The not-so-definitive guide to Sienna seats

mgmetalworks

Explorer
I'm not claiming to know it all about these seats but I've had a lot of questions about them and most people ask similar questions. I thought I'd throw up a thread to answer some of the most common questions I get and share what I learned from my install and the 6 or so months I've had them in my van.

1) How wide/tall/long are they?

Normal seating position
depth.jpg

Reclined seating position, fully extended foot rest
depth2.jpg

Width at widest point
width.jpg

Height at normal seating position, headrest down, sitting on the mount I designed and Ujoint now sells
Height.jpg

2) Where did you get them?

I've purchased 6 of them from Warehouse Salvage in Indiana. They have listings on Ebay regularly. They come in tan, two-tone tan, grey and two-tone grey. The Toyota grey matches the factory panels pretty well (the lighter of the interior colors for Ford). I've only seen one tan seat in person and it didn't look like as good of a match for the tan Ford interior but it wouldn't be out of place in my opinion.

3) How much did you pay?

I paid ~$500 each for the first 4 with shipping. These are what they consider to be the highest quality take-outs. They were perfect (until I put my greasy paws on them) with no rips, smudges or mechanical issues. In hindsight I probably could have talked them down quite a bit. They have a lot of these seats according to the owner and they will take reasonable offers.

The next pair I bought was $665 with shipping. These were the take outs with "quality issues". Mechanically they seem fine but there is an odd red-ish stain on the foot rest of both seats. I suspect it was a marker of some sort that someone tried to wipe off. No big deal really, they were cheap.

4) How many can you fit in an E-Series (not including the front seats)?

My opinion? 4 maximum. Here's why I think that: I have mine mounted so that you can fully recline the 4 seats and still have some room in the back of the van for gear. I'm 6'1" and I don't have particularly long legs. My feet touch the seats in front of me in all the positions. If I had positioned them so that my feet wouldn't touch the seats in front of me, it would have drastically reduced the room in the back...so much so that even in an EB, I would have less room than I had in my Tahoe. Not good...

I was also very mindful of what I was mounting to. I have each seat tied into an under body cross member (and additional plates where needed) so that kind of limits your positioning too. Also, think about the forces on the mounting points in an accident compared to the stock setup. The factory seat belt anchors are located in reinforced panels of the body and the seats are attached to giant boat anchors on the floor. The Sienna seat has integrated seat belts so all of the forces in an accident are taken up by the mounting base and what it is bolted to... Just something to think about.

5) What modifications do you have to make to the seat to mount it?

Not much really. If you are going to use the brackets that Ujoint is selling, there are two small pieces that need to be cut off of a flange on the bottom of the seat but it is easily done with a cut off wheel.

Sorry for the blurry picture... You can kind of see the seat flange to the left of the bolt. You just need to cut about 1" of that flange off on both ends of one side of the seat.
trim.jpg

6) They look pretty comfy...how do you like them?

I've spent pretty much zero road time in them but all of my passengers have been quite happy. My very-hard-to-impress in-laws were content over the course of 12 hours of driving time a few weekends ago. And if you follow my build thread you've seen that I am working on mounts for converting my front seats over to these seats...My wife has been demanding faster turn around time on that project too if that is any indication how much she likes them. I think they are excellent seats, very well made, high quality upholstery and pretty compact considering that it reclines like a LazyBoy!

If I think of anything else I'll update this thread. For others who have used these seats please feel free to share your learnings too.
 

225

Village Idiot
Thanks for the write up. I am buying a set soon. Really interested in the front seat mounts.
 

njtacoma

Explorer
Would it be possible to install these in the "first row position" and retain a factory bench in the second row?
I would like a second row bench more for emergencies (pickup a friend, stop to help someone, quick trip to mountain bike). I like my friends, but not that much:)
 

ujoint

Supporting Sponsor
Good info! I have one pair on the shelf right now and we'll be building more in the next few weeks!
 

mgmetalworks

Explorer
Would it be possible to install these in the "first row position" and retain a factory bench in the second row?
I would like a second row bench more for emergencies (pickup a friend, stop to help someone, quick trip to mountain bike). I like my friends, but not that much:)

If I understand you correctly, you're asking about the row right behind the driver/passenger? Or are you talking about the driver/passenger seats being the "1st row"?

