Home Made Seat Relocation Brackets
Here is a brief write up on the seat relocation brackets that I made. The
design was based on the write up in the D-90 Source FAQ section by Michael
Azzariti. Mine differs from his approach just in the fact that mine allows the
seat to move a little further back than his did.
I used 1.5" x 3/16" wall square tube that I cut to length at 21.625". I cut
the leading edge back at a 45-degree angle and drilled the first 0.375" diameter
hole 0.625" from the leading edge and centered side to side in just the bottom
of the tube. In effect, there are 2 sets of holes. A lower set which the bottom
of the tube attaches to the stock holes and an upper set of holes that are 3"
further aft. The 2nd hole is placed 3" back from the first hole and just in the
upper wall of the tube. The spacing between the 2 holes in the lower wall of the
tube is 17.375" (double check this for your vehicle). The spacing for the upper
set of holes is the same, just 3" further aft. The 3rd hole from the front needs
to go through both the upper and lower walls of the tube. The trick here is you
need to drill it from the bottom with your 0.375" drill bit through both the
lower and upper walls and then flip it over and drill a clearance hole for a
socket (I used a 13/16" drill bit) from the top. This allows you to attach the
seat riser tube to the stock holes in the floor, tighten it down, and then
install the seat on top. The last hole is in the upper wall 17.375" from the 2nd
hole. The riser is notched on the bottom to get up and over the flange between
the seat box and the rear tub section.
You use the original bolts to attach the seat riser down to the floor and then
use new 1" long 5/16" Grade 8 fasteners and lock nuts to attach the seat to the
riser. After I deburred them, I had them powder coated semi gloss black.
The additional elevation is not as bad as I would have thought. I'm 6'2" and was
concerned that raising the seat that much would put my eyes too high in the
windshield. I still have reasonable visibility through the top of the windshield
and my head is still a ways from the ceiling. The additional height and ability
to move the seat further aft makes for a more comfortable seating position. The
2 main drawbacks that I have found is that my legs now rest on the front of the
seat that feels kind of funny after having them be above that position. The
other thing is that when you move that much further back, you tend to have to
lean forward to look out the side window and your arm needs to reach pretty far
forward to rest on the window ledge. But all in all, I prefer the ability to
alter the position to one further back over constantly feeling the desire to
move the seat back and not being able to.
