55.2-59 junk yard seats

[mrbuck]

I took a field trip today to the pick n pull, looking for seats for my 56. Id love to see what you guys did for seats in your Task force trucks. Im thinking Im gonna go with buckets but not 100% sure of that, they'd have to look right. TMI makes a bucket seat just for these trucks at about 2k with mounting bracket. my upholstery guy will cost about 1k to fix and upholster what ever i find at the scrap yard. Please show me what your working with, include details if possible.


And yes i know there is a search function I've been look there for the last hour.

[Joe Pass]

You were at pick and pull.....walking distance for me..lol.... I used 1989 Toyota bucket seats.....I was going to change them out to some BMW 6 way power bucket seats I happened on but wont work because my tank is in the cab......Your welcome to them, I just want them out of my way.....If that interests you send me a text and I will send you some pictures of them......

[mr48chev]

My past experiences say that most CAR bucket seats don't work well in AD or TF trucks.

The lean backs lean back at too much of an angle and the later ones are padded on the back to protect back passengers in a wreck costing you a couple of inches of leg room.

If they fit though, Those BMW seats should be about as comfortable as you can get if you get the height set right. Of all the cars I have owned the seats in my 528 are probably the most comfortable I have ever had for long distance driving.

[_Ogre]

if your willing to reupholster. truk seats are out of an 07 ford fusion
i welded up the bases and shortened the backs to look right in our trucks
the chop is approx 6", seats and plastic were brown, now gray & yellow
making the pedestals gave me options: pass has a drawer, driv is open storage

[_Ogre]

pedestals:

[mrbuck]

Orge, really like the pedistals you got. Did those come with seats or is more of your handy fiberglass work?

[_Ogre]

ogremanufacturing.com

[Rickysnickers]

I was looking at some Envoy seats on Craig's List. When I was doing a search on how to wire them, I saw a post from Ogre on hotrodders.com, or something like that. I like those seats as they have the built in seatbelts. I don't have the talent or welding prowess to build a hoop to put four point harnesses in.

[MJN]

A buddy of mine used a leather 2nd row bench seat from a 2000-2006 Yukon XL. He had to make mounts for it but it fit great even has the flip down cup holder/console.

[_Ogre]

Originally Posted by Rickysnickers

I was looking at some Envoy seats on Craig's List. When I was doing a search on how to wire them, I saw a post from Ogre on hotrodders.com, or something like that. I like those seats as they have the built in seatbelts. I don't have the talent or welding prowess to build a hoop to put four point harnesses in.

the floors of our trucks are not properly reinforced to handle seat back seatbelts. even reinforce seat pedestal bolts will pull out of the floor and pin you to the dash. i rolled my first 58 my senior year of high school, i'd hate to be seatbelted in an old truck in anything but a mild crash. no front impact, both doors popped open and the roof came in.

seatbelts don't make these truck safer, if your worried about a kid hitting the dash when you apply the brake, yes. i have never had a kid in truk, never will. i've paid for that wreck for the last 50 years, not a day since that i haven't had some pain and it gets worse with age. in a wreck, i'd rather be loose and about.

during truk rebuild, i dropped my cab on the firewall from 10 inches up, it almost totaled the cab. luckily we had an old school body guy in the shop. firewall came in 3 inches on top, A pillar twisted, roof came down. déjà vu!

you are only fooling yourselves, if you think seatbelts makes your truck safer...

[mr48chev]

I've walked away from three crashes in my life where I am positive that the belts were what saved my life Twice in scout helicopters in Vietnam OH 13 and an OH-6 the OH-6 crashing into trees that were about 50 ft tall and they broke the fall on the way down.

When I got rea ended in my 92 Prism GSI by the garbage truck and shoved into the barrier strip I had a nice bruise from the shoulder belt across my chest for a month. It broke the seat and slammed me back and when I hit the Johnson barrier it slammed me forward with extra force. Amazingly I could drive the car to a parking lot 150 yards away and all 4 doors on that car still opened.

The seat belts keep you in place and keep you from being thrown out or falling out when the stock door latches fail. My wife fell out of the 48 43 years ago when she was leaning against the door and it popped open while going around a corner but we were only going about 5 mph at the time. It's staying in place and staying in the vehicle that keeps you alive in any crash.

As far as belts in an AD or TF a strip of 2 or wider flat bar run below the floor board that the belts bolt to or seats that have belts (rather ugly for an old truck though) bolt to the floor with. will keep the bolts from pulling out.

[Rickysnickers]

Originally Posted by mr48chev

As far as belts in an AD or TF a strip of 2 or wider flat bar run below the floor board that the belts bolt to or seats that have belts (rather ugly for an old truck though) bolt to the floor with. will keep the bolts from pulling out.

That was the plan, to re-enforce the floor, if and when I were to do something like this.

[_Ogre]

i have no doubt that seatbelts save lives in cars designed around them and truk has 4x4 plates under the floors for each bolt. that doesn't mean i'm safe. in a front crash the steering column will spear you thru the chest, S shaped A pillars are almost designed to crumple and truk's bbw makes the B pillar equally weak. crumple zones in old vehicles don't exist.

my neighbor races late model mustangs. brake line failure in a turn put him into a wall at 100mph and he walked away. bruised but he got out on his own. modern cars are designed with impact safety in mind.

