Writeup: Swapping Sequoia Captain's Chairs into DC

Hello, I would like to preface this post by saying that this is a recollection of my past experiences (aka from earlier today), This is in no way intended to be a comprehensive guide explaining every single process required to complete this swap. That being said...

Welcome to my Comprehensive Guide which explains every single process required to complete this swap.

I have a 2004 Tundra DC, and I completed the swap using seats out of a 2005 Sequoia. You can find the 2nd-row captain's chairs in 05-07 sequoias. I happened to run across a fairly decent set at a junkyard for $300. I will not be covering the installation of a center console, as I didn't opt to get it. This swap does destroy one of the original mounting brackets for the seat in order to mount the new seat, and you must be comfortable with cutting your carpet and drilling a hole in the floor pan. Also, depending on the year of your tundra, the sequoia seats are probably going to be the wrong color, and have the wrong color plastic trims. It's up to you if you want to have them dyed/reupholstered.

Tools Required:

• 10mm Deep Wall socket (or shallow with extension)
• 12mm Wrench
• 14mm Shallow and Deep Sockets
• 14mm Wrench
• JIS #2 Screwdriver (or Phillips #2 if you're not aboard the JIS train yet)
  
• JIS #3 Screwdriver
• Implement for cutting Plastic (Dremel with a cutoff wheel)
  
• Implement for cutting metal (Angle grinder would be best, I used a Dremel.)
  
• Drill bits up to 7/16ths of an inch (Step drill works too)
• Automatic Center Punch
• Sharpie
• Rivnut/nutsert tool ( )
• M8x1.25 Nutsert (one) (included in the Doyle Kit)
  
• M8x1.25x25mm Bolt & Washer (one)

1. Start by disassembling your sequoia seats (presumably you already have them free from the donor). There will be 2 #2 JIS head screws on the side trims (4 total), 1 #3 JIS screw in the fold handle, 1 #3 JIS on the underside of the seat where the child seat hook attaches to the seat, and 3 #2 JIS Screws on the bottom of the seat.
   
   
   
   After you have removed these screws you can pull all the plastics off. I find that having the seat in the upright position helps with getting the hinge plastics off, but it can be done with the seat folded.
   
   
2. Remove the center latch assembly by Unbolting the two 14mm Bolts from the latch. The cable can be removed from the latch by Turning it 90 degrees and pulling it off.
   
   
   
3. Take your plastic cutting implement of choice and cut the center latch cover off of the lower seat plastic.
   
   With that, we are now done modifying the seat for use in the truck. You can reassemble the seat. In my case, I had to modify both seats this way to make them fit.
   
   
4. Remove all the junk from the back seats/floorboards of your truck (Trust me, I tried skipping this and it didn't work.) Flip your seats forward and undo the 4 14mm bolts that hold the seat hinges to the seat hinge mounting brackets. (Mine were a brassy zinc-ish color).
   
   
5. Once you have removed your seats, Remove the door sill trims by removing the three #2 JIS screws per side, then pulling up. Both Sill trims will need to be removed.
   
   
   
6. Remove the back wall panel by removing the push clips on both sides, and the 10mm behind the little access panel towards the middle of the wall. The push clips can be removed by hand by simply pulling. The cover for the 10mm Bolt can be removed with a small flathead or your fingernails if you have the caveman variety of nails. After removing the Bolt and two clips, the back wall panel is only held on by clips. I had the best luck tugging from the corners of the panel.
   
   
   
7. After the back panel is removed, we'll start undoing the push clips around the storage bins (you will need to remove your lids), and we will remove the plastic covers over the child seat hook D rings. The Carpet clips are best removed by slipping your fingers behind the carpet on either side of the clip and lifting it straight up. The Plastic D ring covers can be removed by prying from either side of them.
   
   
   
   
8. With the clips removed, we can flip the carpet forward into the floorboard, exposing the floor and hinge mounting bracket area. At this time, we want to remove the inboard hinge mounting bracket from the driver's side. There will be two 14mm Bolts, one on top, and one in front.
   
   
   
9. With the Driver's side inboard Hinge mounting bracket removed, we will want to use our Metal cutting implement of choice to cut off the front mounting location.
   
