Disability and the 80

[stencilman]

Gentlemen, a bit of an unusual one for you all. I sustained a spinal cord injury in 2017, before that we had an 80 and I was sorry to sell the old girl.

I have been a bit rash and brought another, 160ks, auto red petrol and she has been well looked after. My plan is to put air suspension into it so it can drop down for me to transfer in from my wheelchair. Currently its on 33's and has a 2" lift. The seat from the ground measures 95cm at the moment and I need to get it down to 75cm. so I can get in and out.

I measure 15cm clearance to the bump stops, I was hoping to get 20cm from what I read.

The seat is really high, (it actually has xr falcon seats which is common in Australia), is there a way to reduce the height as I am quite tall.

Does anyone have any other ideas as to how to drop her down a bit further?

 

[mudgudgeon]

Remove the lift, and go back to stock height tires.

I say remove the lift, coz a 2" lifted 80 with stock height wheels will look silly

 

[stencilman]

Remove the lift, and go back to stock height tires.

I say remove the lift, coz a 2" lifted 80 with stock height wheels will look silly

The way the air suspension should work is that car will rest on the bump stops when parked so the lift doesn't make any difference. The wheels lift it 1"

I am really asking 2 questions;
Can I lower the seat?
Aside from the wheels can I make it sit lower when its resting on the bump stops? I.e reduce their height

 

[mudgudgeon]

The wheels lift it 1"

Sounds like every inch counts.

Can I lower the seat?

Doors the XR driver seat have height adjustment?

I've previously modified Ford falcon seats to go lower than standard ( 2009 Falcon wagon).
I think from memory I gained maybe 35mm of downward adjustment just byvreeworking how the mechanism and seat base attached.
But, I also lost most of that 35mm as up travel.

You could maybe??? modify the floor pan so a seat can be recessed into the floor, and adjust up to driving position.
Question mark, because the chassis may limit what you can do in this respect

Can you do any mods yourself? Or need help?

 

[stencilman]

I can do most things short of getting under the car. Making up a set of custom low profile rails may buy me what I am after. If I go that far low profile bucket seats would make sense.

 

[LandLocked93]

Brother, if I were there...
What do you want to do with the vehicle?
Does it - in its current form - accomplish 98% of what you want to do?

If I read your post correctly, we're talking an 8" diff in accessibility. 95cm to 75cm.
Is this correct?

 

[CrabCake]

I can do most things short of getting under the car. Making up a set of custom low profile rails may buy me what I am after. If I go that far low profile bucket seats would make sense.

I'd agree here that a lower profile seat would be an option. I just measured my original cloth seats, and get a similar measurement to what you show on yours now, so that swap (to OEM cloth) wouldn't really do anything for you.

Suspension wise, my son and I did some air ride stuff on his old VW, so I've got my thinking cap on for some sort of air setup for you that could work on the 80. That said, i'm sure it would take some fabrication to do so. Personally, I'd be really amped to see one of these get slammed for special access and then back up to ride height...is there anyone in your area that feels the same that could help with something like this?

 

[stencilman]

Brother, if I were there...
What do you want to do with the vehicle?
Does it - in its current form - accomplish 98% of what you want to do?

If I read your post correctly, we're talking an 8" diff in accessibility. 95cm to 75cm.
Is this correct?

75cm is the target, I do that already. What will I do; mostly national parks, road trips, some off-roading, I just like driving 80s. I will probably do 15,000k's/yr so she might see me out. After my accident we sold our old one to a real prick, I still remember my wife balling her eyes out as he drove it off so this is like a middle finger to disability.

 

[stencilman]

I'd agree here that a lower profile seat would be an option. I just measured my original cloth seats, and get a similar measurement to what you show on yours now, so that swap (to OEM cloth) wouldn't really do anything for you.

Suspension wise, my son and I did some air ride stuff on his old VW, so I've got my thinking cap on for some sort of air setup for you that could work on the 80. That said, i'm sure it would take some fabrication to do so. Personally, I'd be really amped to see one of these get slammed for special access and then back up to ride height...is there anyone in your area that feels the same that could help with something like this?

I think there is quite a bit in the seat and by putting the rails at an angle I can get in with the seat right back/lowest and then move it forwards up for driving.

with the air suspension it has to be engineered which is nanny state $$$ for someone to sign it off so I might as well get the seats done at the same time.

 

[greentruck]

Some thoughts from a guy who used to work in a heavy truck garage....

Search for the various air bag suspension conversion that have been done. In addition to giving you the range of travel you need, they provide a way to easily adjust to whatever you need at the moment.

Getting the seat low shouldn't be too difficult. It's getting it back up to drive comfortably and reach all the controls that will be a litttle tricky. l
look to the air ride seats used in trucks. May not be enough travel in them, but might be adaptable. These days, they may even have one set up for the exact same reasons you need one.

Being down on the bumpstops is probably only solvable by running shorter tires. You\ll still have a vehicle that's more capable than 99% of the rest.

 

[Gerry McGerry]

Custom seat mounts with some electric seats bolted in would give you easy adjustment up and down for ingress/egress & driving positions. I know a new SK Forester drivers seat has the seat position memory module in the seat itself, a few power wires and you'd be switching between the two positions easily. If the front seat bracket was just some folded steel you could drop 25mm or so of height straight away. The side bolsters on the XR seats don't help your case much either, which is a shame because they're so comfy.

