Bucket Seat Install on Suburban tracks in Std. cab

[ECU PIRATE]

I know this might have been covered before but, has anybody installed bucket seats in a std. cab on Suburban tracks? My hole setup came out of an 80' Suburban. I knew I was going to have to drill out the (2) rear passenger holes as well as the inside driver's side hole but, the mounting tabs don't even come close to being flush with the floor on the rear shelf. Are you guys fabricating brackets of some kind???????

[78 Chevyrado]

I just rebent the back of the burban tracks till they fit my floor... worked like a charm.

[Mr.Scary]

I 2 have a burb wit buckets that i would like 2 switch over. is it hard? wut mods need 2 b done? do tha brackets from tha buckets needs 2 b taken out and put in tha truck? ive never done this b 4 so n e help, pics, info would b appreciated

[ECU PIRATE]

If you are going to swap the buckets from the Suburban over to the truck, you will need to cut out the inside mounting brackets that are welded to the floor. Without access to a torch, I had to cut these out with a hacksaw. This was the hardest part. I am still trying to get a hold of my buddy so he can weld these to the floor of my short bed. Without these brackets, you won't be able to properly install the bucket seats in your truck. I don't have any pics but, I may be able to shoot some tonight and post them so you will be able to see what is involved

[Mr.Scary]

Thanks ECU pirate i appreciate it very much if u could do that, it would help alot 2 c it.

[ECU PIRATE]

Here you go Mr.Scary. Just like 78 Chevyrado said, pay close attention to the mounting tabs on the back of the seat tracks. You will either have to fabricate some additional mounting tabs or, bend the ones you have to match the contour of the rear shelf. The A shaped tab is shown. This is the one that needs to be cut from your Suburban's floor and either welded or bolted in, to the floor of your cab. Keep us posted

[Cpnthrfan]

love your worklight lol

[Mr.Scary]

Oooooooo!!! i get it coo im prolly gonna try 2 get started on that this weekend. thanks

[BruthaMan]

Here's another bracket pic:



Came out of a suburban. Went to the parts yard with a hammer, cold chisel and a pocket full of curse words hacking them out! Brought em home, grinded off the hacked metal to just the bracket, welded in and painted.

[ECU PIRATE]

Originally Posted by BruthaMan

Here's another bracket pic:



Came out of a suburban. Went to the parts yard with a hammer, cold chisel and a pocket full of curse words hacking them out! Brought em home, grinded off the hacked metal to just the bracket, welded in and painted.

BruthaMan..........Where did you get those seat tracks on your buckets????? Those look like some original tracks for a bucket seat equipped truck!!!!!!!!!I wish I ccould find some here in Va. and avoid some creative welding. I might have to get some angle brackets made so I can attach the rear mounting tabs to the floors...............

[motornut]

actually working through same kinda install,this truck was custom built with custom buckets,and they used house carpet with brown epoxy glue ,(sometimes i smelled funny burning smells couldn't figure it out till now look at side of the hump,burnt glue)1.5 days with an air chisel removed carpet bits,note four holes in standard cab floor,seat post broke ,replaced,broke,fixed,broke,this fall decided replace with 89 blue till i find brown.....custom "lap belts"in back.....not in factory spot,no marks around bolt to say ever even installed when built,i think 86 and on has shoulder belts in rear,thats what i want. I rewelded in front brackets after chiseled out of 89 these are a hard find(the brackets)......ps looking to trade blue for brown seats in great shape,i even scraped and painted the rear seat hinges,like the rear gate hinge these seize up when rusty,worth the time cleaning for ease of use

[motornut]

the holes for the factory rear seat bolts are all there ,some drilled threw to install custom seats,looking over the rear seat u can see the third seat attachments sticking up threw the floor(to be removed soon) 3rd seat had no belts,don't need it

[78 Chevyrado]

I was able to get the backs of the tracks bent to where I was able to use the rear bolt hole that the bench seat used. Also you'll have to test fit the seats to make sure you got the tracks bent the same. you'll know because if it's off the seat will visibly lean one way or the other.

