Desert Does It Seat Jackers For 5th Gen 4Runner – Take your Seat Comfort to another level

Desert Does It Seat Jackers & Multi-Mount Panel Review For the 5th Gen 4Runner

This was an interesting one for me… most of my mods consist of body, performance and suspension changes.

Rarely do I focus on comfort when it comes to dumping even more money into my 10-year old 4Runner! However, I have lower back pain equivalent to an 85-year old plumber who still hasn’t retired.

It’s a nightmare at times and for someone who thoroughly enjoys long rides in the 4Runner, I occasionally need to step out and do some squats and stretches.

Upgrading Seat Height Adjuster For My 4Runner

The 5th Gen 4Runners have a variety of seat adjustments and lumbar support settings, but I still experience a bit of pain on long rides.

I spoke to an orthopedist to see what I could do outside of my daily stretch routines on long drives. We evaluated the seating I had in my office and at home and he actually had me do measurements of the leg “drop-off” (i.e., how much your legs drop down off of a seat vs. pushing into a straight out reclined position).

If you’re like me, I have degenerative disc disease in the tailbone and my first vertebrae, so I don’t want to be in the reclined position for long periods of time.

So, we looked at the seat in the truck and my doctor said, “Yep, that’s your problem; your legs are stretched out for long periods of time and you need to raise your seat up a bit. That should help.” While you can raise the seat higher in the 4Runner, it hits its max quickly so I needed to look into modding my seat somehow.

I considered adding washers between the seat’s four mounting points and use longer bolts to lift it up higher, but that just didn’t seem safe. The rear mounting points probably could work with spacers, but the front brackets are on an angle and have a little pin/rod that, one would assume, helps keep the seat from sliding. Again, it just didn’t seem like a smart move.

Then, I hit the Google machine and much to my surprise, there’s a company out there that not only sells seat risers, but they’re non-universal; they’re specific to the Tacoma, 4Runner, and FJ Cruiser.

Here is a full overview on their 3rd Gen Tacoma Seat Jackers for reference.

What are the freaking chances?

Introducing Seat Jackers From Desert Does It

In 2019, Desert Does It hit the scene with their Toyota “seat jackers”.

In just the past few months, they added molle panels to their catalog. If you haven’t heard of them, read below for a bit more information.

You’ll see throughout their site that their product is really marketed for people like me. From their website:

If you are struggling to find that comfortable seating position during your commute or road trip, you might be suffering from a lack of leg support… In many cases, this has alleviated lower back stress felt during longer drives.

Price & Product

Like we said earlier, Desert Does It offers seat jackers and molle panels for FJ’s, Tacoma’s, but this site focuses on the best of them all, the 4Runner! I guess it’s also important to note that tons of FJ parts also fit the 4Runner’s, and DDI notes that on their site.

Front Seat Jackers

First, they offer front seat jackers (patent pending). The front seat jackers are made of 7075 aluminum, so they’re lightweight but incredibly strong. They’re also powder coated in a black gloss finish.

The fronts took us about 8 minutes to install, it lifts the seat 1 ¼”, fits both the drivers and passenger side seats (I installed on the driver side because I don’t care about my passengers’ comfort), and while you reuse the two factory bolts, the kit comes with M10 grade 10.9 black hardware to bolt down the new spacers.

Rear Seat Jackers

Another thing to note is that Desert Does It also sells rear seat jackers.

Initially, I thought I would only need the front seat jackers but I didn’t want to run the risk of putting myself in a more crouched position with just the front raised.

You know your body better than anyone else, so purchase what you think makes the most sense for your desired comfort. I personally like the seating in the 4Runner as is, but I just wanted to raise everything up all around. So, we went with the front and rear seat jackers.

Similar thing here with this kit; it raises the rear of the seat from 1/4″ to 1-1/2″ (depending on how many of the included washers you choose to go with), fits both driver and passenger seats, the hardware is made with billet 6061 aluminum, black gloss powder coat and factory-grade 10.9 hardware are included.

Accessorize with a Multi-Mount Molle Panel

If you decide to dress things up a bit, you can add their brand new molle panels to both the front and the back with the added space. The front molle panel bolts directly into the front seat jacker.

The front MMP can be used with the Front Seat Jackers or available brackets.  The brackets do not require the seat height to be adjusted in anyway.

The molle also comes in a gloss black powder coat finish, made from 6061 aluminum and includes longer factory-grade hardware (class 10.9).

You can mount a variety of things from:

• MAG lights
• Guns
• Knives
• Extinguishers
• Element Fire Extinguisher
• Even a toilet paper holder!

Option To Add a Rear Mole Panel

You also have the option to add a rear mole panel.

So as to avoid the repetitiveness here, the kit includes all the necessary hardware, it’s finished in a gloss black powder coat and you have all the same mounting options.

The rear MMP does not require the Rear Seat Jackers but they can be used together.

Find It Online: 

• Desert Does It Front Mole Panel: Check Price
• Desert Does It Rear Mole Panel: Check Price

Final Review

Our 4Runner has a set of Weathertech liners in both the front and back. The seat jackets do not interfere with the floor liners, but the rear molle prevented our rear liner from sitting underneath the seat without buckling up.

So, we have a buddy on TrailTacoma.com who will be installing the panel and extra washers in his Tacoma (the rear kits fit the Tacoma’s as well as the FJ and 4Runner). However, the front molle panel does not interfere with the floor liner.

These kits use all existing mounting points, there’s no drilling required and installation for all of their products is a breeze. While the kits come with detailed installation instructions, you could probably mount everything up with your eyes closed.

All-in-all, we were really happy with our Desert Does It products. They’re quality made in the U.S.A. and serve not just an aesthetic purpose, but for me personally, they provide comfort and health benefits. We’re overlanding the Oregon Trail in a few weeks at roughly 3,100 miles, so we’ll report back!

Be on the lookout in the coming months as DDI has plans to launch an in-cab/under the seat air compressor mount. They’ve released some sneak-peek previews on their Instagram page and trust us, it looks sweet!