If you're referring to the row right behind the driver/passenger, here is a picture of where my seat is in relation to the driver's seat....

seat1 (600x800).jpg

The front mounting holes of this seat are mounted in-line with the rear mounting holes of the Ford factory seat mounts. If you wanted to mount the seat in-line with the same position as the factory bench, you'd be moving forward by 11" (assuming you're using this seat bracket). That would put the end of the extended foot rest pretty much at the back of the front seat. Not really practical for reclining but the seat could be used like a regular seat in that position.

The other thing to consider is access in and out of the side door if you were to mount the seats that far forward. You'd probably want the right side seat mounted inboard as far as you could get it just so you could get in and out without having to climb over the seat all the time.

Try to visualize how much of the door opening the seat would take up if it was mounted 11" farther forward...

20130224_085924.jpg

If you were talking about mounting these seats in the driver/passenger positions. It has been done before by another member of expo with great results and I will be doing it soon as well.
 

Jeffh555

Observer
Do the headrests move? in the side view of the normal seating position (first pic) it looks like the headrests are pretty far forward. The reason I ask is I'm 6'7" and headrests often hit me between the shoulders and cause my upper back to roll forward, which isn't the most comfortable position on long trips.

Thanks for all the info.
 

mgmetalworks

Explorer
Do the headrests move? in the side view of the normal seating position (first pic) it looks like the headrests are pretty far forward. The reason I ask is I'm 6'7" and headrests often hit me between the shoulders and cause my upper back to roll forward, which isn't the most comfortable position on long trips.

Thanks for all the info.

The headrests only move up and down, there is no other adjustment. I've seen a picture of one mounted backwards and I think they may be designed to be used both ways but I'm not 100% positive without closer inspection. I'll check to see how that works and post a pic.
 

mgmetalworks

Explorer
Do the headrests move? in the side view of the normal seating position (first pic) it looks like the headrests are pretty far forward. The reason I ask is I'm 6'7" and headrests often hit me between the shoulders and cause my upper back to roll forward, which isn't the most comfortable position on long trips.

Thanks for all the info.

When I got home a snapped a few pics for you. The headrest will fit rotated 180 but the height adjustment mechanism won't work like its intended. The fit is tight enough that it stays in position but it won't lock into the notches on the shaft (because the notches are only on one side). The position my be a little better for you but I think you'll still notice the headrest between your shoulders as it sticks out just a little bit. I could feel a slight protrusion at the top of my shoulders. The headrest is pretty much all foam though. A creative upholsterer could probably reshape it enough to make it work.

Where there's a will, there's a way, right? :)

DSC_0263.JPG

DSC_0264.JPG

DSC_0265.JPG
 

mgmetalworks

Explorer
My rear sienna seats have swivel bases, any chance of keeping that with the reclining seats?

The best answer I can give is...Maybe??? I haven't seen any other Toyota seats up close other than these recliners. It depends on how those bases bolt to the seat. I would have to guess that there may be some modifying to do to make it work. Nothing is ever easy :)
 

225

Village Idiot
How much room do you have between the first set of back seats to the rear door?

I need to fit 2 motorcycles in the back and I need about 6ft.
 

mgmetalworks

Explorer
How much room do you have between the first set of back seats to the rear door?

I need to fit 2 motorcycles in the back and I need about 6ft.

With my layout, from the rear doors to the backs of the front pair of seats is ~7'. I say approximate because it would depend on how far the seat is reclined. That is for my EB van though. An RB is what? 20" shorter???
 

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