The "Cracked Seat Panel" MEGA Thread

The issue is you cannot get out of the Tundra unless 7 Feet tall without placing a large portion of your body weight the directly over the panel.
Even with running boards or nerf bars, this still happens.
Design team just flat missed this

 

Dealer replaced the seat trim again. 2nd time, required the Service Managers "Approval" this time, Lol. Service Advisor took pictures for me of the Panel.

You can see where its cracking above the knobs there is not a reinforcement. However on the new one there is vertical fins above the front 2 knobs. I am sure someone with a 3-D printer could make a brace to reinforce this thin plastic.

 

I just installed Katzkins in my 24 Taco, can’t believe I didn’t takes pictures of the seat panel. It’s a completely different design much beefier, appears to stick out further allowing the seat cushion more room to compress when getting in/out? and is a pain in the ass to remove! So it isn’t coming off again! Hopefully Toyota gets the Tundra seat panel fixed soon! Maybe copy the Taco seat panel’s? (Sheldon Brown) it’s time!

 

Been living it for awhile and waiting for the passenger side to get worse than it was. Finally got them replaced under warranty today. We'll see how long the replacements last.

 

going in tomorrow to have cracked panel replaced for second time tomorrow. First one at 16k...now second one at 30k

Currently on my 4th radio knob replacement...on last know, I fixed heat shrink tubing on mounting shaft before mounting....that fixed the problem.

 

$70,000+ trucks and they do this?

Heck a $40,000 truck doing this would suck. They must of built them for those that only use them as cars.

 

Well I have now joined the club. Detected an ever so small hairline forming. Thought at first it was a dog hair stuck to the panel. What a ridiculous design. I am at 26k and always get in and out using the side steps and grab handle so I cannot understand how just sitting in the seat would do this over time, but there it is anyway. Just add it to the list of other defects and problems with my rig. What a disappointment this truck has been.

 

This has been a long-term issue with Toyota trucks for a long time. I went through three or four of these seat panels on my 2004 (bought new) Tacoma. It's a weak point located at a high impact area where the constant entry and exit of driver and passenger takes a toll. This weak point should have been addressed a long time ago...

 

I just cracked my second one .i know they are gonna give s#*t about replacing it again.they told me last time it had updatec steel brackets and it shouldnt happen again .yeah right

 

The side of my drivers side panel didn't break, but one of the big clips did. And at 200# I am not exactly huge. What a POS.

 

Mine started stressing at 4k miles, finally broke at 6k. Luckily dealer had already seen the start of it and a Toyota Rep took a look. They're going to warranty replace it with a reinforced piece apparently but the new pieces are on a National Back order of like 2000 orders.

 

Ugggg !! ... on the bright side, "see a penny and pick it up, all day long you'll have good luck".

 

I’m on my second one. Got a driver and passenger extra ordered. Going to LINEX and see if that works.

 

Is this only going on with the powered seats? I sifted through and didn't see any manual seats cracking.

 

nope, mine is cracked on my double cab with manual seats

 

My 4th panel has cracked.

 

My wife just broke the clip on the passenger seat. Just a time bomb waiting for somebody to slide off at just the right pressure.

I guess all Toyota testers are tiny people.

 

Hmm, so I wonder what they're gonna do about this. When I was at the dealer getting an inspection on my new truck there was 3 people in the waiting area getting seat panels replaced. They can't perpetually do this until peoples 36month warranty runs out, maybe they should redesign and replace the seats. Everyone i've talked to personally with a tundra has had theirs crack, it has to be above a 75% failure rate.

 

I think you hit the nail on the head. They should have anticipated this and beefed up that panel.

 

Has anyone here removed this panel? Does it just pop off? I may try to do a temporary repair on mine with some JB Plastic weld until I can get it into the dealer.

 

I was thinking the same thing. It might even be a good idea finding or forming a back plate of hard plastic and us the JB Weld bonding it in the stress areas.

 

It looks like crap, take my word for it.

 

Had my driver’s seat plastic trim replaced twice by my dealership.

 

I can probably make a 3d print piece to glue up to my broken clip. It also shouldn't be hard to make a reinforcing part that goes over the clip and then glues onto the panel. I just need to figure out how to get the thing off and find some time to do this.

 

Wow ...just nutz !

 

So, I took my drivers side panel off today to try to do a temp fix, which I should be able to do. But I don't know whether to laugh or cry at what I found. First, to remove the panel there is one Phillips head screw at the bottom of the seat back under the flap. Then just a few clips. One of my clips was already broken (really all 3 but we'll get back to that). Then you need to slide the panel forward to get the front clip to slide out. But, wait. That clip was also broken and obviously broken during assembly and Toyota merely taped it to the rail and sent the truck down the assembly line. LOL. But wait, again. The third and final clip is showing signs of cracking. I mean between the horrible quality of the part and the shoddy assembly this almost seems like it was designed and built like a first year Hyundai product from the 1980s. This is simply pathetic.

Photos:

Screw fastens rear of the panel



Panel off... UGLY.



Other clip cracking


Other clip cracking from the outside


Front clip broken from the factory and TAPED. Note the too thin plastic on the broken side.


The broken front clip is supposed to slide into this rail but was TAPED on. LOL

 

Got mine replaced today in my 1 year old 23 platinum. The receipts said that it was improved panel. I guess we'll see.

 

So, I got my repair done. I glued the broken off clip back onto the panel with 3M Scotch Weld for plastic. Then 3D printed a couple of collars to reenforce that clip as well as the other one that was starting to crack. These have small feet that spread the load onto the panel. Then glued those collars onto the clips with JB Plastic Weld. Then touched up the little crack on the outside with a black sharpie. Feels as solid as new but who knows how long this will last. I plan to get the panel replaced when I take the truck in for its engine replacement or for the final fuel line recall fix. But, after a year and a half waiting is that even still a thing? LOL.

 

I had the same thing happen in my 2016 Tundra, I drilled small holes and zip-tied it back on to the wire frame, that seemed to work very well, can't hardly see the zip-tie.

 

Yeah, that front clip is almost unnecessary. Tape or a zip tie is plenty. Frankly, it is a dumb design. That clip should be open and just snap onto the rail. It is designed to fail and/or to be broken during handling.