seat space wisdom needed

Hey all,
I'm working on a 75 cj5 with a fiberglass tub on it. The owner bought besttop trailmaster seats and wants me to install them for him. I took out the old seats and set the new one in and it is way too close to the steering wheel, but it cannot go any further back. I need more room, what have folks done in the past? Cosidering two options, none of them are fun, 1st cut the steering shaft and re-machine closer to the panel with a smaller wheel. 2nd cut the tub and notch into the wheel well. Both of these seem extreme so please help me out with a solution. Thanks.

 

Re seats, and room behind the bus wheel... boscodog's post http://www.earlycj5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12672 mentioned that the aftermarket seats intneded for '76 and later CJs don't fit very well in a '75 (or earlier). Mugzilla describes what he did to make the seat backs thin enough so that they'll scoot back like the OEM seats.

If it were my Jeep, I'd look around for a set of OEM buckets and have them reupholstered. The OEM buckets are very comfortable, at least for me, and I have always been barrel shaped, even when I was at my target weight.

I had some Bostrom seats which worked well in my '75 and they were very comfortable. Pretty much like these, except with arm rests: http://www.bostromseating.com/products/t900f.htm ... not cheap, even then.

 

Timgr, thx for listening!

Mouse, you are in the same box as me. I am soooo glad I redid my Trailmax seats instead of just having the stock seats reupholstered.

If you DO follow my impromptu instrctions in the link above, cut the center spring section out of the bottom part of the seat. The side rails are parrallel there, and will fit together perfectly.

I'll post a pic of a 75 w/ these seats in them tonight.

Sounds like the Smittybuilt seats fit perfectly though. Makes you wonder if Besttop just has a vandetta against 72-75 Jeeps...

 

I dont want to mislead anyone. i have not yet installed the smittybilt/outland standard highback seats yet.
i did sit them on the seat brackets and they seemed to fit about the same as my original low-backs.
i still have to fab an adaptor to get them bolted in b/c the holes dont line-up. by the time i finally get them bolted in i may have to cut a "wheelhouse notch" or something more radical to get a comfy fit.
i plan to do all this over the weekend and will post to let ya'll know how things worked out.

b

 

all right guys,
installed the seat this afternoon and they fit great.
i had to make bolt hole adaptors for the passenger seat. i used the original holes on the drivers side bracket and drilled one new hole on each side of the new seats rails. (one on each side). i did not re-install the driver's seat slider. it is in a fixed position.
here is a link to some photos

http://www.zaclehr.com/seats/

the seats seem no closer or tighter than my originals and are very comforable.

just to recap
1974 cj5, original seat bracket, no sliders, no adjustment. passenger seat still comes forward to access tool box but probably not far enough to access the back seat (if i had one).
smittybilt/outland standard bucket seats, non-reclining.
just a little fab with a drill and an angle grinder.
about three hours time.

 

Those aren't the same style of trailmaster seat that I used.

Here are mine:



Looks like you used the "Classic" ones. From the pics I can see that they don't have the extended butt pad section which puts you into the steering wheel...

 

i used the smittybilt standard highback seats from collinsbrosjeep, not the besttop trailmax seats.

again the new seats are a tight fit but a good fit with very minimal fabrication. they feel great and after one day i am happy with them.

they are fixed back seats and i had to install them w/o the original Jeep sliders so they are fixed in the spot where they are. but it works for me.

good luck
z

 

they look good

 

[testimonial]

I've used the boyink wheelhouse notch and am very happy with the results.

[/testimonial]

 

mouseinabox9 I've got the same problem with my 74. I put a tilt column out of a chevy in it and the seat is just too close. Have you come up with a solution to your problem yet? Interested in what you come up with for a fix