Novel rear seat option?

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FloridaFJ

Joined
May 15, 2007
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Ft. Lauderdale, FL
I'm among those who need seating for three in the back of a 40.

The thought occurred to me that schoolbus seats might be just the trick for a bench. They have a steel frame, thick cushions, high backs, and appear to be easy to mod. And they're kid resistant.

If it works, a single wrecked bus could yield many, many rear bench seats.

I spotted one last night at a yard nearby, so I'm going to swing by and take some measurements and ask about buying some seats.

Has anyone tried this?
 
A bud of mine has what appears to be a bus bench in his. (I should say used to)
There's better and safer options in any scrap yard. Once he saw what I did with a mini van bench seat he went searching.
 
They're hard to find, but an early Bronco rear bench would be perfect.
 
If I remember right I pulled mine from a Dodge Caravan? I customized the existing brackets to allow somewhat easy removal and it's a VERY tight fit between the wheel wells. I liked the fact that it had armrests on both sides.
 
nats-fj40 said:
If I remember right I pulled mine from a Dodge Caravan? I customized the existing brackets to allow somewhat easy removal and it's a VERY tight fit between the wheel wells. I liked the fact that it had armrests on both sides.
Click to expand...

1995 or 1996 Dodge Caravan Rear Seat, IIRC. Looks good but sits very high.
backseat1.webp
backseat3.webp
backseat4.webp
 
One more:
backseat2.webp
 
That looks great.

FYI it's an easy mod to add a strip of vinyl to your Bikini top so it covers the back seats.
 
FloridaFJ said:
Oh, and I like your add-on to the stock roll bar to make it a family cage.
Click to expand...

I never intended it to stand up in a roll over, it is there more for a spot to attach the shoulder belts. It was a temp solution until I could do a real family cage. That was 2 years ago...:D
 
What shoulder belts are those? They look exactly what I'm looking for. Also, if it's not too much of a hassle could you measure how long it is from the bed to the top of the seat back?
Thanks, looks great!
 
2nd row caravan seat.A little angle iron and flat stock with rod welded across and you can duplicate the Dodge mounts.Mine is a slider and the quick release handles in the back work great.Remove the plastic side caps and you can add the lap belts if you like.Also,I dry fitted mine with the seat slid to the forward position so the seat back cleared my softop so I wouldn't rub a white line.With the top removed and the seat slid back'it clears the stock spare tire by about a half inch.For safety I backed up my bolts thru the tub with mre angle iron so it won't tear thru if something happens and launch my kids like a poo flingin monkey.Not there's anything wrong with poo flingin monkeys.:)
 
Last edited:
Azrocks said:
What shoulder belts are those? They look exactly what I'm looking for. Also, if it's not too much of a hassle could you measure how long it is from the bed to the top of the seat back?
Thanks, looks great!
Click to expand...

The seat belts are pick & pull from a late 70's mini truck, I think those came out of a '78 Chevy Luv. But basically any mini truck will do, before they got fancy and started putting them in the pillar. I have seen the same seat belts in the back of open air vehicles like early 4runners, samuri, amigo, or you can buy from JC Whitney/cool cruisers.

Approx 33" from the floor of the rear deck? It is really tall.

I mounted mine straight to the fender wells. The seat has 2 holes on either side of the frame, it is a really strong seat! I used those, put bolts thru/nuts/then thru the hole in the fender well/and another nut.

One thing, at first I used only washers, but they dented the fender well, so I used flat 1/8" stock to spread the load and that works really well.
 
Bench back seat

FloridaFJ,

When I bought my '74 the PO had a bench seat in back, from a Dodge Cavalier or somehing, as I recall. I sold the seat, but still have the frame he made. It rested on top of the wheel wells and was bolted though. He used fender washers underneath, but I'd suggest something stronger, like a plate. The seat bolted to that, and he rigged it so the Dodge cup holders even worked!

PM me an e-mail address and I'll fire off some photos of the frame. You can probably have one made cheaply enough.
 
JJS said:
They're hard to find, but an early Bronco rear bench would be perfect.
Click to expand...

Not to hijack but agree... Tom's Bronco site ...has a perfect seat that fits EXACTLY b/w the wells.

As far as the bus seat, just depends upon how wide it is and I'd think it would be very tall in the back...it'd have to be cut a bit.




Do a bit of searcihng... this has been beat to death in regards to seating.

:shotts:


Good luck

:beer:
Bx
 
I use the Dodge seat in the rear also but some real simple mods will set the seat closer to the floor. I put mine in for the kids but it is also quite comfy for adults. Even leaves enough room behind it for high-lift, shovel, etc...
 
see post #7 got same seat for 30 bucks ...works great some dodge caravans have a middle seat thatt has built in child seats (2) just 3/4 bench....
 
fussy_cruiser said:
The seat belts are pick & pull from a late 70's mini truck, I think those came out of a '78 Chevy Luv. But basically any mini truck will do, before they got fancy and started putting them in the pillar. I have seen the same seat belts in the back of open air vehicles like early 4runners, samuri, amigo, or you can buy from JC Whitney/cool cruisers.

Approx 33" from the floor of the rear deck? It is really tall.

I mounted mine straight to the fender wells. The seat has 2 holes on either side of the frame, it is a really strong seat! I used those, put bolts thru/nuts/then thru the hole in the fender well/and another nut.

One thing, at first I used only washers, but they dented the fender well, so I used flat 1/8" stock to spread the load and that works really well.
Click to expand...

Thanks a ton. I appreciate it!
 
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