seat frame redesign w/ under seat storage area and Fab thread

[sk8er32283]

All right my next project is under way and I am going to make a thread out of it. My 71 came with a really tired seat and I tried to save it but with little success(money mostly). I ran across a guy willing to trade for a really nice set of pick truck seat cushions. Here is the picture of them.

Unfortunately they are from a late 60's International. I could not find an easy way to mount the new cushion to the old frame and have it fit correctly. So after several hours of sketches and pondering I decided to completely redesign the seat frame and include some storage below the seat. Here is the sketch to show the overall design. Key design aspecs include the bottom slides forward and tipping towards the floor to gain access to the storage area. This idea was necessary do to the type of cushion I have so I decided to make them work to my advantage. After the bottom is forward the seat back can be tipped forward to gain access to the area behind the seat.

I started by lowering the stock seat frame bracket. This is where the storage space will come from.

Next I ground off all the brackets and stuff from the Ikea drawer slides.

I then attached them to the bottom seat cushion.


That is the progress for today. I should be getting into the build of the storage area next. This will be interesting because I do not have hardly any welding experience. So here's to learning something new.(insert Beer emoticon) This project may take a couple of weekends so stay tuned for updates.

[Bigdav160]

Great idea. I have some spare Blum self closing drawer slides.
I might copy you.

[Steve Cole]

Subscribed. How will you keep the seat from sliding when you don't want it to? Looks interesting.

[67swb72klb]

Looks interesting x2

[sk8er32283]

The slides are from a heavy duty filing cabinet that have a feature build into the slide itself to retain the drawer from sliding. Normally two slides would provide retention of the drawer. I have 4 slides on the seat right now. So I am hoping that the four slides alone will be enough to keep the seat from sliding. The retention feature can be disable also, just incase it is too much when I go to open the seat up. I would just disable one or two of them. In addition to that I am keeping a slight rake to the seat so it will have to slide "uphill". This will also provide a little resistance to sliding. Here is some pictures showing the retention feature I was talking about. I actually found these at the Habitat For Humanity. They just so happen to be the only top mount slides they had. But I do know that you can go to Ikea in their scratch and dent section to find miscellaneous parts for their furniture. They have slides there and they are cheap and plentiful.

[flashed]

Im in to see this .

[sk8er32283]

I figured out an issue with the previous mounting position of the seat slides. So I added some braces and welded it all up. Probably more grinding than welding. Next is to mount the slides in there new position. They will have to be moved towards the front of the the bottom seat cushion that way when the seat bottom tilts forward the portion of the slide that will remain stationary will not hit the seat back on its way up. I know this wont make much since until I have better pictures or get to that point in the project.

[sk8er32283]

I found out that the seat cushions are from an international truck and found the frame in a local junk yard so I am going to buy that and incorporate into the design. I will update soon.

[mechanicalman]

Sub'd.

[Elliot949]

I'm in for curiosity... Doesn't look safe to me at this moment...

[sk8er32283]

Made a little bit of progress. Here is a mock up to show about how much room there will be.

[57larry]

very nice looking sketch

[sk8er32283]

Made a littitle more progress today. Finished the supports and bracing for the back half of the frame. Mounted one of the slides and figured out the angle and length of the supports on the front half of the frame.

[sk8er32283]

Made some more progress tonight. Here are some pictures showing the basic movements of the frame. I left the seat cushion off so you can really see the frame.


seat pushed forward

seat leaned forward

seat back leaned forward

[sk8er32283]

Here is a video showing the movement and access to the storage area under the seat. The seat is a little wobbly when moving it so I think I am going to add a couple of braces. Let me know what you guys think.


http://vid1113.photobucket.com/album...psdfyq6nzm.mp4

[chevy_mike]

I like the idea and out of the box thinking.

That said, I am not sure you understand the G force loads involved if you are in an accident. It can be over 20 G's of force in an instant and what I see, this is going to tear apart and likely cause serious injury or death.

I would do a redesign where the whole bottom of the seat is a "cage" and bolts to the floor directly and then build sheet metal panels to complete your "box" under the seat. As for the lower cushion slide, I would find a way to "pin it" when locked, so it can't ever slide forward when braking.

Just a couple suggestions I would throw out.

[MAC71]

Really cool idea but does not look safe. It has to lock some how or it's an accident waiting to happen. Think modern SUV middle row seats and how they can move to allow access to the third seat but securely lock in place with very stout hardware.
Again cool idea, just make it safe.

[sk8er32283]

OK its been a couple of weeks and decided that I would catch you guys up on the project. With plenty of motivation from those that are following I addressed the safety issues with the seat movements and all. Thanks to all that chimed in on that matter. Here is the solution. I ended up using locking pins that are normally used on trailers to lock the door and what not in place.

This second picture has a bit more contrast against the liner on the bottom of the pan. The liner is actually just a 6.99 oil absorber mat that I saw at O'Riellys and thougth that it would work really well

Here is a picture of the seat cushion mocked up on the pan.

Here is a picture of the seat pan with the carpet glued on and trimmed out. The carpet on the pan will match the carpet I am putting on the floor.

[sk8er32283]

Ok this is the new seat frame and seats installed. I did a lot of work trying to remove rust and preserve what was left of the floor that was still in good shape. I added some padding and new carpet. The carpet was just your basic flat carpet from O'Rielly's. It took careful trimming and carpet tape to get a little bit of form fit up and around the hump. It looks pretty decent and was a lot cheaper that anything else I could find.

[66pnl]

Looks good. Nice work.