2012 Toyota Tacoma pre-runner: The Seats are extremely hard

2012 Toyota Tacoma pre-runner: The Seats are extremely hard. We went from Georgia to Missouri for The Total Eclipse of the Sun. We were sitting on pillows and blankets because our butts were hurting so bad!! I have never heard of this on any vehicle in my life?

 

No better in my ‘13. I can blame it on them being frozen 7 months of the year but yeah, no screamin’ hell for seats. That’s a fact.

 

Thank you very much for your response. Do you know is this a problem and all Tacoma's?

 

2014 Access Cab, I believe it's the same seats from 2008 through 2015.

Completely satisfied with the front driver / passenger seats in my Tacoma. That said, the longest drive I've ever done in it is about 4-5 hours.

78K miles on the ODO in my truck. If your truck has 250K+ miles on it the seats might just be worn out. Maybe the foam in your seats has broken down.

IMO the 1st gen bench seats in my other truck, a 1999 Taco, are way, way worse.

 

I've seen multiple solutions all the way from egg crate foam under seat covers to new seat foam to new seats from other vehicles modified to work.

 

This discussion is pointless because it's not like there's an easy objective way to determine the softness of foam.

The seats in the Tacoma are not squishy for sure. I'd describe them as supportive. They are also NOT good for long trips so maybe that is the OP's concern.

 

My '13 seats are extremely comfortable. I don't think they are hard at all.


Does that mean I am the one that is soft?

 

My 09 seats (casino pattern) were a lot softer than the seats I put in from 15. I drive a lot and the firmer seats are better for me and my back.

 

I've been on many 14+ hour trips in my 2013, with no complaints.

 

Tacoma seating sux in every way, always has always will
it helps a lot if you are short and under 150lbs, so you can fit in the tiny cab and not bottom out the upholstery
the only good thing about Tacomas is relibility and repairability
and maybe ease of handling/fun to drive
the gas mileage isn't even that great
If you need comfort get a Tundra or Silverado

 

I don't get the origin of the 2nd gen bucket seat complaints.. for the record I'm 5'11" and ~190 lbs, and I find I need to keep the seat about mid-way on the rails to comfortably reach the clutch. Seems like it could easily accomodate anyone up to about 6'4" tall.

Horses for courses, I guess.

 

someone could make a lot of money building decent seats for these Tacomas , they could even use the stock frames or air ride seat system
you cant do anything about how close they are to the floor but it could at least have correct lumbar support and some good cushioning and durable covering material
Upgraded seats would actually do more than upgraded shocks which are highly over rated on the things, crappy engineered shocks with preloaded jack-up springs and shiny paint jobs that really do no more than the OEM for damping (which is all shocks do) but they look cool, and can sell for quite a bit

 

Years ago in a different life I used to upholster a lot of vehicle seats. Anything from Construction equipment to highway tractors & everything in between. Even had a couple of show winners. These seats need more than just a make over. I’ll find out what can be done once I get ‘em apart to install new covers.

 

Some of us are all twisted up, and full of arthritis after decades of hard construction labor, sports and off roading, or raising kids, it hurts to sit on low chairs for some/most people, and some/most need lumbar support, Tacomas have ZERO lumbar support ( even the premium trim models with lumbar adjustment features) . Some people live every day with pain we can not even imagine or begin to empathize with until we get it ourselves. I can barely remember how bad it was before my ruptured disk surgery from pulling concrete hose and running heavy equipment, or bone on bone total knee replacement after 20 years of limping , when I get out of the tacoma and into my F150, I go "Ahhh, now thats more like it "

 

Semi Trucks have air ride seats for a reason and not just for comfort. It is a requirement because they ride extremely rough and will cause physical injury . Otherwise every driver would be having spinal failure or traumatic brain injury from the head and spine being constantly shaken so violently for hours, this is with 100% certainty ( not joking ).
Air ride and decent foam would be a winner
I know air ride truck seats need replacement often, pretty generic fit, and they used to sell them pretty cheap . It would be nice to use the parts and build off road seats, but the distance from the roof to the floor is very limited on the taco, too bad nobody with the means and methods already set up doesn't make air ride seats as an affordable upgrade for the off road automotive market

 

Never made sense to me why they didn't just use 4runner interior components in the Tacoma given they are very similar vehicles otherwise.

 

The major issue w/ aftermarket seats in Tacomas, esp. in anything 2nd gen or later, is airbag compatibility / compliance. The stock seats are engineered as part of the SRS/Airbag system, even having blow-out side curtain airbags mounted inside the outboard edges of the seats themselves. I suspect that's the main reason there's very little market for 3rd party seats except for the tiny niche of extreme off-road / not-highway-legal conversions.