So i bought Landtank seat rail extenders before i realized they are for power seats

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Timpanogos Slim

Timpanogos Slim

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And of course i have manual seats.

I've read enough to suspect that switching to power seats so that i can use the rail extenders as intended would lose me some headroom and maybe not bring the seat back much further than i already can.

I've seen this thread:

https://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-tech/73635-four-more-inches-leg-room.html

and i'm not sure i like the idea of the amount of recline that adds.

I agree with others in that thread that the back of the seat needs to be bolted through the floor pan with some large washers and heavy duty hardware.

Is it possible i could install some sort of hybrid solution - use the landtank brackets to move the seat back, and then drill some new holes in the floor and install some new hardware?

Since the front brackets on the manual seats (at least mine) are asymmetrical i would need to make some modifications to one of those to use the landtank brackets.

Or perhaps i should get another set of manual seat rails somehow and find myself a welder / fabricator who can just modify them.
 
No takers?
 
livinoffroad said:
Are you offering them?
Click to expand...

Dunno. Mostly I'm disappointed that there have been no suggestions for how i might get more legroom, which i still need.
 
Timpanogos Slim said:
Dunno. Mostly I'm disappointed that there have been no suggestions for how i might get more legroom, which i still need.
Click to expand...

I'm there with you, even though I have the seat rail extenders (could barely drive safely prior to installing) I still can't get comfortable in the driver's seat.

Surprising, too, considering the duration of time the 80 has been around, but I don't see a way to improve, maintaining the OE seat, without cutting the floor pan (which is next, for me).
 
Legroom

Sorry I can't help with the legroom issue. I just bought my first 80, sight unseen, 1800 miles from home. Got in, and the first thing I thought was "I don't fit." At 6'2", I've never felt so cramped. I'm curious about these extenders. Is landtank the brand name?
 
Yeah, Landtank is the brand name, and handle of their creator here on mud. Ajik Overland Exchange sells them, $120ish. Or maybe I'll have a discounted set for you, never installed.

But i still wonder if i can just install them in the manual seats, and drill new bolt-down points for the back of the seat in the floor. I should look at the installation instructions again.

As for fitment, yeah, it's a bit disappointing for us tall guys. I had rationalized at the time of purchase that i had already identified the solution. I'm 6'2" and change in bare feet. I have a brother who is near 6'5". Dad is 6'1" but he had polio when he was a lad (and came out walking).

I fit better in my VW Golf GTI than i do in my cruiser. I guess germans are tall, eh?
 
Good luck with it. If you can't make them work, let me know. I was going to remove my seat this weekend and see what just relocating the mount would entail. I found one thread about grinding down part of the seat slide. Thought I'd give that a look. Maybe that works for manual seats too?

With 1800 miles to drive home, I adjusted the seat until I finally found an acceptable position, but I want more leg room. I don't know if anything I learn this weekend will translate to the manual seats, but I'll let you know what I find.
 
Timpanogos Slim, did you purchase the brackets recently? I think it would be a bit to much re-engineering to make them compatible to the manual seats. Personal I would lean more towards what was done in the link in you original post.
 
When I bought my 80, two of the three driver's seat motors were burned out, so instead of replacing them, I ripped them out and moved the seat back. One problem solved, but what I would really love is for the seat to sit lower. I'm a big dude and the top of my head touches the headliner if I do anything but slouch. Anyone heard of any mods for that?
 
Have you looked into manual seats? I believe they sit slightly lower than the power seats.
merryweather said:
When I bought my 80, two of the three driver's seat motors were burned out, so instead of replacing them, I ripped them out and moved the seat back. One problem solved, but what I would really love is for the seat to sit lower. I'm a big dude and the top of my head touches the headliner if I do anything but slouch. Anyone heard of any mods for that?
Click to expand...
 
94SRUNNER said:
Timpanogos Slim, did you purchase the brackets recently? I think it would be a bit to much re-engineering to make them compatible to the manual seats. Personal I would lean more towards what was done in the link in you original post.
Click to expand...

about a month ago

have to find a welder if i go the other way.
 
I haven't looked at moving the front manual seats back. My impression is that the electric seats offer the least leg room, then the manual seats and then the electric seats with my mod.

With the electric seats you need to raise the front of the seat so the front motor assembly will pass over the hump in the floor pan. The minimum requirement for that is 3/4". However with my mod the rear of the seat still sits at the factory height so with the seat all the way back you don't loose any head room.

If you need more headroom the answer is removing the sun roof. Gut that out and weld it over and you'll have all the head room you want.
 
I have fairly comfortable headroom with the manual seats but many seem to say that the electric seats sit higher.

On my FZJ80, the front mounting bracket on the outside seat rail is longer than the one on the inside seat rail. The rivet and spot weld are further apart. I imagine that with a grinder, i can make it just as short as the other, and with a drill put the right hole in it to use your brackets.

Or i could sell the set of brackets i bought and use the proceeds to buy rails off another manual seat and pay a welder to modify them - either slice off the original brackets and replace them entirely, or move them out a couple inches with a couple chunks of stout steel.

In either case, I'd have to drill some holes in the floor behind the current mounting points, and i would need to find or fabricate some fairly stout washers to bolt through.

Or, move the rear brackets up too. But this is starting to sound like a really expensive customization.

Or something. Up until a couple weeks ago i had a pretty good idea who i could pay to weld stuff for me, and then he went and got a job in manufacturing process improvement again.
 
Cut and weld your factory seat mounts. The front could be cut just before the 90 degree bend and weld in an extension to extend seat rearward. The rear brackets can be modified by using a flat plate that is equal in length as front extension. You would weld on bottom of seat mount. Flush on the rear of the original mounting point. Drill a hole in your extension that will hit your factory bolt hole. Clear as mud I'm sure. Basically you could bolt down rear extension piece to original holes in floor. Then set seat down on top and bolt front of seat down and then line up rear and weld. I wish I could get a drawing on my phone to show but can't. Any questions please ask. It's very easy once seat is removed from mount so as not to burn or cut. I'm 6'2 and have no issues. Uses factory mount holes which I think is safer than drilling new ones. Not saying its unsafe if you do it right but I think it would be easier my way.
 
Yeah, I just need to find a motivated fabricator to weld it up for me.

I know one welder with limited talent and two others who aren't going to be motivated to have me pay them to do it.
 
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