There's plenty of front mounts above but here's another one.... if you leave the tabs big enough you can bolt it in too. I used the chisel to knock out two holes in the burban floor and then separated the mount from the floor metal at home.



I also made these risers to raise the front of the seat 1.5-2 inches. There were already risers just like mine there, I just made a set that was 1.5-2 inches taller than the old ones... This helps a lot since otherwise the seat bottom was sitting flat to the floor (and I'm 6'2 do this was really annoying.)

Also in this pic are the spacers I made for my console to lean it back like the seats and make room for the amp.

[ECU PIRATE]

Originally Posted by 78 Chevyrado

I was able to get the backs of the tracks bent to where I was able to use the rear bolt hole that the bench seat used. Also you'll have to test fit the seats to make sure you got the tracks bent the same. you'll know because if it's off the seat will visibly lean one way or the other.

There's plenty of front mounts above but here's another one.... if you leave the tabs big enough you can bolt it in too. I used the chisel to knock out two holes in the burban floor and then separated the mount from the floor metal at home.



I also made these risers to raise the front of the seat 1.5-2 inches. There were already risers just like mine there, I just made a set that was 1.5-2 inches taller than the old ones... This helps a lot since otherwise the seat bottom was sitting flat to the floor (and I'm 6'2 do this was really annoying.)

Also in this pic are the spacers I made for my console to lean it back like the seats and make room for the amp.

Did you heat the tracks up with a torch and put them into a vise to bend them or take a hammer to them? Some guy quoted me $ 80.00 to fabricate some tabs to mount them until I realized that this could only be done on the (2) rear outside tabs. The (2) inside ones are another story. I think I may try bending them to see how this works. Next step would be to cut of the rear tabs from bench seat tracks and weld them on....................

[BruthaMan]

Originally Posted by ECU PIRATE

BruthaMan..........Where did you get those seat tracks on your buckets????? Those look like some original tracks for a bucket seat equipped truck!!!!!!!!!I wish I ccould find some here in Va. and avoid some creative welding. I might have to get some angle brackets made so I can attach the rear mounting tabs to the floors...............

I picked up the seats/tracks/console from a member here. They were actually on Ebay, but I recognized the pics from the forum here and PM'd him to see if he'd sell them outright to me.

You can, from time to time, find these on Ebay.

This is the search query I use:

http://motors.shop.ebay.com/items/Parts-Accessories__73-1973-74-1974-75-1975-76-1976-77-1977-78-1978-79-1979-chevy-chev-chevrolet-truck-pu-p-u-pickup-pick-up-silverado-cheyenne-c10-c-10-manual-book-brochure?LH_Auction=1&_nkw=%2873%2C%201973%2C%2074%2C%201974%2C%2075%2C%201975%2C%2076%2C%201976%2C%2077%2C%201977%2C%2078%2C%201978%2C%2079%2C%201979%29%20%28chevy%2C%20chev%2C%20chevrolet%29%20%28truck%2C%20pu%2C%20p%20u%2C%20pickup%2C%20pick%20up%2C%20silverado%2C%20cheyenne%2C%20c10%2C%20c%2010%29%20-manual%20-book%20-brochure&_trkparms=65%253A1%257C39%253A1&_sacat=6028&_sc=1&_sc=1&_sop=10&_trksid=m194&ssPageName=STRK:MEFSRCHX:SRCH

Kind of weeds out the BS parts and shows the auctions, which is where you can usually find these.

[78 Chevyrado]

I just locked em in a big vise and pounded them to where I wanted them. Just make sure to clamp the tracks so you won't mess up how the moving parts go together. They are STIFF so you'll need a good vise/bench to do it on. Just try to match up the angles as best you can and tweak em after a test fit to make sure the seat sits level from side to side.