Trani and Seats?

[Mrpoopypants]

Lookin for some replacment seats for the FJ 40. Any ideas/Pics, links or advise?


Also about trani swaps. What is the best setup other then stock 4_speed?


Chevy 350
Stock 4 speed W Ranger OD
35" wheels

 

[Jukelemon]

There are MANY types of seats that can be used. From personal experience, I would make sure you do your measurements PRIOR to buying the seats. The stock seats are very thin (bottom side) including the frame so make sure you do not end up with a seat that crunches your legs on the wheel. I have heard that volvo seats (760? or 240?) and Saab seats are very nice and work very well.

 

[TJDIV]

I used Volvo seats in an old FJ40 of mine and liked them. I'm using Conversion Van seats (crazy comfortable) in the 45LV and they're VERY nice.

Trans swaps.....


Ahhhhh............stay with the stock 4 speed and Ranger OD. Any swap you do will NOT be worth the work and $$$ for the "improvements" you may or may not see.

 

[Yo_Han]

Heard the Corbeau Baja SS's are nice. Know a couple guys on the forum have em and love em. Seen them around fer bout 160 a set with free frieght on a pair.

http://www.corbeau.com/products/baja/baja.shtml#

Gonna order mi a pair soon too.

Happy hunting!
Yo Han

 

[Bull22]

Hey YO Han you talking about me.... Yeah I have a set of the corbeau seats. The baha ss ones and i love em. Couldnt be happier. And cheap too.

 

[Yo_Han]

Hey wassup Charlie! Yep, your one of em...therez a couple other guys here that have em. There were some posts way back bout seat

First time i actually sat in some in Charlie's '74... they were nice!

 

[paulj]

I put in Bestop J**p replacement seats into my 40, and I'm real happy with 'em. I got the sliders from a 1970s era Suburban in a pic 'n pull yard. They work great. I just had to do a little grinding, drilling and bending on them to fit. After that I welded a couple of bars across them with holes for the mounting bolts, and srayed everything with black rattle can machine paint. I didn't want to alter the truck so they just bolt into the same place the original sliders did. I keep the old seats in the garage with the rest of the stuff that keeps me from parking my truck in there. I did a fair bit of research before I started, and a guy that had a bunch of seats for sale in his van conversion shop told me that almost all modern seats are 1" thicker on the bottom than Cruiser seats. This would have really be a problem for me as I'm 6'4". Bestop and some others have seat bottoms the same thickness as the OEM seats. I know other guys on this forum have gone to junkyards and gotten seats they're happy with. I'd like to know what junkyards they go to. I went to several and must have looked at a hundred cars. All the seats I saw were crap. Torn, stained rained on, etc.

 

[theo]

I like my Volvo 740 seats a lot ($50 used). I had to shorten the stock driver's side brackets though; I couldn't see UNDER the top of the windshield. How tall are you?

You have a crawl ratio about like a slow jog! Is that why you're thinking of switching trannies? If so, since you have 35's maybe you could get away without an overdrive and use a Chev 4-speed that has compound low? I know I'm almost good to go on the highway with 33's and 1:1 final drive (sm465). I can go 65 pretty easy with a healthy but real tired 350, and I go pretty slow on the trail. Will make it slower some day, probably by adding a gear box.

 

[nspctr1]

I heard of someone using fiero seats in their rig. speakers in the headrest work great.

 

[Mad Chemist]

I've got Corbeau Baja SS seats as well, ordered them from 4wheelsupply.com. They're real comfortable, when I sit on them on my garage floor, since I'm still waiting for them to send me the correct brackets. Apparently althought I have an early '73 fj, I've got newer seat brackets.

 

[78 One owner]

Ahhhhh............stay with the stock 4 speed and Ranger OD. Any swap you do will NOT be worth the work and $$$ for the "improvements" you may or may not see.

Excuse me for contradicting but, as someone else in this thread suggested, the Chevy 4-spd is a great option. I don't know how big a deal putting the Ranger with it will be, but there might be room for it. I offer another option. A late-model 5-spd. It has a significantly lower 1st gear and overdrive in one package. Selling your 4-spd/Ranger package could significantly repay the $$$ required to obtain the 5-spd. Some of the TC's on the 5-spd package have the 2.3... reduction too.
Hammerhead now has an SM465/3-spdTC combo and he feels that the improved crawlability offsets any neg aspects of the conversion.
I hadn't driven a truck with with a 465 for a long time, until I bought a Suburban 2wks ago and I really don't like the streetability of that tranny compared to the stock 4-spd. I'd like a tranny that shifts like my stock FJ40 4-spd in my suburban.

 

[fr8train]

Dropped a 700R4 w/208, behind sbc. Used a B&M Megashifter and stock GM tcase control lever. Only real cutting was for the Tcase control. Made a crossmember from 1.5"x1/4" box. Yeah it isnt brand specific, but wheeling isnt either. The biggest problem was the seat height for me. Found Ford probe, nissan sentra/240/maxima, honda civic/early accord, BMW 3xx, and ricer aftermarkets were all acceptable heights for fit. Now this my and my fiances measurements. You may be different.

 

[78 One owner]

So, how long is your rear DL? We have been contemplating a 700R4 in a resurrection we have on the back burner.

 

[fr8train]

Drilled, tapped, and bolted the rear yoke onto the 208 for a cheap SYE. Will be changing to NP241 soon for the lower gearing. Though I willl use the same method again. This worked on my Full size GMC Jimmy with an over built SBC. The rear Dshaft is 11.25" long. Guess I should mention that the rear is a Dana 44.