Bucket to Bench Seat Swap?

Call me crazy, but I've gotten it in my head that I need a bench seat in my truck. Given that it's an 04 Xtra Cab Automatic, is it even possible to put in a one piece bench?

I'm assuming it'll be a little harder to get to the back seat, but I don't use that for people anyway. Based on the bench to bucket seat conversions I've read, all the mounting spots should be the same, I just want to make sure it'll work in reverse.

And obviously the next step is: Where do I find one? I haven't seen any at the local pick-n-pull, and I don't think I want to try and ship someone else's bench seat over a border.

Cheers

Update:
Got the seat swapped in! Build thread with pictures can be found here: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/04-tacoma-build-thread.568440/

 

I would also like an answer to this question!
So I guess call me crazy too..

I want a bench seat because I wanna be able to get close to my girlfriend on long drives!
Also I want to let my dog stretch out instead of being crammed into a bucket seat.

Beck said it best..
“I need you to be here with me not way over In a bucket seat! A lot of good cars are Japanese, but when I’m drivin far I need my baby next to me!”

Do they make a high quality bench seat that will fit in our trucks? I don’t want to sacrifice driver comfort if I can avoid it!

 

me 3.

 

Same here on both accounts!

I dunno about aftermarket bench seats. I found the part numbers for a regular cab bench, so in theory if a local dealer could order one, that would work. Given that it's a 14 year old truck I doubt it, but I'm going to ask. That's assuming it will fit. Might need to fab mounts because my truck has a hump in the middle of the floor. I'm hoping someone can tell me before I start throwing money at this.

 

They all do.

Just find a nice 60/40 one from an extra cab Tacoma or one that can be recovered at an upholstery shop but I have no idea the cost of that these days.

 

I'm sure there are quite a few that would be interested, try buy sell trade perhaps. As far as comfort I find the bench in my 95.5 is more comfortable than the stock buckets in my 02

 

I would look for a 60/40 bench seat instead. Still retain the functionality of a bench, but it’s more ergonomic.

I’m sure you can find someone to trade their bench seats for a bucket seat though. People usually do the swap the other way around.

 

I've also explored this option a bit, since my driver's seat is showing some wear and tear, and if I replace it, I'd just as soon go all out and get a bench seat. The bench should be a bolt-in, but just uses less of the pre-existing mounting points, so if you can find one out of a wrecked single cab at your local pick-n-pull or on ebay, you should be good.

 

Thanks guys. From what I can tell they should swap without too much trouble. Just gotta find one nearby. I'll post an update if I have any luck.

 

Turns out I don't have enough posts to use the Buy and Sell, so I guess I'll go hunting in junkyards and see what happens.

 

www.car-part.com

 

Hey they have one! Thank you!

 

Were you from? I have a bench ill trade for your buckets? Ill be swapping it out for my PRPs some time in a few months

I also have an aluminum bed box that's sits even with the bed rails I want to get rid of

 

Victoria, BC. North and off the coast of Washington. Bit of a trip if you're in SoCal.

I appreciate the offer but I managed to find one so I'm no longer in need.

 

Dear John,

I am going to call you more than crazy. I am going to call you absolutely insane. Wow, you are going to get rid of your bucket seats in favor of a 60/40 bench seat so your girlfriend can be close to you, and your dog has room to spread out. I hate to be the one to tell you, but neither one of those things is going to happen once you install the bench seat. We have a Tacoma with the 60/40 bench seat. Now first off, I am pretty sure I am older than you. Our 75 pound Labrador barely has enough room to sit down let alone lie down when she rides with me. My wife thinks the comfort level of our Tacoma sucks complete ass. There would be no way I could talk her into coming closer to me when she has to ride in our Tacoma. I even have a hard time of talking her to ride in our Tacoma period.

Good Luck,
Paul

 

Hey Paul, I appreciate your perspective. To be clear I want a one piece bench out of a regular cab, not just the 60/40 split. I doubt either option is going to be more comfortable than the bucket seats. But I also don't find the bucket seats all that comfortable.
Maybe I am insane. This is one of those times where I find out for myself I guess.
Cheers

 

hm, shouldn't be tough but you'll need to get rid of the cup holders and work around the ground shifter.

 

I am going to see about relocating the cup holders or maybe replacing them with relocatable cup holders. I think the cut out in the bench should go around the shifter though. I don't plan on trying to fit 3 normal size people in at once so it should be okay as long as there is room for the shifter.

 

My bench doesn't have a cutout for the shifter and have no problems. You can the shifter boot with plastic bezel thing that has cup holders on the side

 

I would imagine there would be people who want bucket seats and would love to trade.