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Seat Rake

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Greg

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I have a BJ8 with reconditioned seats and after some seat time I believe that I want to rake the whole seat, including the base, back some for more comfort. Has anyone on the forum done this and if so how much did you lift the front of the seats?

I can cut some wood and install it under the seat runners to accomplish the task but is anyone aware of where I could purchase "spacers" to rake the seats?
Thanks for the help and any ideas.
 
I raked my seats several years ago and used a "U" shaped piece metal about 1.25" inside the "U" measurement. You only need it about 1" or so wide. Holes were drilled on the two legs and I used the original nut/washer for the attachment to the seat rails and a bolt/nut arrangement to the upper seat cushion assembly. I did not attach anything to the center seat rail stud and everything seemed to work okay. I used this arrangement for about 5 years and it made the seat quite comfortable.

The "U" bracket makes it easy to get at the attaching bolts/nuts.
 
Sounds interesting, but I'm having a bit of trouble visualizing your setup. Any pix or drawings available. Thanks.
 
Hi cutlass, it appears that he just made a shim that was ~ 1" wide with a "U" shaped cutout ~ 1.25"deep to slip over the front stud between the seat bottom and rail. Guess you could do the same with large whashers.---Fwiw-Keoke-?
 
No pix, but maybe I wasn't very clear(my fault).
The "U" bracket needs to be attached to the two front studs that connect the seat frame to the sliding track. It will actually go between the track and seat frame. You will have to remove all the stud nuts except for the rear two and those will need to have their nuts backed off quite a bit because you'll be raising the fronts of the seat tracks.
When you do this and place a spacer between the front seat frame and track stud areas you'll be able to find the height that you're most comfortable with. You will have more support under your thigh area because the front part of the seat will be raised and that's better for those long over the road trips.

No nuts on the center two studs!

You should have enough "stud" threads on the rear to use the original nuts & washers. The metal that I used was from the commercial building application electrical channels. This is the "U" channel that's used for attaching the metal conduit to that carriers the electrical through the warehouse.

I can send you a rough sketch during the day tomorrow if you need one. It would have to be from my work email to your work/personal email. The inch or so rake makes for more comfortable driving. Use caution when sliding the seat all the way back if you have the read deck shelf folded down on a BJ8. This is very simple to make and very little money outlay.
 
Washers won't work very well because of the short stud length. having at least an inch of rise in the front gives the best rake and feel.

PS: I tried the washers first.
 
Patrick67BJ8 said:
Washers won't work very well because of the short stud length. having at least an inch of rise in the front gives the best rake and feel.

PS: I tried the washers first.
Click to expand...

OK That material is called " Uni-Strut". Yes, If a lift that high is used it is imperitive that you use an additional set of bolts.--Keoke
 
Hi Lin, I had thought of doing that too except when I looked at the stress and bending loads on the bolts in the event of a crash. Adding the filler shim of hard wood is considered a must to strengthen the assembly.--Fwiw---Keoke
 
Yes, I agree Keoke, but I think with the wood added sufficient strength will exist.
Lin
 
That helps. In essence, what's needed is a tapered shim. That shouldn't be hard. I've got a friend building an airplane, and he's got lots of scrap aluminum. If I come up with a really neat fix, I'll post it.
 
Thanks for the help guys. It sounds like an inch will do the trick. I will use some sort of support between the studs.
 
Cutlass said:
That helps. In essence, what's needed is a tapered shim. That shouldn't be hard. I've got a friend building an airplane, and he's got lots of scrap aluminum. If I come up with a really neat fix, I'll post it.
Click to expand...


IMOP, A piece of Uni-Strut spanning across and securely bolted to both seat slides via the front slide bolts, then using two extra bolts to attach the seat frame to it, is the safest simple design to use. Adding the wooden or aluminum shim will add stability to the seat frame.---Fwiw--Keoke
 
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