Raising back seat

[Nigel215]

I had my back seat out before and i dident see anything welded to the back of the seat. Well, Ive decised I need two 2" x 7" blocks that are 1" tall.... a tube steal would probly work good but then its gonna b a pain in the ass to drill holes.... I was wondering if wood blocks would hold?? It would be alot easier to do. Then wit would be the same shape as the foot of the back seat. Since my truck is a 3 door, the foot where the door is, is located on the little shelf where the jack and stuff is, and the one on the driver side is more of a leg that extends to the floor.

So does anyone think wood will be a good idea?

[v10_viper]

Originally Posted by Nigel215

I had my back seat out before and i dident see anything welded to the back of the seat. Well, Ive decised I need two 2" x 7" blocks that are 1" tall.... a tube steal would probly work good but then its gonna b a pain in the ass to drill holes.... I was wondering if wood blocks would hold?? It would be alot easier to do. Then wit would be the same shape as the foot of the back seat. Since my truck is a 3 door, the foot where the door is, is located on the little shelf where the jack and stuff is, and the one on the driver side is more of a leg that extends to the floor.

So does anyone think wood will be a good idea?

I'd definately lean towards some sort of metal, but if you want wood it will work. I guess you could always go with some oak so it's stronger, than pine anyways, and paint it or maybe even carpet the pieces of wood to match but I think it might wear out after awhile but wood would(ha) be lot easier and I would carpet the pieces to match the interior.

[White Lightening]

Originally Posted by Nigel215

I had my back seat out before and i dident see anything welded to the back of the seat. Well, Ive decised I need two 2" x 7" blocks that are 1" tall.... a tube steal would probly work good but then its gonna b a pain in the ass to drill holes.... I was wondering if wood blocks would hold?? It would be alot easier to do. Then wit would be the same shape as the foot of the back seat. Since my truck is a 3 door, the foot where the door is, is located on the little shelf where the jack and stuff is, and the one on the driver side is more of a leg that extends to the floor.

So does anyone think wood will be a good idea?

Greetings Again Nigel,

Direct contact from seat bracket to floor offers the least leverage or strain on the bolts and bracket - and gives you the best "connection" or security if you have strain placed on that seat by hard braking or impact. Personally - as I expressed before - I just wouldn't mess with the seat - I'd redo the speaker box instead. The box created the problem and either rabbitting a relief slot or recessing the speaker seems much less effort than does changing your seat geometry.

However - if you are absolutely determined to raise the seat and nothing else will do - then I'd recommend raising it 1/4 inch more than the minimum amount of clearance you need. Why? Because greater height puts more strain on "shifting leverage" of the bolts etc. and you don't want the seat experiencing strain fracture (from normal bumps and bounces) or worse (from braking or accident issues). No wood in my opinion. Use metal square tubbing - or I'd personally use solid nylon block or solid resin block (available in many places) - something that doesn't give, or doesn't expand and contract with temperature or moisture and doesn't absorb water or "crush". Solid nylon or solid resin block is easy to drill or cut and relatively light in weight - yet its solid, strong, and inert. Remember - a safe and secure seat belt is only as good as the seat and brackets it works with.

White Lightening

[v10_viper]

Originally Posted by White Lightening

Greetings Again Nigel,

Direct contact from seat bracket to floor offers the least leverage or strain on the bolts and bracket - and gives you the best "connection" or security if you have strain placed on that seat by hard braking or impact. Personally - as I expressed before - I just wouldn't mess with the seat - I'd redo the speaker box instead. The box created the problem and either rabbitting a relief slot or recessing the speaker seems much less effort than does changing your seat geometry.

However - if you are absolutely determined to raise the seat and nothing else will do - then I'd recommend raising it 1/4 inch more than the minimum amount of clearance you need. Why? Because greater height puts more strain on "shifting leverage" of the bolts etc. and you don't want the seat experiencing strain fracture (from normal bumps and bounces) or worse (from braking or accident issues). No wood in my opinion. Use metal square tubbing - or I'd personally use solid nylon block or solid resin block (available in many places) - something that doesn't give, or doesn't expand and contract with temperature or moisture and doesn't absorb water or "crush". Solid nylon or solid resin block is easy to drill or cut and relatively light in weight - yet its solid, strong, and inert. Remember - a safe and secure seat belt is only as good as the seat and brackets it works with.

White Lightening

That's why you use a grade 8 bolt...no offense but the wood would not determine weather the seat stays in it's place in an accident, the same thing could happen without the wood, or if it was metal because the bolt is what holds the seat to the floor, if the bolt breaks it's not the wood's fault. Now if your using say a 2 by 4 as a spacer then I'd agree, it'd be stupid and pointless to go with that big of a piece of wood instead of metal, but talking about 3/4" to 1" I think he'll be alright. While I would recommend the metal and do that myself, I think the wood will be alright as long as he is doing the 2" wide, 7" long and 3/4 - 1" high it should be alright. My seat has the 2" by 3.5" iron and it's tough stuff, we could not get the seat to flex/wiggle at all pushing on it and it pushed the truck instead, now if i had a 2/4 in place i wouldn't trust it at all. Wood is perfectly fine if he's using it as a spacer, but if it's something like an L bracket I'd go for angle iron or something else. It has a lot of variables, I mean is he doing this just for the seat to be higher?? I'm assuming that he prefers to keep the truck clean and that so the wood shouldn't get wet too much and I really wouldn't have people sit back there too much but then again I wouldn't be using the wood. If you do use the wood I'd cut the pieces, get some kind of sealer maybe or wrap it in plastic and then carpet it for sure, the wood will last longer, it will look nicer and you shouldn't have problems with it.

Your suggestions on the resin or nylon are great too, if he got some of that I'd almost do that over the metal just because of the ease either way go with something solid. I dont think you have any worrying to do over using the wood though, if it's solid and not plywood.

[Nigel215]

Ok, I think I got the spacer issue worked out.. im either gonna use the wood, or hopefully I can get ahold of some tube steel that will fit.... But, under further examination lastnight, I realized, while the bolts are long enough, their ate no threads at the top of them... So I am going to have to replace the bolts as well. his shouldent be hard to do, but I first have to figure out how to get the factory ones out....
any ideas?

p.s. sorry for not getting any pic up yet, by the time i get home from work its already dark, and im just a lazy person