Tacomaworld and customtacos and torra. I got lucky and a buddy of mine wanted a bench in his regular cab and I wanted buckets and console so we swapped, even trade.

 

These are the only interior pics I have left of the 99 taco @Sunnier

The seats should bolt right in. The console is the only place where you'll have to cut a small carpet section out

 

Thanks for the update with photos. So Taco and Tundras can swap seats?!! Hmmn....

My console isn’t that dissimilar to the one pictured. It’d be nice to have more storage or structure in the “helipad” between the center console between the seats and the front dash console.

 

Are the buckets even more comfy than the 60/40 split? I’m in love with my bench so far. 5th gen 4runner seats suuuuuuuuuuck!!!

 

No tacos and tundras can't swap seats. Tacos and 4runners can.
And tundras and sequoias can lol.
I'm just saying it can be done and Toyota made it super easy to do.
That's the same console from the 2nd gen 4runner and the 95-00 taco. Way skinnier than the tundra and sequoia consoles.

 

I like my buckets. Power seat driver side seat. I've never sat in a tundra with bench seat.

As for my taco, I think the bench and but let's were the same comfortwise. I just wanted more storage.

 

Bench kinda blows... but mine was shot. Adapting the 04 buckets to my 05 was a bear... but it’s doable. Just involved welding the seat belt buckles and some custom fab of the seat position sensor

 

I got lucky I had a 99 with the same colors inside and out as my buddies 00 so the swap was easy. I had to massage two of the seats bolts to go into the holes but that's it. Just took a little elbow grease is all. Of course the tacos were.part of the 98-00 sub gen so it was cake.

 

My buckets bolted right in in the tundra.. pull some rubber plugs and install. Move plugs to now unused holes

 

I don't hate my bench seat. I don't know if the buckets are more or less comfortable but I'd like to sit in one to see. The nice thing about the bench is that my center console is a lot bigger. I keep a lot of gear in there. Also, it is a bit funny that my truck technically has 6 seat belts. I'd love to see what it looked like with 6 people in there.

 

I think 6 is doable, I had a single cab 2nd gen taco, with a bench seat, super comfortable aswell, my buddy and I and a girl with WIDE hips did a 6 hour round trip to go skiing, stick shift, it wasn’t terrible but it wasn’t the greatest either

 

the wide hips or skiing

 

Those ‘Captain Chairs’ are nice in that they have the arm rest that can be raised or lowered depending on preference.

 

I leave mine on the dash. The sun keeps it nice and warm.

If you can find one of these, swap it in for a good switch location.

 

A lot of you guys need a compressor to blow that shit out of your trucks.

Looks like a dropped piece of tape

 

I miss the bench in my 2002 AC TRD 4x4...or at least I think I do. It was very firm and I likde that. My 2005/6 DCs buckets are pretty good too. I would like to have compared them back to back though....nostalgia tends to make us remember good/bad things better/worse than they were ...lol

 

I live on a dirt road, there's not enough time in the day to clean the interior that well. Hell it's lucky if I run a wipe across the dash every couple months.

 

That's a good idea! Except that some of that **** has a disgusting "sticky look" to it. I'm not sure if it would "blow out".

 

I have the bench seat, so I've mounted switches for my LED light bar and my LED reverse spot lights. Then the floor space I put in a square basket from Costco--to carry tissue box, bag of almonds, and other misc things.