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How did you guys mount up your aftermarket seats?

I'm looking at my Freightliner seats, and trying to figure out the best way to do it. I sure dont want to drill into the doghouse, and that's not real structurally stable anyway.... so if anyone has suggestions, I'm all ears.

thanks guys!

I used the original seat frame bottoms (removed the backs) and welded flat steel bars across the frames. I then drilled holes in the bars to match mounting points on the freightliner seat bottoms. I had to grind off most of the 2 mounting "ears" on the freightliner seats to use this method. I suggest doing lots of measuring and test fitting before welding and drilling (guess how I know this )

Photos are here: http://s159.photobucket.com/albums/t142 ... r%20Seats/

Others on the forum also used these seats with different mounting methods - hopefully they'll chime in with description and pics too.

I hope so too, variety and ideas are very helpful. anyone?

Paul speaks the truth. The easiest fitment called for you to acquire an extra set of seat frames. Once you have them and remove the actual seats, then you can work through the actual way you might choose to mount your Freightliner (Sprinter?) seats.

I got Honda seats and mounted them on 1/8 plate. There is some adjustment available.

http://s400.photobucket.com/albums/pp88 ... C00018.jpg

When you use the stock frames, you retain the stock seat adjustment capability fore and aft. When I was in the market for a seat, I put the word out here and found a set pretty cheap.

You know when folks ask what improvements they should make to their new Pinzgauers, I'm thinking that swapping out the stock seats must be very high on the list of things to change when the opportunity to do so presents itself.

Thanks for starting this thread, as I also have a seat change in my near future. I'm tall, so options for lowering seat height are priorities for me.

Krick3tt; how did you mount the plate? Does it use the same spacer and mounting hole setup?

Has anyone mounted a suspension seat like Beard, PRP, or Twisted Stitch?

Thanks, Michael

I got my seats from an auto recycling yard. In my day they were called junk yards...how times have changed.

I wanted to use the same pins and holes as the original seats. Made a cardboard pattern of their location and
used it to position the seat bottom configuration as there is a portion of the seat that hangs lower than the attachment
points. The seats ride about 1 inch higher than the originals. It was a bit noticeable at first but now not so much.
My legs swing free and don't touch the floor now...makes me feel young, like a kid in a big chair.

The comfort level has increased tenfold and long trips are much easier. The passenger seat is just on the 'almost
too wide' side but does fit. The seats are also a bit heavier than the originals. I don't think that most vehicle seats
are meant to be removed so often as the pinz seats for access so weight is not a consideration.

I did not reuse the original seat bottoms as I was thinking of possibly reselling the pinz. It is so comfortable now that
selling is out of the question. I am putting my coins into little upgrades as I discover the need.

edit: next time I take them out for something, I'll take a pic of the mounting plate and post it. Just changed the oil
so it might be awhile.

Like Krick3tt, I too used Honda seats, CRX's IIRC. I also used the factory mounts, as they provided a quick way to remove/mount the seats for easy engine access. I didn't want to alter the truck any. Likewise the original seats, I wanted to save them for "just in case", so I made new bases for the new seats.

I could barely see out the windshield due to height, and I chose the Honda seats because they ended up at about the same seat height as the originals. Many other seats sit higher, from what I've seen.

One other consideration, in order to get access to the mounting thumbscrew and the seat out the door, it's really handy if the seat folds forward (as the Hondas and the originals do). I saw one Pinz where the seats only folded forward by means of rotating a knob. It was a major PIA.

A quick comment about buying used seats from an auto recycling yard.

When I decided to find some seats to replace the stock units, I checking out several recyclers here in the Houston area. I don't know if it's a reflection on how things are done locally but there was no way I was going to use any seats from the vehicles I came across.

Every car in the yards I visited looked like someone had either lived, died or had been mauled in those cars, I kid you not! Nasty doesn't begin to capture it.

My suggestion is to check past posting here on the forum about seat replacement options and then go to eBay and find a set there.

As I mentioned in previous posts, I got a set of new seats from a MB Sprinter for like $120 from some RV company in Elkhart, IN (center of the universe for the RV business) and that has been the best $120 I've ever spent on Pinz ownership...ever.

TP,

Guess it has to be the right yard. Found really good ones for $35 each and they were clean with no evidence
of any death or dismemberment on them. I am putting the real dirt on them now.
Of course they are blue and really don't match the decor but I can live with that till I can recover them.
Had to give them the one year or 1000 km test first. So far they get passing marks.

Happy trails

Done it two different ways. I have made up brackets to fit seats acquired from a auto salvage yard and have used the original frames, just welded the seats to the frames. I found using the pinz seat frames to be far easier. In any case changing the seats is one of the first things that I feel should be done, the other is of course those tires.