Seat mod for more leg room.......

[Bones]

just to give a little background, i am 6'10" tall with looong legs, 42" inseam. i recently bought a 1978 FJ 40 and had to have my wife drive it and test it because i simply could not sit in the seat and safely clutch. so it came home and started on modifying it so i could drive it.

now some people will simply make new rails to mount to existing brackets that allow for the seat to be mounted further back in the stock position basically. this will only allow for roughly two inches of extra travel. for the average oversized joe this will probably work, but not for me. i tried and still no go.

so i studied and stared for awhile and realized i not only needed to go back, but i needed to raise the seat also for comfort. and by raising the seat i could also gain valuable inches going back.

so here is my story to making it happen.

i first removed the seat and all mounting brackets.


https://forum.ih8mud.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=627351&stc=1&d=1335801580

then i got some 3" c channel cut to the lengths i needed. the 3" would raise me up to a more comfortable level and allow for a total of almost 5" of rearward movement.


https://forum.ih8mud.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=627352&stc=1&d=1335801580

here is the left side of the seat mount. i simply drilled the channel to match the existing hole in floor. i then reversed the front left mount, and turned the rear mount 180 degrees.

https://forum.ih8mud.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=627353&stc=1&d=1335801580

continued...........

 

[Bones]

seat mod continued.......

i cant upload any more photos, i will find a hosting site and continue this shortly.

 

[singletrackjunkie]

How's the head room at 6'10" with the seat up 3"? I'm 6'4" and would like more legroom as well but not if it means hitting my head on the ceiling. If you buy a silver star you can post as many pics as you like.

 

[cjgoode]

Have you tried this out, the rear ward movement is key to more leg room, but you have to be careful raising it unless you have a tilt wheel or a much smaller non stock steering wheel.

 

[pb4ugo]

I'm 6'8" I went w/aftermarket seats moved them back close to the fenderwell, raised the frt of the seat and lowered the back.

 

[Bones]

head room is not a problem, just drove it to get new plates. no worries whatsoever that i was going to hit my head. it does change the view somewhat, but i have always been looking thru the upper 1/3 of every windshield so its not a big adjustment on my part.

no problems with the steering wheel, still plenty of leg room. that being said, a smaller wheel would make for more room, and make clutching easier.

raising the seat does actually increase legroom ergonomically. there is actually a formula for it but do not know it off hand. but by raising it, i was able to get almost 5 inches aft movement.

i might lower the back to 2", that will allow for more hip flexion and possibly be more comfortable.

i will look into the silver star membership this evening.

thanks for the questions and replies.

andy

 

[Bones]

mods continued........

just upgraded to silver star, so more pictures hopefully.

to continue, here is the c channel on right front.

https://forum.ih8mud.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=627508&stc=1&d=1335828155

here is the right rear mount.

https://forum.ih8mud.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=627509&stc=1&d=1335828155

and the last one is all of them in place.

https://forum.ih8mud.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=627511&stc=1&d=1335828155

continued..........

 

[Bones]

continued.......

after i had the brackets in place, i needed to make a rail to mount the seat glide to on the left side.

https://forum.ih8mud.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=627513&stc=1&d=1335828532

once thqt was all done it was time to put the seat back in and mock up mounting holes and to try it out. i simply used c clamps to stabilize it as i crawled in and out making minor adjustment here and there.

https://forum.ih8mud.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=627515&stc=1&d=1335828532

https://forum.ih8mud.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=627514&stc=1&d=1335828532

once i found the right fit, it was nothing more that mark the holes, drill them, and and rebolt everything up tight.

overall cost was $15 in steel and a four hours of my time. no welding, everything is still stock if i should ever want to put it back that way. while i was at it, i wd40 the heck out of the glides to remove 34 years of gunk that had built up. it now glides properly and my wife who is 5'7" can move the seat forward and still drive it.

there are many ways to skin a cat, this is what worked for me. YMMV.

thanks for letting be here.

andy

 

[Bones]

here is the seat in its final mounting stop.

https://forum.ih8mud.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=627534&stc=1&d=1335830328

and here is a picture of the beauty and the bones. it is a 1997 bmw z3 that has only 7300 miles on it. it only sees the sunshine. we bought this pre child and once we had our son it sits in the garage under cover and only come out occasionally for date night and sunday drivers.

https://forum.ih8mud.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=627534&stc=1&d=1335830328

 

[handcannon]

Beauty and the beast!! Nice!!

I like the simplicity of your mod, especially since it is easily reversible. My only concern, and I'm sure you have already addressed it, is the sharp edges on the cut end of the C channel for the inside booster are out where somebody can gouge their leg.

Don

 

[Bones]

hey handcannon
i like your boxers. i am a setter guy, but my brother has three boxers and i love to visit them. and from the name, i am guessing you are a shooter too?

i am in the process of addressing the sharp corners and edges. you are right in that they are dangerous. i have rounded them down, but still need to come up with something a little more for protection, especially on the left hand edge when i get in. i am thinking of trying a ladder end cap sleeved over it. made of foam, to protect paint. i need to check my painting gear. if it works i will post up a picture.

thanks
andy

 

[handcannon]

hey handcannon
i like your boxers. i am a setter guy, but my brother has three boxers and i love to visit them. and from the name, i am guessing you are a shooter too?

i am in the process of addressing the sharp corners and edges. you are right in that they are dangerous. i have rounded them down, but still need to come up with something a little more for protection, especially on the left hand edge when i get in. i am thinking of trying a ladder end cap sleeved over it. made of foam, to protect paint. i need to check my painting gear. if it works i will post up a picture.

thanks
andy

Setters are a beautiful dog, and smart too. We have three boxers, the two in the pic and a third, a reverse brindle, who is old enough that she moves rather slow now. The two in the pic are the youngest, though the pup in the pic is now full grown and has had 4 or 5 litters now.

Does your brother breed them? We've recently sold the last of the most recent litter. I took a call a couple days ago from a woman who is having a hard time finding a pup to replace the boxer they recently lost, and she had a Bend phone number.

I used to shoot a bit until our finances took a big hit three years ago. That was one of the things I had to drastically cut. I haven't done any reloading in the last three years now.

About the sharp corners. Once you have the ends/sharp corners well rounded, try coating them with some kind of plasti-dip. I'm not sure if that is the correct name for it, but I'm thinking of the plastic stuff that you dip tool handles into. I've never done anything like that, but it was the first thing that came to mind.

Don