Rear Seat & Propane Impressions...
I've finally, finally, had the opportunity to get the rear seat installed. If you guys will recall, I ordered a Bestop Trailmax fold and tumble rear seat for a Jeep, with the intent to use just the "fold" feature to allow for a sleeping platform or cargo loading.
Wil and Wendy at SierraExpeditions were great to deal with, and got me the seat (twice; the first one didn't have hardware from the factory...) so fast it was scary!
In locating the seat, I found that the original mounts which came with the seat were too low; only being about 4" from the floor. I wanted to add an additional bracket to raise the seat another 2-3", and allow for better adult leg room. For the most part, the rear seat will be a mount for the car seat for my daughter.
I had some 1x2" rectangular tubing cut and drilled to match the front mounts, and the same tubing cut at 3" lengths to raise the rear of the seat. All are bolted through the floor with large backing washers.
Here are some pics of the front brackets...from the front and rear. Yes, I kept it simple....
One lap belt is mounted for the rear seat. It's really too small for more than one, and all it will do for now is secure the car seat.
I'm looking at the rear seat off of a BJ70, a 70/30 folding bench, for when I need to convert to shoulder belts and larger, adult passengers....
Also, since I've been asked, here's a shot of the front adapter plate I made to fit the Bestop front seats to the factory Toyota mounting locations. As you can see, the seat bracket mounts inside of the factory captured nut; allowing for the slight (approx. 1") less width of the Bestop seats.
Now...my impressions on running propane.
I like it! Generally, the truck runs no differently on propane than on unleaded. It does like to start on the second crank of the starter when cold; however. I guess the propane just needs a little more time to prime the system....
Mileage may be a bit less.
-H-