Loads of options here, most have info on how they were swapped in.

COMPILED - 80 Series Seat Swap Thread

A few threads have been very useful to me over years, many of which are threads like the recent suspension coil and shock thread that @GWNugget started with a list of many of the available suspension options available and all the specs etc. I wanted to add a similar one for a topic that...

forum.ih8mud.com

Here is a good walk through of someone fitting electric Audi seats to an 80.

Replacing Front Seats in a 1996 Lexus LX450

Discover the magic of the internet at Imgur, a community powered entertainment destination. Lift your spirits with funny jokes, trending memes, entertaining gifs, inspiring stories, viral videos, and so much more from users like ProjectsInMotion.

imgur.com

 

[mudgudgeon]

Maybe look at this differently, instead of doing major mods to get the entire vehicle low enough to get in, make the seat come to you.

Or, would a folding platform that got you part way work?
Out of the chair, onto a platform, then up into the seat?
Something that slides under the driver seat, or folds between it and the door?

A mechanical seat lift built into the driver seat base might be an option too.
I know there's proprietary seat lifters that swing the seat out the door, and raise/lower the whole seat to lift the passenger into the vehicle sitting in the seat.
Try a Google & youtube search for "transfer seat"

I looked into these when my mum had advanced parkinsons disease. I was even given a used one by an acquaintance. It wasn't suitable for my parents needs, but I think similar could be totally doable in an 80. Particularly if you are able to get onto something higher than the seat of a wheel chair. 75cm is quite a bit higher than your wheel chair, yeah?

They aren't cheap, but if you're talking modifications to frame and suspension and adding air bags etc, you'll end up spending a tonne of cash, and compromise the handling of the cruiser on or offroad in some unexpected way.

A proprietary seat lifter will be easier to get ticked off by an engineer too.
Major modifications to the chassis and suspension will be a lot harder to get certified. IF you can find someone to do the mods you need.
You're talking about going down a unique path. This will make it hard to find someone to help with mods.

Also, a transfer seat may potentially be subsidisable through NDIS??
Modifications to chassis, suspension etc, I think would not.

 

[mudgudgeon]

 

[Ragnaroek]

@mudgudgeon That's what I was about to write. I know of a farmer over here who had a custom transfer seat made for his tractor. Adapting one for an 80 should be way easier.

 

[mudgudgeon]

@mudgudgeon That's what I was about to write. I know of a farmer over here who had a custom transfer seat made for his tractor. Adapting one for an 80 should he way easier.

There's lots of cool products out there. Just need to search outside the box.

I made some cool stuff to help my mum with mobility.

My mum used to like to eat meals outside when the weather was nice, but had trouble getting up from a chair unassisted.
I modified an aluminum outdoor chair by adding a wheeled base, and adapted/altered Lazyboy recliner mechanism to help her stand up unassisted. It was powered by a motorcycle battery. And it had a brake on it.
Mum could walk the chair outside unassisted, lock the brake on, and sit outside, get up when she wanted to unassisted, and take the chair back inside.

We had home care nursing service coming to the house a couple of times a week. Without fail, the nurses were mindblown by the chair I'd made coz they'd never seen anything like it.

 

[stencilman]

The video is of a Turny seat, its $26k and it can't be fitted to a landcruiser on the drivers side. I did look at that and a kivi plate but my proposal will allow me to get into the passenger seat and better access the boot to. Plus its half the price.

 

[BILT4ME]

The video is of a Turny seat, its $26k and it can't be fitted to a landcruiser on the drivers side. I did look at that and a kivi plate but my proposal will allow me to get into the passenger seat and better access the boot to. Plus its half the price.

I have a son with Cerebral Palsy and we have looked at options like this for him for years.

We looked at the seat above that @mudgudgeon posted. It's a good option if you can afford it.

Most handicap accessible vans have a full airbag suspension so the vehicle will "kneel" on the side with a ramp, then a ramp will fold or slide out to allow wheelchair accessibility. To accomplish this, the van modification companies literally cut out the entire floor of the van, then install a custom floor, full airbag suspension, and all the hardware for the ramps. It is an enormous undertaking and typically costs $25K-$50K USD for this modification.
These vans can literally set the frame on the ground.

The one that I think looks the best, but is probably one of the more expensive options is the one that is used on many 4x4 Chevy Silverado.
It appears ATC is the primary company making these.

ATC 1 ton 4x4
ATC More

Other outside the box thinking:
Use a tire inflation / deflation system to change tire pressure on the driver side to gain the needed elevation. Hummers have theses types of systems. Maybe you could integrate one?
Change the entire suspension to airbags (maybe you have already) and can lift / lower from that.
Set it up so the far side inflates while the near side deflates to create an easier path to get in?

I built a swivel seat base for our 1998 Chrysler T&C van so it would rotate for easier access into the van. It did not come out out of the van, but it placed the seat in a more accessible position.

Older Monte Carlos (1973-1979) had an option for the power seats to rotate and come out the front doors for easier access into the car. Find information there to duplicate a design.

 

[stencilman]

Thanks mate, post my accident I tend to think its not the disability or adversity itself that important but more how you respond to it that counts.

I took some more measurements yesterday and think if I could build a seat lifter, i..e a mechanism that on a 4 bar linkage lifts and lowers the seat and I use a low profile seat that goes to the floor I might just be able to skip the lift. It turns out I hung onto a couple of 12v seat motors from a project years ago. It pays to hoard...