Leg Room in the New Classic 4x4

[wander]

Thanks, Lilnuts2. I know all about senior moments.

[arctictraveller]

Raising the seat is a great idea, thanks. That might be my next project.

[swanny]

'98 RB50.
I'm 6'2", wife 5'4". I've been cramped & she needed a booster pad.


Stock seat to swivel base bolts are metric. 15mm socket worked fine.
I bought m10x1.5x60mm Rod Couplers to attach to the seat bolts.
Also used m10x1.5x40mm Hex Flange Bolts for the swivel base/seat connection. Both from Amazon, $12 & $9.50 respectively, for 5 packs.
Removing seat out of van to attach couplers is probably best so ya don't cross thread.
I did it with seat still inside and it was a pain.


This mod raised seat a solid 2". Wife real happy. I still have 3" head room.
Also got 1 more click of recline on seat back. My feet are farther away from the pedals & feel more at ease.
Did have to raise steering tilt all the way up so I can get in/out. We can both see speedo & gauges
I 'think' fix will hold up over time. If not, I'll use Unistrut.


Sorry, no 'before' pics.
Best, swanny

[Lilnuts2]

Swanny, don't mean to be a buzz kill but that is not a real safe lift method. With the increased leverage on the bolts you would need to add some diagonal bracing to insure they don't bend and snap in a (god forbid) impact situation.

[Mikerson]

Lilnuts2 is right. I saw your pics and immediately thought about how those bolts and standoffs would see bending loads instead of primarily shear/tension during a collision. For your safety, you should really get something more substantial in between the seat and base.

[swanny]

Yup you guys correct.
At least I now know raising the seat works!
Unistrut on order.
Thx much,
swanny you

[arctictraveller]

Excellent idea, easily fixed. A solid spacer running the length of the slider mechanism will be easy to fabricate. You even test the idea with your 2x4's. Drill holes in them to allow the bolts to pass through and it should be nearly as solid as before. 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. It would be ideal to find a piece of rectangular steel tubing the right size. If it was aluminum, I'd want pretty heavy wall stuff. I've not seen Unistrut wide or tall enough to work, but perhaps it exists somewhere, and I'm not sure I'd want to bolt two pieces together either, I think that would be a bit flimsy. Other ideas?

[carringb]

Double or back-to-back strut is widely available from any construction or electric supply store. Or make an electrician or pipe fitter friend, as they probably throw away small piles of the stuff daily.

[swanny]

Arctic,
I've seen some hecka stout Unistrut on my jobsites, but I'll probably
use square steel tube as Lilnuts did.
As a 'test' method to check how much rise you need, the couplers are a pretty easy way to evaluate things. You can get rowdy sliding the seat to & fro and playing with the recline.
I'm gonna fuss with the height some more using washers to dial in a good rise.
Still need to keep in mind my head room & clearance from legs to bottom of steering wheel. Most critical is wife's comfort.

Thx again to Lilnuts & Mikerson for pointing out what I should have considered.
Crashing didn't even cross my mind....
swanny

[Lilnuts2]

Swanny, I'm 6'3" and the 2" tube steel with the mounts moved back 2-1/2" to 3" works really well with stock seats and pedestals. See post #20 for a pic.
We want all our van brothers and sisters to be safe so they can post more cool stuff on this forum.