Toyota Yaris DIY

Want to add some extra thigh support to your front seats? Here’s what I did.

Note: I’m not going to give you a step by step DIY as I don’t want to insult your intelligence. I think it’s straight forward enough.

Go to your local hardware store and pick up some metal washers, and longer bolts. The amount of washers depends on their thickness as you can make the spacer anywhere from zero to 5/8 inch thick. The bolts are a M10 x 1.25 thread. 1.5 pitch is the common thread for an M10 bolt so finding a 1.25 thread may take a few stops. I used a 2 inch stainless steel class 8.8 bolt. Class 8.8 SS is about the equivalent of a grade 5. I also found some plastic caps that fit the stainless bolt heads to make them not so bright and noticeable. (Not that they were ugly, just bright…)

Wrap your stack of washers with electrical tape as the sides will be visible after they are installed. I know I show a nylon spacer instead of washers, but the nylon spacer cracked and this DIY now recommends metal spacers (AKA- washers).

The “centering pin” for the seats will need to be bent back about ¼ inch to allow the bolts to stay centered in the holes as the seat is tilted back. I also say that the max spacer thickness is 5/8 inch because any greater and you will need to “ovalize” the holes with a round file to get the bolts to thread in cleanly.

Finish is relatively clean and unnoticeable.

This mod works well for tall drivers. This is because, if you have the seat all the way back, the seat is extended past the rear mounts, thus by raising the front you actually lower the back of the seat base.