Your seat is the most intimate connection you have with your vehicle. Not for nothing does the term "seat of the pants" exist.
About a year and a half ago, I joined the legions of off-roaders who benefit from the comfort and support of Mastercraft seats.
As my 4Runner is my only vehicle, my backside and I have become thoroughly acquainted with the Mastercraft Baja RS.
Although the RS is a comfy seat that strikes an ideal balance between body containment and ease of ingress/egress, I found out that I needed some extra lumbar support to make the seat truly perfect for me.
When I ordered the Mastercraft seats in the first place, I only had my OEM Toyota seats as a frame of reference. The stock Toyota driver's seat had an adjustable lumbar support, but it was way too firm, even when dialed out to full soft. I figured I might do well to forego the optional adjustable lumbar support offered by Mastercraft.
As it turned out, I found myself needing some extra lumbar support, but I'd been using the Baja RS seats for over a year and a half. Could the lumbar support still be added in?
Mastercraft users, and those who are contemplating new seats, will be pleased to discover that Mastercraft seats are fully rebuildable, and that Mastercraft does seat rebuilds day in and day out.
Yes, the optional Schukra adjustable lumbar support was added into my existing seats, and yes it's very comfortable and very adjustable. I needn't have worried in the first place. When dialed out to full soft, it's just a little firmer than not having it at all. At full firm, it provides stout support even in the roughest terrain.
Seat rebuilds also replace the foam and the Pirelli suspension straps as needed. My seat foam and suspension straps were in great shape, so they were left in place. When I placed the original order, I somehow mismatched the front and rear seats' color schemes. The seat rebuild was an opportune time to get the front and rear color schemes in synch with a pair of new front seat covers.
The rebuild and re-cover gave new meaning to the term "sitting pretty."
I'll document the process in more detail. Watch for the story in upcoming blogs and in the pages of 4Wheel Drive.