6 extra inches of legroom - Toyota Yaris Forums

leshill · 06-19-2016, 02:06 PM

Hi
Had the same issue and this article inspired me to tackle the job.
Got an engineer mate to help me and we fabricated 2 bars 24" long & 9mm thick from old angle iron. I think 5mm thick would safely do the job.
Removed existing front foot bracket by simply drilling out the long locating pin.
Then bolted the original foot to the new bar and drilled appropriate hole (countersunk to let original bolt sit into) for the rear bolt.
Removed bracket which supports underseat cables for side airbag by simply drilling out the single rivet.
Then simply mounted seat onto the new bar with holes to suit. This method keeps seat height/inclination pretty much as standard.
Can now get my seat to go all the way back to rear seat!
This though is actually too far as when fully back the seat will not recline fully.
With the seat forward by about 2 inches the seat will then fully recline making sleeping/napping in the car a realistic proposition if needed.
I may reduce the length of the bar to 22" which I believe would be the optimum.
Seat can quite easily be converted back to standard with a bolt securing original front foot to seat bracket, though without locating pin.
Would recommend anyone attempting the conversion to buy 4 new seat bolts which are only about £1.50 each, as the heads are pretty soft and easy to damage.

Unable to load photo images but if anyone wants to email - leshill50@gmail.com - I can forward to them - perhaps a techie could do that and upload to the forum?
The end result is a huge improvement over stock (I am 6' 3") and longer journeys are no longer a problem, did 7 hours recently with 1 brief stop for fuel.
Wonder why the car manufacturers don't cater for taller people?

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06-19-2016, 02:06 PM	#18
leshill Drives: Yaris 1.4D4D Join Date: Jun 2016 Location: Cornwall, UK Posts: 2	Hi Had the same issue and this article inspired me to tackle the job. Got an engineer mate to help me and we fabricated 2 bars 24" long & 9mm thick from old angle iron. I think 5mm thick would safely do the job. Removed existing front foot bracket by simply drilling out the long locating pin. Then bolted the original foot to the new bar and drilled appropriate hole (countersunk to let original bolt sit into) for the rear bolt. Removed bracket which supports underseat cables for side airbag by simply drilling out the single rivet. Then simply mounted seat onto the new bar with holes to suit. This method keeps seat height/inclination pretty much as standard. Can now get my seat to go all the way back to rear seat! This though is actually too far as when fully back the seat will not recline fully. With the seat forward by about 2 inches the seat will then fully recline making sleeping/napping in the car a realistic proposition if needed. I may reduce the length of the bar to 22" which I believe would be the optimum. Seat can quite easily be converted back to standard with a bolt securing original front foot to seat bracket, though without locating pin. Would recommend anyone attempting the conversion to buy 4 new seat bolts which are only about £1.50 each, as the heads are pretty soft and easy to damage. Unable to load photo images but if anyone wants to email - leshill50@gmail.com - I can forward to them - perhaps a techie could do that and upload to the forum? The end result is a huge improvement over stock (I am 6' 3") and longer journeys are no longer a problem, did 7 hours recently with 1 brief stop for fuel. Wonder why the car manufacturers don't cater for taller people?