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Big Blue's Seat Platform

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salans7

Re: Big Blue's Seat Platform

I am sorry to hear of their total loss but I am glad that the living beings were all safe as that is most important.

BigBrother-84

Re: Big Blue's Seat Platform

In reply to this post by Gary Lewis

Gary Lewis wrote

The neighbors across the street awakened us at 1 AM as their house was on fire. Had been hit by lightning and it burned to the ground.

Boy, what a tragedy. Happy to see everyone is safe. Hoping they had good insurance.

They are lucky to have you as their front neighbor, they are in good hands.

Jeff / 1984 F350 Crew Cab 4x4/5.8L w351 4V/ T18/ D50 4.10 front/ 8' bed.
Restored 2019-2022.
Nicknamed «Big Brother 1984», due to its soooo-looong shape & nod to George Orwell's 1984 famous novel.

Gary Lewis

Re: Big Blue's Seat Platform

Administrator

Thanks, guys. Things are progressing for them. The neighbors, the Tulsa Police Department, where he works, friends, etc have rallied around them. They’ve brought more food than we can put in the fridge, money and gift cards, and hugs and hugs, and hugs. It has been amazing, and our house is grand central station.

But they are going to a sporting event tomorrow for their son, so I might sneak out to the shop for a bit. We shall see.

Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

Dad's: '81 F150 Ranger XLT 4x4: Down for restomod: Full-roller "stroked 351M" w/Trick Flow heads & intake, EEC-V SEFI/E4OD/3.50 gears w/Kevlar clutches
Blue: 2015 F150 Platinum 4x4 SuperCrew wearing Blue Jeans & sporting a 3.5L EB & Max Tow
Big Blue: 1985 F250HD 4x4: 460/ZF5/3.55's, D60 w/Ox locker & 10.25 Sterling/Trutrac, Blue Top & Borgeson, & EEC-V MAF/SEFI

Gary Lewis

Re: Big Blue's Seat Platform

Administrator

Well, I did get out to the shop - to get cleaning supplies. They had a relatively new fridge against the north wall of the garage, which was about where the fire was stopped. The fridge was essentially unscathed and still had ice in the freezer. So we got it out and over to my shop and plugged it in. It works!

We used the cleaning supplies on it and the inside looks perfect. But the white outside is tan except where the magnets were, and there it is still white. But it works!

Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

BigBrother-84

Re: Big Blue's Seat Platform

Gary Lewis wrote

So we got it out and over to my shop and plugged it in. It works!

Amazing!

Maybe same fridge brand as Indy's one, when they nuke the fridge?

Jeff / 1984 F350 Crew Cab 4x4/5.8L w351 4V/ T18/ D50 4.10 front/ 8' bed.
Restored 2019-2022.
Nicknamed «Big Brother 1984», due to its soooo-looong shape & nod to George Orwell's 1984 famous novel.

Gary Lewis

Re: Big Blue's Seat Platform

Administrator

Lol! You have that GIF thing down pat.

Yes, it might be the same one if Indy had an LG. This thing truly is amazing.

Drove the truck with the new seat platform yesterday for the first time. It was only about 1 1/2 miles to their storage unit and back, but it gave me a bit of an idea for how the seats feel. And there were two impressions - the seat is lower and there’s more room in the cab.

The lower bit is true, but only by 1/2” from my measurements, so I’m surprised that I can even tell that it is lower. But there’s a feeling that you can’t see over the hood as well, and when you open the door to get out it isn’t as far to the ground.

And I think the “more room” feeling is because I was able to get the seat back a bit farther since the top of the back no longer hits the rear window. It is amazing what tilting it 6 degrees will do.

We hope to take it on a trip next week and can better assess during that what we think of the position. But I’m thinking that I may ask Janey to take a short trip in the interim and see if she agrees with me that they could be a bit higher. If so I’ll put the adjustable tracks on the seats and reposition the passengers seat to get it away from the window. Then we’ll have 4” of adjustability on each seat and 6” on the base.

Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

BigBrother-84

Re: Big Blue's Seat Platform

Gary Lewis wrote

It is amazing what tilting it 6 degrees will do.

I used to drive with the back very vertical.
Having some backache problems, a chiropractor suggested me to angle the seat back a little bit, just couple of degrees. This made a huge difference!
I have to admit I was at first skeptical, but I was surprised to see that my back troubles disappeared!
The doc was right.

Jeff / 1984 F350 Crew Cab 4x4/5.8L w351 4V/ T18/ D50 4.10 front/ 8' bed.
Restored 2019-2022.
Nicknamed «Big Brother 1984», due to its soooo-looong shape & nod to George Orwell's 1984 famous novel.

BigBrother-84

Re: Big Blue's Seat Platform

In reply to this post by Gary Lewis

Gary Lewis wrote

You have that GIF thing down pat.

Gary, I found that pasting a GIF, we must not resize it.
If resized, the software freezes the gif to its first image.

Jeff / 1984 F350 Crew Cab 4x4/5.8L w351 4V/ T18/ D50 4.10 front/ 8' bed.
Restored 2019-2022.
Nicknamed «Big Brother 1984», due to its soooo-looong shape & nod to George Orwell's 1984 famous novel.

Gary Lewis

Re: Big Blue's Seat Platform

Administrator

Good to know on the GIF, Jeff. Thanks.

And on the seat back angle, I don't know how to measure it because there are so many curves. So I took the two shots below. The back really does angle back, but there's a lumbar cushion at the bottom and then it angles pretty good.

