Aftermarket seats and mounts

[Grantshire]

The way seats fit, or maybe its the way I fit seats, took on new meaning for me after I had back surgery about 10 years ago. I would like to upgrade my seats to something with a little softer ride and an adjustable back. I have Ford Explorer seats in my Chief and they are a huge improvement over stock. I have seen a lot nice looking seats in some of the other Zoner's rigs. What do you guys find is the most comfortable seat and how did you mount them in a M715?

Pictures would be nice if you have them.

Thanks!

[brute4c]

The easiest way to mount seats is to use the stock seat base and mount your seat to it...you may need to put a steel plate on the base and drill new holes so your seat will mount in the fore/aft position you want.

Using this method, you can mount any seat that will physically fit in the cab.

[gimpyrobb]

I am getting tired of trying to find a springer seat base out of a deuce. They go for about $100 here recently. I got a container converter dolly from a GL auction. It is getting parted out. It used airbags as springs. I am going to try and make my own springer seat using one of these airbags as the cushion. Sounds like you should try to find or make something similar.

[Grantshire]

The easiest way to mount seats is to use the stock seat base and mount your seat to it...you may need to put a steel plate on the base and drill new holes so your seat will mount in the fore/aft position you want.

Okay, I had considered that, just grinding the welds off to separate the seat bottom from the the mount. My stock seats and frames are really nice so I was trying to go another round and offer them up here to someone who needs them for a full restoration.

If I do this and mount a flat plate across the base with sliders how much will it raise the seats? I am 6'2" so I have to be careful my seat choices don't give me a headache. Found this out the hard way on my Chief.

[Barrman]

My stock seats had no padding and hurt my back too. But, I didn't want to cut up the stock seats and mounts because padding can be added. So, I took a set of front seats from a 1990 626 and made my own mounts.

Here is the front view of the drivers mount


Here are the rear drivers seat mounts. Notice how I used 1'x1/8" strap to connect my bent 1" square tubing to the stock seat mount bolt holes in the floor.


Here is a side view of the drivers seat.


Here is a side view of the passenger seat. These seats were extremely comfortable and changed the entire feel of the truck because the different driving position. The only problem was the color. They were red. Water proof seat covers don't come in OD. Gimpy donated some blue and black ones to the cause and that is what the truck was wearing at the '06 FE. I swapped these seats out for a set of HumV seats a year ago so no more pictures of the drivers side mount are available. I have 3 or 4 more of the passenger side if you want them.

[bluesman2a]

Any FSJ seat will fit with very minimal modification. I think I only had to drill 2 holes to get my bases to work.

I put in stock TJ seats in mine. Took the original TJ sliders, mounted them on a flat plate (8 holes), then welded that to some bases I had from an FSJ cherokee.

Brackets (bottoms are from FSJ cherokee, top is just a flat plate drilled for TJ sliders):


TJ seats I scored pretty cheap from somebody's take-outs:


Installed in FSJ Cherokee:




Same seats and bases installed on the 715:

[Binford]

Nice job! Lots more leg-room that way, eh?! Is the seat a little lower than stock too? Or did you even have the stock seats with which to compare?

Looks good!

[bluesman2a]

Nice job! Lots more leg-room that way, eh?! Is the seat a little lower than stock too? Or did you even have the stock seats with which to compare?

Thanks for the kind words Tim. I did not have the stock seats for the 715, but these sit just a hair lower than the stock FSJ seats. We cut about 3-4" off the original brackets to mount the plate, but the TJ seats have a really thick bottom/base so I think it was about the same in the end. I'm pretty short at 5'6" and I think it's a good height especially with the tilt-wheel (for the spare-tire ).

[Grantshire]

Okay, I just happen to have these "extra" Explorer seats and some spare time... Actually they are the seats from my 79 Chief with manual sliders. I had pulled them when I did the Dynamat Extreme and Durabak 18 on its floorboards to cut down on some of the noise and heat (going to do the same on the M715).

So I pulled the M715 passenger side seat, ground off the welds, drilled 4 holes and presto! Explorer seat installed:







driver's side coming up!

[Grantshire]

In many ways the driver's side was easier since the seat frame bolts to the risers/legs.



Again, it was just a matter of drilling 4 holes in the leg frame (the maunal sliders were already mounted to the seats via a piece of flat steel bar) and bolting the seats in.



They look great and the Explorer seats are really comfortable. The passenger side fits great and sit really nice. However, when I slid into the driver's side my right leg was binding on the steering wheel.

Not to worry, I am headed for power steering and a smaller diameter steering wheel (stock is 16"x17") so I went by the auto parts place bought an adapter and 13 3/4" Grant wheel.

Another hour or so and presto!



I plan on a black interior so the black Grant looks great.

However, not the end of the story. I slide under the wheel again and my right leg is still binding!

More to come...