   
   
10. With the hinge bracket modified, we can begin test fitting and preparing to mark our new hinge bracket mounting location. I'd imagine this process would be much easier with two pairs of eyes and hands, but you can still make it happen solo. I recommend mounting the modified hinge bracket to the hinge before putting the seat back in the truck for test fitting, that way you don't have a loose bracket moving around as you try to position the seat on the pre-existing hinge bracket. Bolt the seat hinge to the preexisting bracket (Driver's side outboard in this case). You will need to find a position where the modified bracket is sitting flat on the floor with the seat upright. The spring pressure on the hinge will fight you, hence why it's good to have a second person to help keep the seat under control and prevent the hinge/hinge bracket from moving. Once you think you've identified the correct location, mark the location with a sharpie.
    
    
11. Center Punch and drill the location of your mark. I used a Christmas tree bit. The ending hole size should be the size of the nutsert/rivnut you plan to use. In my case, I am using the Harbor Freight Doyle Nut setter kit, which requires a 7/16th hole for the M8 nutsert.
    
    
    
12. Use your nutsert/rivnut tool to add the M8x1.25 Nutsert to your drilled hole.
    
    
    
13. With the nutsert securely in place, You can mount your modified hinge mounting bracket to it with the M8x1.25x25mm Bolt and washer. I recommend taking the time to loosely install all the hardware and seat to achieve better seat latch alignment. Once you've got good alignment, snug down the seat hinge bracket to the floor. Remove the seat.
    
    
14. Time to cut the carpet. Flip the carpet back into position, and get to cutting. It's pretty self-explanatory. I'm not going to post my carpet because I'm terrible at cutting. If you're slick, you could probably create a rectangle that would fit in the now exposed previous hinge bracket location.
    
    
15. Almost done. For the passenger side, Repeat steps #1, #2, and #3. The passenger side does not require any modification of the floor pan or hinge mounting bracket.
    
    
16. Reassemble.

I would like to mention that I don't consider this a complete or well-done modification. The sequoia Captain's seats wobble when installed like they are in my truck. I would not feel comfortable having someone sit on the seats without some sort of standoff in place. I am working with a friend to develop some adjustable standoffs that will bolt in place of the latch we removed on both seats, and it should reduce/eliminate the wobble.
Also, The factory 40% seat from Toyota is somewhat close to the sequoia passenger side captain's chair. If you wanted to only change the driver's side 60% to a captain's chair, you definitely could. I believe the difference in width is approximately an inch.


Anyways, I hope this write-up helps somebody or provides some more insight to those who might be curious about this mod.

 

Fuck me silly, I may have to read this tomorrow. I gots a few shots of Julio '70 & corona-ritas have gone missing

 

Any pics of them installed in the truck?

 

Sorry I’m not near my truck right now. Here’s the only photo I have saved on my phone.

 

Great write up!

And that looks pretty flipping sweet. The amount of now-usable space in between those two seats back there looks incredible! When you get a chance, can you get an approximate measurement of that floor space opened up? I need my back seat for kids and stuff, but only 2 kids, so having that extra floor/cargo space for stuff would be awesome!

Anybody know if these Sequoia cap'n chairs are available in the light gray fabric....?

 

Fabric, I'm not sure. Leather, possibly. Here's what seatdoctors says for colors per year.

 

I would've loved to find a truck with gray leather, but i've only ever seen *1* 1st Gen Dcab with gray leather. And I'm not convinced it was real, original, OEM. lol

But I could always swap the fabric over to gray leather if I really needed to.

 

Edit: I have found a different way to do things that will require a much cheaper and less complex part, but will require drilling a hole/adding a nutsert to the floor of the truck.

Ok, I am designing and implementing a standoff that will eliminate wobble and give the seats more support. Please ignore the poor CAD implementation of the initial part. I've only used Fusion360 for a grand total of maybe 2 hours.

The goal is for this to bolt in place of the 2nd seat latch that was removed during the seat swap. This will provide a spot to use an adjustable rubber foot as a new standoff.
The foot should look something like the following:


I have also tossed the idea around of making it non-adjustable and making it a solid rounded Dorito-shaped thing, though I'm leaning away from that because if this ever becomes a part that others would be interested in buying for their seat swap, it could potentially cause hiccups without adjustment down the road.

 

Here is the updated design that we're planning on going with for the adjustable seat support. I am having both a Delrin and 6061-T6 Aluminum example made. These wouldn't be difficult to make yourself if you had the tools. I designed the standoff to be threaded M8x1.25 which will accept a "Machine mount" (aka ball in cup swivel foot). For my standoffs, I ordered a pair of part number 6301K79 feet from McMaster-Carr.
If I'm a fan of the result, I'll see if my machinist would be interested in making a few sets to sell to you guys, if there is any interest. It's also worth mentioning that these are not the best looking, and are blocky by design since it's cheaper to skip all the processes such as chamfering the edges for simplicity's sake.

