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From: RJSEsqAntq@aol.com[SMTP:RJSEsqAntq@aol.com]
Sent: Monday, March 06, 2000 9:25 PM
Subject: Re: [D90] aftermarket seats?
Hi Y'all,
Before spending a fortune on new seats, you should try raising
the height of the ones you have. More back support might not necessarily be
what you need. It is actually more likely that leg angle is the cause of the
pain. You need to get your butt up in the air a couple of inches. Try driving
around for a couple of days siting on a thick book. You might just surprise
your self.
If you do find that this works for you. It is quite easy to place
raising blocks between the seat frame and the box it fixes to. You will need
to lengthen the bolts by the amount that you raise the seat.
I have had two attempts a raising my seats. I used hard Maple
painted black for both attempts. The first time, I raised them 1 1/2" but on
short blocks that only supported the seat ends. The second time I used a 2"
full length block, that supports the runner through it's entire length. If I
did it again, I would probably go back to 1 1/2 " and I might go with square
tube.
Regards Sam Simpson.
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From: Doug Boehme[SMTP:DBoehme@PA.navisys.com]
Sent: Monday, March 20, 2000 7:32 AM
Subject: [D90] seat risers
The biggest improvement I could have ever made to on-road driving
happened this weekend...I installed seat risers and my view of the road
is much better, my legs have more room, and my back feels better. If
you don't have them already, I would highly recommend that you install a
set for yourself. (my off-road driving is probably improved too, but I
can't really rate the seat risers against a drop kit, locker, winch,
tires, etc, etc, etc)
Douglas J. Boehme
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From: Cliff[SMTP:gfai@mindspring.com]
Sent: Monday, March 20, 2000 11:55 AM
Subject: Re: [D90] seat risers
Let us know the details of how high and how much further back they allow
the seat to travel. I have priced RN at like $65/seat and they raise it
1 1/2 inches, ECR's raise it the same but allow it to move back 2 1/2
inches more, but at $125 per seat!
A reasonable substitution would be great.
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From: Doug Boehme[SMTP:DBoehme@PA.navisys.com]
Sent: Monday, March 20, 2000 12:14 PM
Subject: RE: [D90] seat risers
I'm not sure what year D90 you have, but if you have the roll bars that
go down to the floor behind the front seats (as on the '94 and '95), the
further back the seat goes, the less you can recline your seat back.
Also, because of the position of pedals, steering wheel, and shift
stick, as you raise your seat you're actually moving away from all three
things. After raising my seat, I didn't feel the need to move the seat
back any further. (which is good, because the seat range is the same as
stock)
My seat bars are 2" (I think, I'll check to be sure) and around $50 per
seat. They came primed and painted but when you mount the seat frames
on the seat risers, you'll scratch the s**t out of them so I coated them
with 3M Undercoating (black) and when finished have a rubbery textured
look that blends very nicely with the black vinyl sheeting on the seat
box. (would probably look good with carpet as well) They are box steel
and have holes drilled through them to allow a grade 10.2 (metric
equivalent of grade 8) M8x1.25x70mm bolt to pass through the seat frame
mounting hole, through the riser, through the 1/4" spacer, and into the
captive nut underneath. (M8x1.25x60mm bolts are used on D90s with ABS)
I think any other mounting design would not be as strong.
Doug later added:
I lied...they're 1 1/2" tall and they are $60/seat. (I rechecked my
invoice - I really need more sleep) Because they raised the seat higher
than the lip behind the seat, you can move the seat back further than
stock but really only an inch.
And finally added:
I'm going to take photos either today or tomorrow and submit them to be
posted to the D90 website. The person that made them for me is Chris
"V" Velardi. He is aware of the different bolt lengths between ABS and
non-ABS models and is ready to make other sets as needed.
---------
From: Michael Azzariti[SMTP:efxguy@earthlink.net]
Sent: Tuesday, September 26, 2000 2:49 AM
Subject: Re: Seat risers, D90 front seats
Cliff,
I need to scan the drawings of the seat risers for you and e-mail them
along. I brief, I can tell you how I made them.
I used four lengths of 1.5" steel square tube. I bought it at the Home
Depot cheap. The trick with my method is I not only moved the seats up
an inch and a half, but also moved them BACK about an inch and a half.
