fuel tank relocate=more leg room???

[bigjimzlll]

When you relocate the tank from behind the seat, can you get more leg room??? Being 6'3" im a little cramped..I am going to do it, but if I can tell the wife it will give me more leg room, it'll be an easier sell

[Truckstr]

bigjimzlll,

I'm not far behind you at 6'2" (and a little). I also am looking to move my tank, but not to get more leg room.

The tank in our '67-'72 trucks sits in a little "alcove" behind the seat, below the rear window. Now, I don't know about your seat(s), but mine is all the way back against the metal below the rear window. Unless I move the seat down and then back, then there is no room to move the seat back any farther. Even then, my head would be right against the rear glass. Not a very comfortable or safe proposition.

Ergonomically speaking, it might be feasable to move the leading edge of the seat up, thereby placing the driver in a reclining position and, in turn, allowing one to move their feet further away from the pedals.

I'm going to mock-up a seat profile out of cardboard to allow me to take measurements when I pull my seat out to install the lap belts that I bought the other day for my '67. Basically, I'll make an outline of the existing seat profile and then I'll measure the various ways that I could install the seats or others with similar dimensions.

Then I'll take those measurements and compare them against other seats that I might consider installing. The seats in my '98 Pontiac Bonneville are awesome. Compared to the bench in the '67 they are the difference between night and day. I'd love to have some like them in my '67.

Who knows. Do ya think the wife would notice if I switched 'em?

[Canada20]

I'm definitely interested in this topic at 6'3". I haven't had a chance to drive my truck yet except for the drive home and then I was more worried about just keeping the damned thing running rather than how close I was to the glass.

It doesn't look to me like you'd gain anything with the tank removal as far as legroom goes and I'm betting that the seat tracks don't go any farther back unless you extend or move them.

Sounds like Trukstr has some good ideas and will be the guy to hit up for info when looking for seats to fit. I wonder if what he's talking about could be accomplished by making the seat tracks higher in the front than in the back? hmmm....but then I guess to notice any real difference you'd have to REALLY raise the front up so maybe that wouldn't work. One other idea (because I'm planning on having a topper on mine) is if you were to get one of the gaskets to go between the cab and the topper with no rear window, then you could recline right into the box. That probably wouldn't work either....I'm just talking out my butt at this point

As for seats, I know our Olds station wagon had a power front bench seat (split) that would tilt back and move up and down; there are probably a bunch of other cars with the same.

bigjimzlll;
if you're looking to try and convince SWMBO that moving the tank out of the cab is a good idea, why not try the safety angle? I know it's only a half truth 'cuz if the tank gets hit IN THE CAB you've probably got pretty big problems at that point anyway but I know when I show SWMBO the media hyped horror stories about the drop in fuel tanks in vintage mustangs, she's suddenly pretty interested in things like fuels cells and trunk armour. I might have a link to a nice juicy story or 2 if you're interested.


Greg

[bigvinnie]

once the tank is out, you've got about 8 inches of space from the back of the cab to the bench seat bottom.... problem is that the seat back is already touching the back of the cab in this position, and moving the seat any further back would put the seat back in a more vertical position or even worse, forcing you to lean forward.... not too comfy.

The seat is already vertical enough in my opinion (I'm 6-4), so I figure I'll have to live with not being able to fully extend my legs. Only other alternative is to find seats with super thin seat backs that would give you a couple extra inches to work with, and maintain a comfortable seating angle.

[tom hand]

I don't see how you tall guys can stand these trucks. I'm only 5'9 and I wish I could move the seat back another notch. Moving the tank will buy you nothing as far as moving the seat back. I have heard of tall people spacing the seat up, but I don't think you could go very far with that before your head hits the roof. Now here's an idea if you want to do some major surgery. Cut the firewall and move the pedals forward. If you were doing a major restro and had the truck apart anyway it would not be that much more work. Just an idea.

[crazy longhorn]

Yup....Im 5 ft 9 also, & with a 4" chop on the top headroom is very limited! I feel for you guys that bump your heads on everything. Hell I always thought I was too short, but me old dad asked me if my feet touched the ground..... they do most of the time

[red71cheyenne]

When I removed the tank from mine, I thought like you did that I would get more leg room. NOT! Like BV said, the angle is what determines the leg room. In order to get more leg room, I'm going to have to extend the back of the cab. This is already in the plan, but I don't know when it will happen. I put aftermarket Steel Horse seats in and they are still at an angle I'm not fully comfortable with. On the trip from Chicago to WA, it was almost painful. If it hadn't been for the cruise control I probably would have ripped out the drivers seat and sat on a milk crate. Jeff.

[neonlarry]

I can't see that moving the tank out of the cab would make a difference in leg room either. The things that I did that really helped were to get the bench seat from a 92 chevy(the back in maybe an inch thinner) and replace the steering wheel with one from a 79 camaro. The other thing that might help would be to replace the gas pedal assembly with one from a 71 or 72 truck.

[bigjimzlll]

I guess the point is moot....In the 2 1/2 years that ive owned the truck, Ive put 2500 miles on it...Im really not sitting in it that long..lol