[burnin oil]

I normally stay out of these debates but I think Ogre is correct. At some point engineering will be a failure and being free to move around is a good thing. I do wear a seat belt in the newer vehicles but I don't think twice about jumping in the 57 with no belts either. Usually I chuckle at the factory seat belt in my 72 and think this is only incase I get pulled over. Who ever thought a ratcheting lap belt was an improvement over the old school lap belt? If that day ever comes I just will have to trust the frame. Every instance is different and there is just no way to account for them all.

[mr48chev]

Originally Posted by burnin oil

I normally stay out of these debates but I think Ogre is correct. At some point engineering will be a failure and being free to move around is a good thing. I do wear a seat belt in the newer vehicles but I don't think twice about jumping in the 57 with no belts either. Usually I chuckle at the factory seat belt in my 72 and think this is only incase I get pulled over. Who ever thought a ratcheting lap belt was an improvement over the old school lap belt? If that day ever comes I just will have to trust the frame. Every instance is different and there is just no way to account for them all.

All I am going to say to that is that 75% of the deaths in car wrecks in this area are due to being thrown out of the car, Three in the past week in this area including a 3 year old who had unbuckled his seat belt while in a proper car seat and distracted his grandmother. He was thrown out the window in the accident. Had a beautiful young woman who worked with my wife get thrown out of her Durango in 1 car roll over a few years ago and get killed. You could honestly have rolled that rig on it's wheels and driven it off.

The first week I had my 48 in 1973 I almost got thrown out of the truck making a slow turn two blocks from the house, the drivers door flew open and all that saved me was the fact that I was going real slow, there was nothing in the way and I had my arm out the door and was able to hang on to the door with my arm with my right hand gripping the wheel and my right foot trying to push the brake. That was right by the local girls softball field and if that had been in the late afternoon there may have been a line of cars and or a bunch of kids there. It isn't just a head on impact that you have to worry about but primarily keeping your butt behind the wheel and staying in control in older rigs.

[dsraven]

I have seen guys use the split bench from the 88-98 chevy trucks. they fit pretty well with no headrests as they are pretty short so they allow the seat to go back further than a seat with a headrest. they are a 60/40 seat and some years have the 60 part on the driver side and some are the other way around. like alluded to above, re-inforce the floor where the seats and seat belts will be bolted in. maybe even use a cable or strap system to link the seat mount to the frame.
I am using the seats from an envoy but I am also using the envoy floor and firewall and I have extended the cab so there is room for the high back bucket and leg room. the floor is engineered to accept the shock load from the seat mounts the seats have integral belts.

[my56chevytruck]

Originally Posted by mrbuck

I took a field trip today to the pick n pull, looking for seats for my 56. Id love to see what you guys did for seats in your Task force trucks. Im thinking Im gonna go with buckets but not 100% sure of that, they'd have to look right. TMI makes a bucket seat just for these trucks at about 2k with mounting bracket. my upholstery guy will cost about 1k to fix and upholster what ever i find at the scrap yard. Please show me what your working with, include details if possible.


And yes i know there is a search function I've been look there for the last hour.

this is my seat I pulled out of a 89 or 90 suburban and had it upholstered, for my 56. I'm 6'1" and have plenty of leg and head room. I paid $50 since I pulled it myself.

[BBPanel]

I used '84 Firebird seats. With seat tilted back fully it is even with the window frame. Of course, the height of the pedestal will change that if desired.

[dsraven]

here is a link to those 88-98 split bench seats. like said, some have a single seat for the driver and a double a seat for the passenger with a flip up armrest/seat back in the middle. some of those had cup holders i think too. some were double wide for the driver and single for the rider. anyway, you get the idea. remove the headrests for more fore to aft room. some guys have also used the second or third row seats from a yukon or astro van and them made some mounts with sliders for adjustment. some seats flip forward to allow you to access the back seat area so they would be good to have if you want to access behind your single cab seat area

https://www.gmtruckclub.com/threads/...de-done.88748/

[56 3100]

i have these yukon 3rd row seats fabbed to use. but after seeing my56chevtruck and kabwe's
88-96 chev truck seats i might toss a coin and use the seat i have with arm rest. darn those benches look good.

[nikwho]

In my opinion, nothing looks better than a bench seat in these old trucks. I used to have a bench out of an '89 C1500 in my '59. It fit, but felt too wide. It was slightly bolstered, and felt as though it pushed me slightly left of center of the steering wheel. Too wide, but worked. I swapped that seat for the seat out of my '68 GMC. It is perfect for the truck, imo.

[dsraven]

if you plan to use seat belts integrated into the seats you should reinforce the floor and maybe use a short cable or stap to connect the seat mount bolts to th actual truck frame
if you plan to access the area behind the seat you should have a seat that folds and also locks in the proper position
if you use a bucket seat you may be able to lose the headrests so the seat can go back far enough to allow proper foot room and clearance for the steering wheel
if you use a bench or a split bench ensure to leave room on each side so the door closes easily and if access to behind the seat is wanted then choose a seat accordingly. the 88-98 extended cab trucks allow this with a split 60-40

[dsraven]

not getting into the seat belt-no seat belt chat. as a firefighter I have seen wrecks where it would have worked out better either way but more dead people in the ditch or the windshield due to no belts. you gotta decide that one for yourself. there are a lot of variables on how you have built the truck. if youre building a truck with a stock steering box you are sitting behind a solid shaft attached to the frame and lined up with your chest.
the OP was asking more about seat choices that seat beltsso, we digress. personally I like a bucket with a head rest because I don't like bumping my head on the rear cab wall or window. it's why I extended the cab, more leg room and room for a bucket with a head rest with more room behind the seat. extending the cab isn't for everybody though.