Several Toyota & Lexus vehicles find themselves with a broken power seat from time to time, and the most common causes of these are missing white caps, and stripped gears. The white caps can work themselves out of their little housing through use, and once they fall out continued seat use will damage the gear inside, since missing cap has made the shaft and gear inside no longer in alignment with the worm gear. To see if you're missing a white cap, just look under your driver seat from outside the vehicle, towards the front of the seat. You should see the little cap threaded inside the gear housing, shown below. If you see a hole, then voila, you need a new white cap. To inspect the passenger seat the seat must first be unbolted and tipped back, as the cap is against the transmission tunnel.
Originally developed for 1993-1997 Toyota Land Cruisers and Lexus LX450’s, these parts have been known to also repair the Supra, Solara, 4Runner, and other vehicles made in the 1990’s by Toyota, including the Granvia and Crown Majesta!
The material used for these is an injection molded in a self-lubricating POM material, using custom designs and tooling proprietary to Gamiviti. These caps are gears are the closest approximation available to the original stock cap, and your best, most affordable chance available to restore that sliding function to your Land Cruiser's power seats.
For seats that have been forced to slide front to back for some time without the white cap in place, odds are good the gears are stripped and/or worn to the point where they are no longer effective. The solution for this is to dismantle the lower gear assembly, press off the old gear from the metal shaft it's pressed to, then press on a new gear. Installation takes someone with average mechanical skills about an hour per seat. If you can change your own oil, you can swap both your white caps and your gears.
Prices below include USPS postage, shipped anywhere in the United States. Best value is 2 caps and 4 gears, which is usually enough to repair both seats. Other quantity options are also available, including a 6 gear and 2 cap package for folks working on multiple vehicles, or those who want to retain a spare. Additional shipping options are below, including UPS and international shipping (orders outside the USA). If you are at all hesitant about fitment with your vehicle, our standing offer is a free refund if you find they are in fact different from what you expected- your only risk is the return shipping.
seat gear press tool
A new product for 2023, we have now launched a proprietary new press tool, to aid in the removal of the old gear, and installation of the new one. During installation, it’s critical that the new gear be held square to the knurled shaft when pressing, and the two parts are held concentric to each other, a task that is difficult for some to accomplish with the bench vice and hand tools. This press tools removes any uncertainty with this, and enables you to perform that task in a simple operation removing the need for sockets and a bench vice, and providing a tool that allows the install to be done with a simple hammer. Refer to the installation tips and video below for more information about the process.
Just like the caps and gears purchased separately, USPS shipping is included in the purchase of the press tool. Additional shipping options for UPS and International (outside the USA) are available below. A video showing how to use the press tool is available at the bottom of this page.
Press Tool Guarantee: an an introductory offer, for a limited time we are guaranteeing the success of our press tool. Within 30 days of your purchase of our press tool and any quantity of gears, we’ll guarantee your new gear presses on without issue. If it fails for some reason, simply email us a picture and we’ll send you out one new replacement gear free of charge, also covering domestic shipping charges.
seat cap and gear Quantity Options
1 seat contains 2 gears and 1 white end cap. Generally, it is only necessary to replace one of the gears, as the gear nearest the missing white cap is the one that strips out first. However on some seats the gear opposite the white cap can also be worn and in need of replacement. So if you want to be sure you have all the parts you need for all parts in both seats, or you want an extra on hand in case you struggle with just one seat, then you will need 4 gears and 2 caps. For those who wish to purchase additional parts, or just a couple spares, we offer multiple quantity packages….
International Shipping - Outside the USA
If you are outside the United States, you need to also add an international shipping option to your cart, which helps cover the additional cost to ship internationally. This is for any quantity of parts, only need to add one of these. USPS is the cheapest, but also takes the longest. UPS costs more but is generally faster and more reliable. If you are outside the United States and skip this step, you’ll receive an email back reminding you to come back and click this add to cart button, your order won’t ship without it. Also note there may be additional customs/duties to be paid on your end, which can vary depending on what country you live in.
UPS Shipping inside the USA
As you read above all orders include USPS shipping in the purchase price. And USPS is generally very reliable, most orders are received within just a few days. Occasionally though the USPS will fail miserably, and things get lost in the mail- doesn’t happen often but yet, it’s happened. So if you life in an area where USPS has been less successful, or you just like UPS better, then we’ve added an upgrade option to cover the added cost to ship these to you UPS. If you want that, just click the button below.
Overnight shipping inside the USA
In some circumstances you may wish to have these parts overnighted to you. Yes, that is a service we offer but it’s not guaranteed, to make sure this can happen you need to email first. After we’ve confirmed that we’re available to ship overnight then you can use the button below to make your purchase.
The fine print
These caps and gears have successfully restored the forward and back motion of several Land Cruiser seats, literally hundreds, in more than 20 countries worldwide, some installs lasting for more than 10 years. However every vehicle is different, and every installation is different also, remember these are older vehicles that have had multiple owners, on a body that style is now close to 30 years old. They are a cheap solution to an expensive problem. For more than 95% of its installs these new parts work great, and the few lingering issues are almost always caused by improper technique with installation. As we can not control all of the variables that go into your seat repair, we are unable to guarantee these parts for any period of time. However, if you're unsatisfied, or if you have additional questions, just email us and we'll do our best to work with you.
Installation Tips
Read the instructions. Watch the videos. Take your time, pay attention to what you're taking off and where it goes, so you can put it all back the same way.
Use the press tool to reduce variability to the pressing operation. We can’t guarantee that you won’t split the gear when you press it on, unless you use the press tool.
Tilt the seat up before unhooking the power. This makes it easier to access those two Philips screws that hold the front panel on.
Secure the white cap mechanically when reinstalling, so that it can not pop out again- see below.
Insure the seat operates again, before bolting it down, and use care when bolting the seat in place. Forcing the seat legs to line up with the bolts in the floor can introduce a strain on the seat that will lead to future gear failure.
Remember the cap should not be in tight- it should not put any pressure on the shaft, but rather allow the shaft to shift side to side a little bit. Often times the threads on the plastic housing are worn, from the shaft shoving the white cap out repeatedly. So to compensate for this, some have been successful adding a little Teflon tape to the outer threads of the cap, to add interference, or drilling a small hole and adding a small screw to prevent any rotation or movement. Locktite has also been used for this. See the below photos..
