The not-so-definitive guide to Sienna seats

[FarmerFrederico]

mk216v - my UJOR mounts came with hardware too - only 4 bolts/nuts per mount...but 8 holes for each mount on the seats. It looks like all 8 holes line up so I'm going to plan on using all 8. Using the 4 bolts/nuts provided for the front 4 holes and need to drill out the back 4 holes though to accept the factory hardware on the seat.

I'll be installing my L-Track tomorrow night. I'll have mine running in 4 foot sections. Going to mount both of my UJOR mounts to the two pieces of track using my L-Track double stud hardware to use as a jig to line everything up parallel. Did you guys run the track on the top of the ribs or between them...another way to put it would be on the peaks or in the valley's? Do you have a reference point for where to have some of the holes fall? I assume you have track with pre-drilled holes 4" on center?

Looks like you have a VanRug? Me too. Did that play a role in how you chose to lay things out? I want the most room between my seats as possible.

 

[e350vegas]

Yeah, they're way nicer than my Sienna cloth seats!
Front seats are mounted on MG/UJOR Sienna brackets. My RF has MG's swivel mechanism.
Will post pictures hopefully next week after the rear L-track/airline/Mac's track install. MG is the hardware man--that's his dept.

Hehe, you'll have to talk to MG about that. So lucky to have him nearby in OR!

I though the Ujoint brackets were for the 2nd row seats....not front? What am I missing? What do I need to put Sienna seats in the front for driver and passenger? And do I need to purchase Sienna front seats or the second rows....or does it matter
?

 

[mk216v]

mk216v - my UJOR mounts came with hardware too - only 4 bolts/nuts per mount...but 8 holes for each mount on the seats. It looks like all 8 holes line up so I'm going to plan on using all 8. Using the 4 bolts/nuts provided for the front 4 holes and need to drill out the back 4 holes though to accept the factory hardware on the seat.

I'll be installing my L-Track tomorrow night. I'll have mine running in 4 foot sections. Going to mount both of my UJOR mounts to the two pieces of track using my L-Track double stud hardware to use as a jig to line everything up parallel. Did you guys run the track on the top of the ribs or between them...another way to put it would be on the peaks or in the valley's? Do you have a reference point for where to have some of the holes fall? I assume you have track with pre-drilled holes 4" on center?

Looks like you have a VanRug? Me too. Did that play a role in how you chose to lay things out? I want the most room between my seats as possible.

--I'm remembering back now to when I first installed the UJOR brackets onto my 2nd row Sienna cloths...AFAIK Chris is now having his own brackets "cut" back east. I can't remember if they're plasma cut or what, but I too had to open up the rear holes in the UJOR brackets for the factory hardware to fit thru. I emailed Chris pics/info so hopefully on his next run he can make sure his fab guys open up the holes more.

--MG and I are using ~10' sections of L-track for our setup. I'm aiming to run the track between the floor ribs to get everything as low as possible--not sure if MG will do the same or not. On my van we're going to run the track shifted to the driver side. Check out the pics on my build thread; http://www.expeditionportal.com/for...iana-Jones-sequel-The-Legacy-Continues/page12
Notice that the leftmost(outboard) track lays on top of the leftmost row of factory floor bolt holes. On the pass side, the track runs between the two rows of factory floor bolt holes. This will allow more ingress/egress room(thank goodness I no longer have to have the 2nd row pass seatbelt on the C-pillar anymore, as the 2nd row seatbelts are integrated into the Sienna recliners. It also gives good aisleway room between the 2nd row seats. Now MG was thinking I may want to pull all 4 tracks in towards the center of the van as much as possible to allow the 2nd row seats to "slide" all the way to the very back of the van, but this wouldn't leave any aisleway between the seats, and I don't see a need to have the 2nd row seats slide all the way to the rear of the van. So basically the 2nd row won't be able to slide past the rear wheelwell humps. That still leaves plenty of reclining room, and still dedicated gear storage behind the wheelwell.
I'm not sure if the holes are 4" on center--my track is at powdercoat right now, MG has his with him.

--Yes, VanRug was installed by Brad(PO). It's thick, but I like it. Only downside is the metal shavings tend to get stuck in the curls of the rug.

--Most room between the seats will be a balance of making sure the seats don't hit the interior sides of course, and whether you want to line up the track with the existing floor bolt holes or not. I'm looking forward to retaining some of the factory floor holes where I've installed McMasterCarr d-rings(also installed 4 of them at existing upper seatbelt bolt holes).
I could push my right rear seat track more towards the cargo side doors(thus running on the same outboard line of factory holes in the floor), but then when you open the cargo side doors the RR seat is RIGHT there. I prefer to have that RR seat in towards the center of the van a smidge. Still gives me some aisle room between the 2nd row seats.

