Bench Seat Question

[bullington]

So we picked up our new to use 1971 GMC 4x4. The previous owner had the interior redone which is really nice!! The only problem is that he had extra foam added to the seat so you can barely even sit behind the steering wheel with the seat all the way back.

Has anyone made brackets to move the seat back a few inches? Anything will be an improvement!

[69nova]

There are several things that can be done. There are threads for all of these. Relocate seat, replace steering wheel with newer model chevy truck wheel that is much smaller, and/or shorten steering column. All of which will give you more room behind the wheel. The easiest is to replace wheel.

[bullington]

Thanks. I may have figured out the issue.

The front bench seat cushion is thicker. Which makes it taller etc. The rear seat has a smaller cushion. Thus skinnier. I'm guessing with some work I can get the skinnier seat in front. The bigger cushion seems like it would be better in the back. Getting the rear passengers higher up in the air etc to see out.

Were the factory full width bench seats different thicknesses from front to rear?

[Jwill41]

my front one was much thicker than the rear. I now have a pair of these in it.
.

[zac]

My '70 has a wheel that looks like it came from a '74 Chevy station wagon. Now I know why.

[bullington]

Going to yank the seats and see if I can swap them easily. As in the brackets unbolting and swapping the frames. I will see if I can snap a picture tonight. Between this and and tilt column I think I will be good to go.

[Longhorn Man]

i don't think you'll be able to swap seats. the rear one is a couple inches narrower if memory serves, and the holes are all wrong.
My burb has an over stuffed front seat and I hate it. I have a small wheel, a tilt, and I even shimmed the front 'feet' of the seat to give it more of a rearward tilt. All helped, but none make it good enough for me.
it sucks

[bullington]

So I yanked the seat tonight. No easy way to make new brackets that will give enough benefit. As I was putting the seat back in it dawned on me. I could make relocation brackets where the seat mounts to the sliders. Drew up some templates and I'm going to see if it will work without putting too much stress on the sliders.

[bullington]

So after farting with it tonight I made brackets that moved the seat back 2" and made a huge difference in driver comfort. I will need to take some installed pics. Pretty easy once I had the seat out.

I used 1/4 steel and made four brackets. The rear brackets are wider than the front. Drilled holes in the brackets and bolted everything down. Don't even notice them since they are hidden by the seat.

[WayneE]

Please post up pics. My 'burb has the same problem, I can't get back far enough. It's *ok*, but a couple more inches of travel would make it better.

[72GMC-Burb]

Originally Posted by bullington

Thanks. I may have figured out the issue.

The front bench seat cushion is thicker. Which makes it taller etc. The rear seat has a smaller cushion. Thus skinnier. I'm guessing with some work I can get the skinnier seat in front. The bigger cushion seems like it would be better in the back. Getting the rear passengers higher up in the air etc to see out.

Were the factory full width bench seats different thicknesses from front to rear?

Yes they are - but only by an inch or less - we just put my nearly flawless middle seat in a friends - new to him - 68 / 72 GMC stepside - we fabbed up the plates needed from a piece of 1/2" aluminum plate and put the factory slides right on it - sweet fit

[bullington]

I will get some detailed photos this weekend. I took our burb on a 900 mile trip this week and it was great. Having the seat back 2" was the best modification yet!!

Pics to come.