So you start by measuring the distance between the bolt holes in the top
of your seat box, where the seat rails mount. Then measure the length of
the actual seat rails and add two inches. Cut four tubes to this
dimension. On the bottom of each tube, measure back 3/8" and the
measured distance between the centers of the stock holes. Measure back
from that point the distance of the stock hole centers in the seatboxes.
Drill 3/8" holes at these measurements, 3/4" from each side, i.e.
centered. On the front end of the tube, drill only the bottom, on the
rear end of the tube drill through both the top and bottom of the tube,
then on the top side of the tube, open this hole to 3/4" or whatever the
diameter of a half inch socket happens to be. On the top side of the
tube, measure back 1.5", or whatever set back you prefer, scribe a line,
measure back 3/8", then measure back from there the stock hole distance
from the front side. Drill two 3/8" holes on these marks, centered on
the tube. Now you have to measure the height of the lip on the back of
the seat boxes, where the Euro bulkhead would be, and notch the tube
accordingly. Then cut the front of the tubes, on the sides, from the
bottom leading edge to the top marks at 1.5" back. You will end up with
the front of the tubes cut to 45° angle on the side. Grind and file all
the edges smooth and paint inside and out to suit. I used black
Hammerite.
Use the stock hardware to bolt the tubes to the seatboxes, use 5/16" x
1" nuts and bolts with lock washers to bolt the seats to the tubes.
Best of luck,
Michael
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From: Doug Aitken[SMTP:jdaitken@earthlink.net]
Sent: Tuesday, July 11, 2000 12:37 PM
Subject: [D90] Replacement seats for D-90
There have been a few discussions of possible replacement seats for the
Defender.
Here is one which is used by a number of IBEX owners with great success.
supposed to be really comfortable, and can come with arm-rests and
head-rests also.
http://www.kabseating.com/t4_pro.htm
They have sales agents here in the States:
KAB Seating North America
200 National Drive
Vonore TN 37885-9631
Tel: +1 800 354 9621
Fax +1 423 884 6667
Email: kabseating@nationalseating.com
To get at your battery compartment, you need to unbolt four bolts, so they
generally use sealed (optima or equivalent) batteries......
Doug
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From: lrcb40@aol.com[SMTP:lrcb40@aol.com]
Sent: Tuesday, March 07, 2000 8:17 AM
Subject: Re: [D90] aftermarket seats?
I fitted a Corbeau GTB seat to my D90, from Scorpoin Racing in England. I
made my own frame from sq alum tube (structural quality). Of course there is
no adjustment and you can't get to the battery without removing the seat. But
it was very comfortable, a bit higher up. The side bolsters made entry and
exit a bit of a struggle (I'm 6-1). With the lumbar support option on this
seat, it was cozy.
Andy Nichols
lrcb40@aol.com
97 - D90SW 2485
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From: Andrew Howton[SMTP:envi@telusplanet.net]
Sent: Tuesday, March 07, 2000 11:44 AM
Subject: Re: [D90] aftermarket seats?
I got a seat from a 240 series volvo at a wreckers for $10 CAN. I had to make up
mounts for it which was a bit of a pain but it is SO comfortable. One time my
back was so bad in the morning that I had trouble getting into the 110, 10+ hours
of driving later my back was great. That's a good seat, my dad has also put them
into his 90. Some of them are heated too.
Andrew Howton
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From: john.cranfield@ns.sympatico.ca[SMTP:john.cranfield@ns.sympatico.ca]
Sent: Tuesday, March 07, 2000 12:22 PM
Subject: Re: Replacement seats
My seats are fixed by a long rod passing through tabs welded to the seat
base and holes in the runners.
One pull of the rod and the seat is ready to lift out
(for access to the under-seat cubby boxes - ed.)
John and Muddy
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From: Shane Ballensky[SMTP:roverme@sunset.net]
Sent: Friday, October 06, 2000 5:23 PM
Subject: Re: [D90] Neoprene seat covers
> I've seen a couple of 90's with neoprene(wetsuit material) seat and
> headrest covers. Does anyone know where these can be purchased?
Try:
http://www.wetokole.com/
Shane
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From: Scott Monico[SMTP:smonico@monico.com]
Sent: Thursday, June 15, 2000 4:14 PM
Subject: Re: defender rear seat install
File: d90rearseat.pdf
Scott