--Anyone looking to do theirs the same or different?

 

[mk216v]

I though the Ujoint brackets were for the 2nd row seats....not front? What am I missing? What do I need to put Sienna seats in the front for driver and passenger? And do I need to purchase Sienna front seats or the second rows....or does it matter
?

MG would be best to answer this one in full. Thanks MG!

 

[naterry]

I though the Ujoint brackets were for the 2nd row seats....not front? What am I missing? What do I need to put Sienna seats in the front for driver and passenger? And do I need to purchase Sienna front seats or the second rows....or does it matter
?

AFAIK MG is the only one with front row seat mounts. Ujoint has the 2nd row seat mounts.

The OEM Sienna 2nd row seats work for driver, passenger, and 2nd row (i.e. ALL) positions in our vans.

 

[CrabbyMcNab]

--I'm remembering back now to when I first installed the UJOR brackets onto my 2nd row Sienna cloths...AFAIK Chris is now having his own brackets "cut" back east. I can't remember if they're plasma cut or what, but I too had to open up the rear holes in the UJOR brackets for the factory hardware to fit thru. I emailed Chris pics/info so hopefully on his next run he can make sure his fab guys open up the holes more.

--MG and I are using ~10' sections of L-track for our setup. I'm aiming to run the track between the floor ribs to get everything as low as possible--not sure if MG will do the same or not. On my van we're going to run the track shifted to the driver side. Check out the pics on my build thread; http://www.expeditionportal.com/for...iana-Jones-sequel-The-Legacy-Continues/page12
Notice that the leftmost(outboard) track lays on top of the leftmost row of factory floor bolt holes. On the pass side, the track runs between the two rows of factory floor bolt holes. This will allow more ingress/egress room(thank goodness I no longer have to have the 2nd row pass seatbelt on the C-pillar anymore, as the 2nd row seatbelts are integrated into the Sienna recliners. It also gives good aisleway room between the 2nd row seats. Now MG was thinking I may want to pull all 4 tracks in towards the center of the van as much as possible to allow the 2nd row seats to "slide" all the way to the very back of the van, but this wouldn't leave any aisleway between the seats, and I don't see a need to have the 2nd row seats slide all the way to the rear of the van. So basically the 2nd row won't be able to slide past the rear wheelwell humps. That still leaves plenty of reclining room, and still dedicated gear storage behind the wheelwell.
I'm not sure if the holes are 4" on center--my track is at powdercoat right now, MG has his with him.

--Yes, VanRug was installed by Brad(PO). It's thick, but I like it. Only downside is the metal shavings tend to get stuck in the curls of the rug.

--Most room between the seats will be a balance of making sure the seats don't hit the interior sides of course, and whether you want to line up the track with the existing floor bolt holes or not. I'm looking forward to retaining some of the factory floor holes where I've installed McMasterCarr d-rings(also installed 4 of them at existing upper seatbelt bolt holes).
I could push my right rear seat track more towards the cargo side doors(thus running on the same outboard line of factory holes in the floor), but then when you open the cargo side doors the RR seat is RIGHT there. I prefer to have that RR seat in towards the center of the van a smidge. Still gives me some aisle room between the 2nd row seats.

--Anyone looking to do theirs the same or different?

Thanks for the detailed information. This is why I frequently come back to this forum!
And again, I'm in a conundrum. Keep the cloth seats and be limited for mobility due to the pillar mounted seat belts, or opt for seats with integrated belts. I am certain on mounting the seats on an L-track system for modularity sake. That's a must for me for all the intended purposes/uses/transformations that the van is capable of.

 

[RickM]

You guys are really making me want sienna seats up from in mine.

 

[FarmerFrederico]

So I've begun laying down my L-Track. I bolted both of the UJOR bases to one pair of 4 foot L-Track as a jig for marking my holes. I used a center punch to mark my holes. With holes 4" on center, there were many opportunities for interference with the cross-bracing of the body under the van floor and with the frame itself so I just chose a place that would give me the movement I desired while still leaving plenty of track fore and aft of where my seats will be at in their extremes so that the seat is always in the "middle" of the track and not locked in right at one end. A center aisle is not a major priority in our layout. We are all slender in our family so squeezing to the back bed/bench won't be too much trouble. I think we've got about 10" to work with.

I didn't take a close up of my finished work but I filed down the ends of the L-Track to make it smooth for bare feet - it won't catch toes or clothing now. I also chose this style track because I thought it would leave the cleanest interface with any possible floor coverings I finalize in the future. Right now I have a VenRug and I'm hoping I can just use a long bladed utility knife to cut slots out of so it lays down flat over the four tracks, then the UJOR mount will clear above. I might wish I had the flange type in the future but this is what I ended up with...I think it's the only style I could find in 7075 series aluminum as well.

