Leg Room in the New Classic 4x4

[Glen]

Great Info.!!! Gives me some things to consider. Once I recover financially from the new penthouse top, the next thing on the list is new seats. The van had the Sienna seats in it when I bought it, but I'm still looking for more comfort on longer drives. I'm old, 6'-5" and have a not so good back. I've tried just about every back brace/lumbar support/ cushion there is and nothing seems to work.

I've had my eye on the Scheel-Mann Vario XXL, as they seem to be very high quality and made for taller drivers. I still feel like I need to have the seat mounted further back though. I've asked Jeremy at MG Metalworks if the brackets can be mounted a little further back, but haven't heard back from him yet.

The biggest problem for me is the only way to really know is to spend the money and hope the new seats make enough of a difference to justify the cost. I've tried to see if there's a way to even just sit in them, but I'm being told they are a special order item and the only way to sit in them is to purchase them.

I'm excited to get going on the interior cabinets, but am holding off until the seat situation is finalized. Why does everything depend on everything else???

[Otter]

Originally Posted by Glen

Why does everything depend on everything else???

Ain’t that the truth! Everytime I start to do one thing, I realize I have to do seven other things first.

Re the Scheel-Mann seats, MG has them in his van and I bet he could let you know whose vans he’s installed them in. Gotta be someone’s in California you could sit in. Or hop on up to Oregon and sit in his.

[Lilnuts2]

If you get much taller than 2" of lift your legs will be really close to the bottom of the steering wheel, even its tilted all the way up.

[Steve C]

Originally Posted by arctictraveller

Excellent idea, easily fixed. A solid spacer running the length of the slider mechanism will be easy to fabricate. Wood is not an ideal substance to use though, it's soft and will end up getting compressed, may warp or splinter and could rot.

Arctictraveller, I actually think that using the "right kind of wood" could work out just fine. If wood is utilized it would just need to be of sufficient strength, think along the lines of hickory or ash (both used for baseball bats). In fact, using solid hardwood could be stronger than open channels of aluminum/steel depending on gauge. Wood would also be relatively easy to adjust the height by varying the thickness. However, I guess that would depend on weather one has table saws/planers vs. torches and welders...

[arctictraveller]

Originally Posted by carringb

Double or back-to-back strut is widely available from any construction or electric supply store. .

As a retired electrical contractor, you would think I could have remembered that back to back strut, but since I never used any of that configuration, I guess it slipped my mind. Thanks for the reminder.

[QUOTE=Steve C;264675]Arctictraveller, I actually think that using the "right kind of wood" could work out just fine. If wood is utilized it would just need to be of sufficient strength [QUOTE]

Once again, I stand corrected, and agree completely with Steve C. I've actually come across wood so dense that you couldn't drive a nail through it, you had to pre-drill the holes first.

[Lilnuts2]

If you use wood you would (no pun) have to get longer bolts.
With tube steel all you need is the tube steel and drill some holes in it. I have some plastic caps that fit into the end of the tube steel and make it look more finished. I salavaged them from a piece of junk gym equipment.

[arctictraveller]

Originally Posted by Lilnuts2

If you use wood you would (no pun) have to get longer bolts. With tube steel all you need is the tube steel and drill some holes in it.

Could you explain a little further? The seat studs are welded to the slider mechanism, and won't be long enough to reach the seat frame once it's raised up an inch or two. I'm unclear on how using steel tubing eliminates this problem. Are you thinking of adding four additional bolts to attach the tubing to the seat frame, then using the original seat studs to bolt to the tubing?

[Lilnuts2]

2" tube steel like this.

[Glen]

Originally Posted by Otter

Re the Scheel-Mann seats, MG has them in his van and I bet he could let you know whose vans he’s installed them in. Gotta be someone’s in California you could sit in. Or hop on up to Oregon and sit in his.

Good idea. I checked with Agile-Offroad, who I believe is a distributor for MG and not too far from me. They were the one's who told me the seats would have to be special ordered. They did suggest I call them occasionally to see if they have any in that I could run down and sit in.

I guess in reality, just sitting in them might not do me much good. Unless they let me sit in them for 6-8 hours straight