Seems like I read somewhere here not long ago several people were trying to decide the best way to raise the seat height in their HB's. I thought it was going to be a real biatch because the floor and feet are not horizontal in the front like the rear, so short of fabricating some type of adaptors I wasn't sure how this was going to work at first. Then I proceeded to take a seat out and have a look.
Upon flipping the seat over I discovered the seat tracks do bolt up flat to the seat base. That was wonderful news. I just happened to have four long 8mm bolts and a section of 3/4" plastic electrical conduit laying around ...you know, that grey PVC looking stuff. I cut four squared off lengths of the PVC exactly 1-1/4" because that's how much longer my extra bolts were than the stock bolts holding the seat tracks to the seat. Those are now my new spacers that will raise the seat 1-1/4" off the tracks. Then the tracks will mount exactly as they did before right back in the same position on the floor.
I then took the wire connecting the tracks to each other for the slide adjuster, and a spring off so I could remove the tracks. I took one side at a time and installed the short PVC spacers between the bottom of the seat base and the top of the tracks. I put a little loc-tite and a nice flat washer under the head of each new longer bolt just to make sure the assembly never moves. Reinstalled the spring and slide adjuster wire and bolted the seat back in place.
I couldn't be happier. It gives me much more leg room. I still have plenty between my legs and the steering wheel, and my head and the ceiling, and yet now I sit up in the truck like it should have been from the factory ...unless you are into low riders ...but, even then I could lay the seat back and cruise in comfort. I'm right at 6ft. tall, 205 lbs., and now the D21 fits me perfectly.
This is a VERY simple and extremely sturdy construction, and took me under an hour per seat ...and I was moving very slowly at that. I ended up using 2-1/4" long, 8mm stainless steel grade 8 bolts and washers, and the heavy duty 3/4", PVC electrical conduit, not the stuff you use for water lines. Honestly, the hardest part was measuring and cutting that thick wall plastic conduit evenly. The best part is that you can custom fit this application to any height that fits you. All you have to be sure of is that your bolts are plenty long enough. Too long is no problem as there is lots of room under each seat base to work with.
Oh, and I forgot ...this mod adds that much more clearance underneath the seat for those things like stereo amplifiers, slap jacks, billy clubs or large caliber revolvers now. It's just GREAT!
G'day!
-R
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1994 D21 2.4, 2wd, 5spd XE
Last edited by TheRepairMan : Nov 20th, 2009 at 02:56 PM.
You kidden' me? That conduit is made in the US from 100% recycled China plastic. They're the strongest part of the suspension so far ...besides the seats are designed to eject upon impact now. LOL!!!
Now, to answer to Zane's questioning of the actual strength of my new seat riser construction. Let's look at it from an engineers point. (train engineer)
Considering the 4 8mm, grade 8, stainless steel bolts are torqued to 14 ft. lbs. the axial clamping force on each conduit stand is an almost incomprehensible 2,600 lbs. Multiply that times 4 and spread that force over four 3/4" diameter supports and you have a structure that has huge static strength. Much, much more than that of a concrete block. So Zane, don't use concrete blocks to sit on while driving your truck.
Now, if one were to crash said truck into a concrete block wall at say 60mph ...well, if the seat mounts failed it wouldn't make any difference. Only your family would know about it. Sad but true.
is that some sort of crack about me being in a wheel chair??!
No! Of course not! I didn't even know you owned a wheel chair. I wish I had one. I've been trying to work with a broken back for several years now. Seriously! I've been thinking about turbocharging one of those hov-a-round chairs for my work. LOL!
And, besides, the comment was actually aimed more toward my little bitty cute wife. She really can barely reach the pedals now. I had to lower the passenger seat so her feet would touch the floor again. Ha!
Great idea. I plan on tryin this when i find a couple of seats to replace my bench. It is like a body lift for your seat. Can't wait to get my knees out of the dash with the added clearance.
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