I chose to place it in the valleys of the floor because that allows the 3" attachment hardware to reach all the way through bracing below and gives a more stable and uniform surface for the track to sit on...plus more headroom.

Here is how I rigged up my "jig" to mark holes. Brown marks on the floor is Liquid Nails residue leftover from a plywood floor put in by the PO.

I took one UJOR mount off at a time to mark and drill more holes so everything would line up well.

The gas tank is removed at the moment so I didn't have to worry about drilling in to anything below. I'll post more pics as I finish up early next week.

Thanks for everyone's input! I'll keep you posted about how my L-Track endeavor turns out!

 

[mk216v]

Ha, we're right behind you with the L-track on VANdiana. MG is at the helm!

Bedrug out;


Also using the UJOR bracket as a jig. Will be lining up L-track in the "valley" of the floor ridges, on driver and pass side. RR seat will be inboard a bit from MG's RR seat in his EB. LR seat will be shoved as close to driver side interior plastic as possible(probably will offset UJOR's bracket holes to allow for this positioning);


100" lengths with 4" on center = a lot of holes for MG to drill. That's why he's the Drill Sergeant. :chef:

 

[mk216v]

Thanks for the detailed information. This is why I frequently come back to this forum!
And again, I'm in a conundrum. Keep the cloth seats and be limited for mobility due to the pillar mounted seat belts, or opt for seats with integrated belts. I am certain on mounting the seats on an L-track system for modularity sake. That's a must for me for all the intended purposes/uses/transformations that the van is capable of.

You're welcome.

I didn't find the RR seatbelt stretching across the ingress route to be THAT bothersome. In fact if no one was sitting in the RR seat I'd disconnect the seatbelt from the quick disconnect and strap it to the RR seatbelt housing.

L-track should be sweet...

 

[CrabbyMcNab]

Which bolts is everyone going with? Are the 1/4 inch (http://www.cargoequipmentcorp.com/Series-L-Track-and-Fittings-p/fe201005-25.htm) enough for supporting the L-track?

 

[mk216v]

I don't have the specs handy, MG has the box....MG can you advise?

All 4 '15 Sienna's are in, as is black powdercoated L-track. LOTS and LOTS of work installing 10' strips of L-track, but the flexibility is fantastic. Had 4 seats installed going into NW Overland Rally(ExPo), unfastened the nuts for the LR seat, in less than 8min had moved the seat forward about 12". Removed the RR seat in 8min to allow more access for our trip. If the seats had been bolted thru the floor like OEM, would have taken much longer to remove the shield under RR of truck, then 2 people to unfasten the bolts/nuts. With the L-track I can do it all myself in much less time, plus I can fully customize the interior(seats/cargo) for whatever trip I'm taking.

A few pics;





Trip mode(for now);



What you can't see in these pics is that i n the far rear, forward of the fridge and such, I re-installed the factory seat bracket bolts with the McMaster-Carr d-rings, so that I have even more possible tie-down points.

 

[FarmerFrederico]

Damn it! I thought I'd be first! Installing seat tomorrow. L-Track is in and finished! Phew! I agree - LOTS of work installing that! Your system is looking great and I totally agree on how quick it will be to change configuration. Cheers to you and MG! I'll be going on a maiden low-stakes voyage in the van with family tomorrow for a few days so no pics 'till I get back. Not entirely finished with everything but a few more days of work and I can say I'm done wrenching for a year and ready to just drive and enjoy.

 

[mk216v]

Damn it! I thought I'd be first! Installing seat tomorrow. L-Track is in and finished! Phew! I agree - LOTS of work installing that! Your system is looking great and I totally agree on how quick it will be to change configuration. Cheers to you and MG! I'll be going on a maiden low-stakes voyage in the van with family tomorrow for a few days so no pics 'till I get back. Not entirely finished with everything but a few more days of work and I can say I'm done wrenching for a year and ready to just drive and enjoy.

Hehe, sowwy. We can be the first together, how's that?

Yeah, lots of drilling and fastening. But I'm very happy with its adaptability.
Thanks for the props--looking forward to seeing yours too.

Enjoy your trip!

 

[CrabbyMcNab]

Hey mk, looks great. I plan on installing my tracks this week.
Couple questions (not another question from Crabby, doesn't he ask a lot of questions...). When you "drilled" through the carpet, did the bit tear up the material at all? I think I read somewhere that you reverse the direction of the bit to get through the carpet and then tape the bit to prevent it grabbing the material when drilling into the metal. May have been mistaken or asleep, I can't remember. Second, did you put any sealant/gasket between the washer and metal of the van to prevent moister getting in?