 

Uhh, wow. I completely forgot to update this thread.

I've had the new seat standoffs/supports installed for some time now, and have no complaints. When adjusted properly they support the seat very well and prevent any wobbling.

 

Just seeing this mod, this is pretty sweet! Might you have some finished pics to share?
What are your plans for the area between the seats? Did you make any extra feet for this mod?

Nicely done, thanks for sharing!

 

It is now my next project. Just got to get them cleaned up and installed.





I'm also going to do the console. The Toyota SUV/truck junkyard owner made sure to give me the plate that mounts to the floor so that the console easily pops out with one pull of a handle

 

FYI, Dawn Powerwash is like fucking magic on beige seat covers. Like, you'll be shocked. Spray a fine mist on the leather, let it dwell for a 5-min count. Wipe off with a clean terrycloth, then buff out.

Be sure to have a leather conditioner on-hand for afterward, you'll want to replenish the leather (note the sides are vinyl, the only leather is the back/seat surface and bolsters). I prefer Lexol Quick Care or Meguair's Gold Care. I mean, there's other stuff I use for leather, but that's readily buyable.

Also note, the clear PowerWash stuff has a weird smell of white grapes which may not be pleasant for everyone.

 

I bought some Griot's after reading some reviews. Tried it on my sofa, but for me the results were meh

I've also got some balm/paste ordered that's supposed to help "repair." I'm skeptical, but we'll see


Edit: tried Griot's again. Got much better results. I just didn't leave it on long enough.

 

doesn't look like @scooterprint has been on tundras.com in a few weeks, but I hope you'll answer this when you return. I don't understand why in step #9 you cut that bracket in half

On my truck it looks like you can install the full bracket with both bolts. Will just require another nutsert. I'll just have to pull the carpet back further toward the front

Also just a note to others - the 04 reqr floor is apparently different from the 05 and 06. I'll try to make a few notes as I do mine for anyone in the future

 

Sorry! I don't log in here as frequently as I used to. New job keeps me busy.

I cut the front of the bracket off because of where it landed on the floor in my truck. The floor pan has raised areas and valleys like the bed does. At the time, I was not well equipped enough tool wise to trim the bracket to fit properly. If I wanted to, I could probably go back in, find another floor plate and fix it, but as it stands now, I just use my second row to store junk. Heck, I've even considered shaving the back area and building an insert to make it one big platform.

 

no apologies needed. I saw you had not been on here in a while and thanks for the reply.

wish I could've seen the donor Sequoia. Did you see yours? I'm puzzled why you have to cut the plastic for the latch. I don't mean I'm puzzled why you did it I mean, I'm puzzled that the tundra apparently has less clearance. I would've thought it was the same

from the same model year as my donor sequoia


close up of mine. The carpet is overhanging

 

To keep this post alive, I actually did the same swap to put the 05/06 second row buckets in my 04 Sequoia that never could be ordered with buckets and I can for certain vouch for the original post that you have to trim those off the seat and remove the latch because even the 03/04 Sequoia does not have the same striker/latch set up in the floor pan. To continue, the DC Tundra and 03/04 Sequoia also have a different floor plan under the seats because of the storage bin which meant I was in new territory since I could not find anyone else that had stumbled across this in a swap. So I ended up making a Jig and drilling out the spot welds on another Sequoia rear seat bracket mount to weld to my floor pan. Turned out perfect but was definitely a challenge!

 

This is some great 1st post content. Welcome to the forum!

 

thanks and that is exactly what I was after

in my case, it is an 06 double cab and I'm trying to confirm but I believe it is an 06 sequoia donor. I believe there is a slight difference Since I only have one latch per captains chair on both sides that is usable without further modification

i'm not convinced I have to trim the plastic off of mine. When I remove the bottom plastic cover, i can easily push the part that covers the latch into the hole containing the strike plate/rod. I did not want to cut off the plastic covering the latch one if I was later going to add that second latch by cutting part of the floor pan from a Sequoia as you did


I've got mine installed and it's working great. I'm just leaving the bottom plastic cover off until I make a decision about modifying the floor pan





I'm trying to relocate the source, but I also read that there were 3 different types of leather in the 2006 sequoia's. My rear leather seats feel like a real genuine leather and now my truck smells like leather. Very nice smell when you open the door

I believe the front seats from another donor sequoia were only leather inserts and were covered with the protective film