This is a build thread of how to add 4 more inches of leg room to the front passenger seat will still allowing it to move back and forth on the original rails, there is no welding needed, only minor metal cutting/grinding on the new brackets not on the original equipment which can be achieved by an angle grinder, and fastening of bolts. This mod can be reversed at anytime and you can go back to OEM.
I did this because my 'full sized' friends complained about the lack of leg room and did not like to ride in the van because of it. Now they have no qualms about riding in the passenger seat, they can fully stretch out their legs. Unfortunately GM/Chevy did not leave much room in the passenger side for peoples feet. So this is a quick cheap fix(10$).
I will go from start to finish.
Starting with the tool & material list.
Tools you will need(or I at least used)refer to pictures below)
Ratchet Set
Angle Grinder, with a metal cut off wheel and a metal grinding wheel.
Drill and Drill bit(I used 7/16")
Vise(optional)
Eye protection for grinding and cutting.
Parts:
Four - 6" cuts of angle iron. I went with 1½"x1½"x3/16"
Four 3/8" bolts, Four lock washers, Four Nuts. I went with Grade 8 for strength and even did a larger shank then what was on there, so I know they are strong enough.(refer to picture at bottom)
Quick note:
I do intend to pull this all back apart and paint them with a gray primer, so that they match the van.
I wanted this not to be a permanent thing if I decided I didn't like it or something, So I didn't want to have to do any type of welding or anything like that. So this is totally reversible if your not happy with it.
Removal of seat:
Remove any attached equipment you may have to the seat frame, underseat storage.
Loosen and remove the 4 nuts that hold the chair frame to the floor, then lift the chair up and out.
Remove the four bolts that hold the rails on to the chair frame.
Now I determinded that 4 inches more of space would be adequate will still keep the main structural integrity of the seat.
You could probably use a thick grade flat stock, but I chose angle iron because it is stronger and having the lip on there would keep it from really doing any deflection or deformation when you had someone sitting on the chair with it in the all the way back position, especially if they had the back rest lowered or if you were out four-by-ing. I wanted it to be really strong and not able to bend.
After looking at it for a moment or two, I decided how I wanted to mount it.But I wanted to remove a ¼" of an inch from one side of the angle iron so it wouldn't drag against the seat stand.
After I cut it and ground away the sharp edge to make it nicer. I am doing my preliminary looking at how I would like to attach these.
Here is a picture of the bracket ground down, I only ground it down enough to make it look alright, If you wanted you could take a fine grit sandpaper to it and make it really nice and smooth, after painting this will be fine enough for me, I just didn't want someone cutting themselves on a sharp edge.
Here I attached the rear bracket to the seat frame. I drilled one hole to see if this is where I wanted it, it was, so I marked it for the next hole while fitting it. (also I had to widen the stock holes on the stand to fit my larger bolts, just used my drill for that)
So I decided to drill the hole's 4 inches apart which would give me a seat setback of 4".
I attached the front brackets to the seat frame and did a test fit of the stand, and then determined that the stock bolts needed their heads ground down a little bit so I took about half the head away for less clearance.
Now I was ready to attach the stand to my new brackets and to the seat frame.
The seat picture will be in the next post since I have ran out of my attachment space here.
I did this because my 'full sized' friends complained about the lack of leg room and did not like to ride in the van because of it. Now they have no qualms about riding in the passenger seat, they can fully stretch out their legs. Unfortunately GM/Chevy did not leave much room in the passenger side for peoples feet. So this is a quick cheap fix(10$).
I will go from start to finish.
Starting with the tool & material list.
Tools you will need(or I at least used)refer to pictures below)
Ratchet Set
Angle Grinder, with a metal cut off wheel and a metal grinding wheel.
Drill and Drill bit(I used 7/16")
Vise(optional)
Eye protection for grinding and cutting.
Parts:
Four - 6" cuts of angle iron. I went with 1½"x1½"x3/16"
Four 3/8" bolts, Four lock washers, Four Nuts. I went with Grade 8 for strength and even did a larger shank then what was on there, so I know they are strong enough.(refer to picture at bottom)
Quick note:
I do intend to pull this all back apart and paint them with a gray primer, so that they match the van.
I wanted this not to be a permanent thing if I decided I didn't like it or something, So I didn't want to have to do any type of welding or anything like that. So this is totally reversible if your not happy with it.
Removal of seat:
Remove any attached equipment you may have to the seat frame, underseat storage.
Loosen and remove the 4 nuts that hold the chair frame to the floor, then lift the chair up and out.
Remove the four bolts that hold the rails on to the chair frame.
Now I determinded that 4 inches more of space would be adequate will still keep the main structural integrity of the seat.
You could probably use a thick grade flat stock, but I chose angle iron because it is stronger and having the lip on there would keep it from really doing any deflection or deformation when you had someone sitting on the chair with it in the all the way back position, especially if they had the back rest lowered or if you were out four-by-ing. I wanted it to be really strong and not able to bend.
After looking at it for a moment or two, I decided how I wanted to mount it.But I wanted to remove a ¼" of an inch from one side of the angle iron so it wouldn't drag against the seat stand.
After I cut it and ground away the sharp edge to make it nicer. I am doing my preliminary looking at how I would like to attach these.
Here is a picture of the bracket ground down, I only ground it down enough to make it look alright, If you wanted you could take a fine grit sandpaper to it and make it really nice and smooth, after painting this will be fine enough for me, I just didn't want someone cutting themselves on a sharp edge.
Here I attached the rear bracket to the seat frame. I drilled one hole to see if this is where I wanted it, it was, so I marked it for the next hole while fitting it. (also I had to widen the stock holes on the stand to fit my larger bolts, just used my drill for that)
So I decided to drill the hole's 4 inches apart which would give me a seat setback of 4".
I attached the front brackets to the seat frame and did a test fit of the stand, and then determined that the stock bolts needed their heads ground down a little bit so I took about half the head away for less clearance.
Now I was ready to attach the stand to my new brackets and to the seat frame.
The seat picture will be in the next post since I have ran out of my attachment space here.