Replacement Side Mounting Panel for scheel-mann seat brackets
Replacement side seat mounting bracket for scheel-mann seats into a Gen2 or Gen3 Tacoma, FJ Cruiser, or 4th gen 4Runner. Although the seat mounting kit comes with both a driver and passenger side panel, they could see a some use and abuse over time. These are replacement panels for either driver or passenger side.
Side panels for both sides are flat and perfect for mounting accessories such as flashlights, small fire extnguishers, etc. (Fire Ext/mount NOT included). The backside of each panel comes with a strip of felt that is mounted onto the panel. This piece of felt prevents any type of potential rubbing of the panel against the side rail.
Designed and Machined in America
How its made:
The Side Panels CAN serve two functions. The first function is to hide all of the bits and bobs necessary to install a scheel-mann seat into your Toyota truck. It’s not that it’s unsightly, it just doesn’t look “finished” without the side panel. The second thing it does is act as a mounting plate for certain accessories. For example: flashlight, small fire extinguisher, knife, small first aid kit, flares, etc.
Now to the process. Almost every model of Toyota will get a specific side panel only because there are very minor differences between seat options and floor between models. So once the scheel-mann seat is in the point is to look like it belongs.
First thing after the design is to have the panels laser cut out of 3/16” aluminum. 3/16” thick aluminum was chosen because we figured that most looking to mount accessories technically could just drill a hole and bolt/nut it but the cooler method would be to drill the minor of the hole and then tap to the major of the bolt. This way you have tapped threads ready to go. Nice and clean and you don’t need access to the back of the panel.
Once the panels are laser cut they are deburred and tumbled for a few hours. This process gives us the final look we were aiming for. Having perfect machined CNC endmill cuts just didn’t give the softer look we were going for.
Next up was to design laser marking “jigs” since the panels had to be made flat on the side we needed for the fiber laser we were using. This was an easy process that just required a quick 3D print. Once the print is in place the jig acts as a guide. For the laser marking.
The fiber laser does 3 passes to give the panel the depth that gives the logo the right amount of noticeability without being an annoying cutout or being bright white when laser marking after anodize. With the fiber laser marking we now have a tactile feel to the logo that is subtle but apparent.
And finally the panels are then sent out to our local anodize shop where they dunk into an acid to remove any and all materials that would affect the look we want. It's then dunked into the anodize black dye tank and then the clearing tank. Once dried you can see the final piece in the last image.
Now we have the perfect look. We get the brand imaging we are looking for without being obnoxious. Its perfect we think.
