New Seats for the Thunderbus (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Jan 26, 2017
Threads
3
Messages
52
Location
Portland, OR
After 230K miles and some 14 years of ownership, the seats in my 25 year old FJ80 were beat. Add losing 50 lbs, to the equation and my "used to 290 lbs" OEM seats just weren't holding my 240 lbs as well as they had. (Put the "B" in bachelor lean)

After searching the forum and looking for a nice pair of replacements from any number of vendors, I pulled the trigger on a NICE new pair of Sheel-Mann Traveler F style seats. Having reviewed some of the efforts put forth by other members, I grit my teeth, opened the coffers and hoped the install would be smooth. I hoped it'd look good as well.

I ended up ordering the seats from Toby at Scheel-Mann USA and it took two months, but I couldn't be happier with the seats. I do want to say, though, whoever designed and made the sliding rail bases at Planted in Seattle created the perfect frame for my '92 FJ80. Complete plug and play. Four bolts out, seats out. Placed seats. Four bolts back in. And done. Again, couldn't be happier, and it couldn't have been simpler.

You get what you pay for. And my butt rests comfortable, even with less money in my wallet.
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Very nice!

Are you willing to give us a ballpark cost estimate?

I am sure they pull a premium, but seats that are comfortable make or break a rig.
 
Those look damn sexy. Just the thing for a bachelor... nice job.
 
You had me at those pictures...then the price deflated me. Haha. They look incredible though! I'd definitely need to try before I buy!
 
$3,500 and we get four pictures. Nothing showing the brackets and nothing showing how the seats are mounted to the brackets with any detail other than passing remarks.

I want my money back. This thread is worthless.
 
$3,500 and we get four pictures. Nothing showing the brackets and nothing showing how the seats are mounted to the brackets with any detail other than passing remarks.

I want my money back. This thread is worthless.
I found some photos of my Planted bases before the install. The top two bases are for the 80 series and the bottom two are for my 70 series. The seats come with a basic set of slide rails that are manually adjusted. Those rails are bolted to the bases and then the bases are installed in the truck. It’s really simple.

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The seats are pretty much assembled when they arrive. You will need to add the headrests and the seat rails - takes maybe 10 minutes per side. If you ordered armrests - which I highly recommend - then you have to add those as well. Then it’s just s matter of booting up the seat rails to the Planted bases and mounting in the truck.
 
$3,500 and we get four pictures. Nothing showing the brackets and nothing showing how the seats are mounted to the brackets with any detail other than passing remarks.

I want my money back. This thread is worthless.
I spent all the money I had for film on the ****ing seats. Back to the drawing board!
 
Really eyeballing these. The older I get the more my back get hosed. Bulging disks aren't fun.
I just wish the Traveler was available in XXL like like Vario. I don't need the 10x adjust-ability of the Vario or the extra cost. Do want the tall back.
 
Really eyeballing these. The older I get the more my back get hosed. Bulging disks aren't fun.
I just wish the Traveler was available in XXL like like Vario. I don't need the 10x adjust-ability of the Vario or the extra cost. Do want the tall back.
The XXL really is needed for the Troopy’s high roof. It’s perfect. I ordered the 80 brackets because I wanted to see how the XXL’s would fit in either truck. But the XXL’s are just too tall for the 80 series. I think I’m going with the Traveler LR so I can have the flip up seat option. The Traveler or Vario are great fit for 80 series.
 

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