Topic: how rare is the rear seat delete for 1 gen 4 runners?

[shad]

I was wondering how rare the rear seat delete option is for 4 runners?

I happen to have one it came with my 4 runner.

[ninja turtle]

ive never seen it. thats cool.

[shmedly]

I've seen a few for sale in the last year. I almost got one for my 85. I was going to install one and place a small bucket seat for my kid in the middle. Then the wife informed me were going to need room for one more seat .....

[shad [OP]]

Basically I from what I gather although haven't bolted it in yet. You take your rear seats out then bolt this in place where they swing down and it's like having just a truck bed in back.

[WHITE_TRASH]

Not a biggy, my neighbor would probably give ya his...  His back seat has turned into a place for the gas tank... 

[shad [OP]]

I guess mine was a utility 4 runner version. It didn't come with a back seat. One was added at a later date.

I found a old post on offroad.com about it :http://forums.off-road.com/toyota-suv-s-trucks/23733-4runner-rear-seat.html
Anyways haven't seen many of them so I guess it is rare.

Had to go back to school and have a history lesson on the first gen runners. "The first-generation 4Runner had two doors and a removable hard top in the form of a fiberglass shell over the rear cargo area. It was available in two models. The first was little more than a pickup truck with a covered rear cargo area. Its emphasis was on utility. With seats in the front only, "

More here : http://www.top4runners.com/ja/runhist1.html

[shad [OP]]

Here's how one looks with it installed.
For $hits and grins

[Rocksurfer]

All 1st. gen 4Runners through 1985 were shipped this way and then if a rear seat was installed it was an option. They did this to beat the taxes that would have been charged if it were shipped with the rear seat. They stopped doing that for the 1986 model and were shipped with the seat.

[porkchop]

I am diggin the amount of storage that would open

[Pat]

if anyone has one they want to sell let me know

[jrock]

That is cool.

[BHT12]

I have one of these I scored at a junk yard. Like rock surfer said I had heard they did this because it was cheaper to ship it as a "pickup" then an suv. Perry cool though

[Snowtoy]

All 1st. gen 4Runners through 1985 were shipped this way and then if a rear seat was installed it was an option. They did this to beat the taxes that would have been charged if it were shipped with the rear seat. They stopped doing that for the 1986 model and were shipped with the seat.

Importing them w/o rear seats wouldn't have prevented them from being hit with taxes, there was(still is I believe) a 25% import tax on light trucks.  However, if it was unclear whether or not they would be classified as trucks or as passenger cars w/the rear seats installed, sending them w/o the rear seats would ensure the 4-Runner wouldn't effect the total number of passenger cars they could import that year.

[emsvitil]

Without the rear seat it was probably classified as a truck and hit with the 25% tax.

Remember the Subaru Brat.....    It had 2 seats welded to the rear bed so it was classified as a car to avoid the 25% tax......

[OOPS]

When the pickups were still made in Japan, they were shipped over here without a bed to beat the import taxes. Use to see rows and rows of trucks with no beds in a holding lot off 680 in California.

[emsvitil]

When the pickups were still made in Japan, they were shipped over here without a bed to beat the import taxes. Use to see rows and rows of trucks with no beds in a holding lot off 680 in California.

That explains why the paint on my bed has aged differently than the cab............

[OOPS]

That explains why the paint on my bed has aged differently than the cab............

Yep!! I did not have my bed long enough to age, took one side out in The Little Sluice and the other on Walker Hill, for those who do not know those spots they are both on the Con!

[2manytoys]

The first new vehicle and first Toyota my wife and I bought was an 86 4Runner. We couldn't afford the SR5 back then so we got a base model except she HAD to have an automatic. Was a $200 option. Yet the rear seat was an $800 option! I asked them if they had that backwards.

Anyway, the truck came with no radio or antenna, no back seat, carpet in front, vinyl in back, steel wheels,3 row brass radiator and a trans  cooler for the auto.

Took forever for the dealer to get and install the rear seat. They kept the original floor plate. If I'd have know it was going to be a rare item I would have asked for it back.