Lowered Seat?

Ok, so I'm getting tired of hearing I look ridiculous in my 70 cj5. I'm 6'1", 245#. The seat is all the way back against the inner wheel wells which I plan to chop and move back as has been done many times.

My question is, has anyone used a slimmer seat, like a corbeau Baja seat, and lowered the mount? I understaND that it would require a rear mounted tank as well.

 

I am 5' 6.5" 170 lbs I don't have your problem, just kidding. If you cut some of the wheel well out a little you may not need to move the fuel tank, just move the seat back in the box. You might find a thinner seat in a marine catalog, that will work for you. They come in all price ranges, and quality and are weather resistant.

 

The wheelhouse notch is a frequent solution to this problem. Search and you will find several examples. I suspect that lowering the seat will not help, since the pedals will then be closer and you won't be able to drive comfortably.

 

I have looked at and sat in most of the Corbeau seats and they are hard pressed to help the larger folks......for all of the reasons mentioned above , notwithstanding they are longer from front to back in the sitting area...........moving the seat back 2-4 inches with the wheel well knotch will help with the long legs.........but you'll still want to think about what to do about that low mounted large steering wheel that we'll still get into your knees.........

If you're a Jeep purest you may not like the choices: A smaller diameter aftermarket wheel? A tilt column.........or if a Saginaw gearbox is in your future....you can reuse the original column and wheel by tilting it up some although it will get closer to the windshield........the original seats you have are pretty good as they have a real spring suspension system as opposed to the aftermarket that just uses memory foam.....I would re-upholstery & rebuild those before I ventured into the aftermarket.

 

The early CJs have such a central seating position that the notch is pretty far back in the wheelhouse, and not too noticeable from the street. Intermediates are worse in this regard.

 

I lowered mine by building seat mounts out of angle-steel that has a bunch of holes drilled into each angle. My driver seat was lowered by close to an inch, maybe more. My seats are aftermarket. No idea what they are for, they were in it when I got it.

 

Might try the angle iron mounts when I cut the wheel well. Not sure if my seats are original or not. They look very similar to the best top low back seats. Iirc...

A saginaw is not out of the question with a smaller wheel either.

As far as being a purist, I like the looks of original but comfort of new so more of a restomod style.

 

I've done the wheel well knotch and I'm planning on the angle iron frame with cavalier seats. Can anyone who's built a frame post pics?