Today the neighbors left for an interim location before they can get into a long-term house. So tomorrow I'll pull the seats out, add the cross pieces for the console, and weld everything up and grind it down nice and smooth.

I'll also explore installing the adjustable tracks. I'm inclined (pun intended) to put them on and see what we think. That way each seat can be adjusted individually and yet the whole thing can be moved. That should give the max of flexibility and access to the storage.

Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

BigBrother-84

Re: Big Blue's Seat Platform

Gary Lewis wrote

I'm inclined (pun intended)

Is a pun confessed half redressed?

Gary Lewis wrote

Today the neighbors left for an interim location before they can get into a long-term house.

Good news! They'll be able to settle down a little bit, after this horrible experience.

Waiting for the conclusion of you seat tests!

Jeff / 1984 F350 Crew Cab 4x4/5.8L w351 4V/ T18/ D50 4.10 front/ 8' bed.
Restored 2019-2022.
Nicknamed «Big Brother 1984», due to its soooo-looong shape & nod to George Orwell's 1984 famous novel.

Gary Lewis

Re: Big Blue's Seat Platform

Administrator

BigBrother-84 wrote

Is a pun confessed half redressed?

Cute!

As for the conclusion of the seat test, I hope you aren't holding your breath as you are going to turn blue. This isn't going rapidly, and part of the reason for that is due to the mix of parts I have. For instance, the c/c bolt holes on the bucket seats Chad gave me out of his Bronco measure 13" f/r and 14" s/s. But the captains chairs I'm using measure 12 1/2" f/r and 14" s/s. And as you might suspect, the tracks that I have from the buckets and captains chair differ as well. So it is very confusing to me and I'm going to take some measurements on the tracks and record that as well.

But I was able to cobble together some pieces that let me bolt the driver's seat back in to see what I think of the extra 1" of height, and I like it. I can see over the hood better and it doesn't feel like I'm in a well. So I'm now planning on using the tracks on both seats.

However the question becomes which tracks to use, what holes to drill in them, etc. So the goal this afternoon is to suss that.

Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

Gary Lewis

Re: Big Blue's Seat Platform

Administrator

Got the driver's seat mounted temporarily. Wound up with it back 1/2" farther than I'd had it when in the last notch of the platform. At that setting the back of the headrest does touch the rear window when you lean back, but I may like it there. But if you move it forward one notch the headrest never touches. I'm not sure which notch I'll use, but there's more room now than there was, for sure, and I'm quite sure I'll like it.

But speaking of room, there's a whole lot more access to the storage behind the seat now. The platform has 5 3/4" of travel and the seat has 4 1/2", so that's a total of 10 1/4" and with the back of the seat folded it is wide open back there. I'm really liking that.

Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

BigBrother-84

Re: Big Blue's Seat Platform

Sounds good!

Jeff / 1984 F350 Crew Cab 4x4/5.8L w351 4V/ T18/ D50 4.10 front/ 8' bed.
Restored 2019-2022.
Nicknamed «Big Brother 1984», due to its soooo-looong shape & nod to George Orwell's 1984 famous novel.

Gary Lewis

Re: Big Blue's Seat Platform

Administrator

Thanks, Jeff.

Nothing to see here, folks. But a little bit to report:

Passenger Seat: Got the tracks drilled & mounted on the seat and the platform drilled to take the tracks.

Console: Cut the cross piece of angle, welded it in, and mounted the risers. I'm using the same 3" tall risers I used before, even though my measurements said I only needed about 2 1/4". But the 3" ones were handy so I'll give them a try.

Welding: Added a bunch of welding to the platform since it was only tacked together, but it started raining so I couldn't take it outside and dress the welds. So I'll obviously have some touch-up welding to do later.

Fasteners: I think I've settled on using socket-head cap screws to hold the tracks to the platform, with nuts welded to the underside of the platform. That's because there's no room to get a socket on the top of a hex-headed bolt as they recess into the tracks. But there's precious little room to get an Allen wrench on the SHCS's, so I think I'm going to shorten the short leg of an extra Allen wrench and see if that works. But suggestions are welcome!

Won't work on it tomorrow as we have several things going on at church. And Thursday we are running errands. Maybe Friday?

Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

Gary Lewis

Re: Big Blue's Seat Platform

Administrator

Yep, got to work on it today. Basically I have the platform done, save for blasting and painting, but that's not going to happen until we try it out and see if we like it.

Today I realized a better way to do the fasteners for the tracks - tack weld a nut into the track an come up from below. But the two holes in the very front are very difficult to get to due to the angle blocking access. So I drilled 3/4" holes in them to allow a 3/8" drive 1/2" socket to reach up through to get to the nut.

Then I took the platform out and used the flap wheel on it to clean up the welds, took it back in to add more welds, rinse and repeat. And now I think I'm "there" and hope to get it installed tomorrow.

Here are some pics to document what I've done as I plan to add as-built drawings and other pics, maybe on its own page somewhere on the site.

Here's the platform:

Here's the platform with the console mounts added:

Here's the platform with the console added:

This shows where I drilled the tracks at 12 1/2" to bolt to the seats:

On the left is one of the nuts tack welded in the track, and on the right is one of the 3/4" access holes through which a bolt and socket are to be inserted to go through the hole in the center and into the nut in the track:

Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

grumpin

Re: Big Blue's Seat Platform

Very nice!

Looking good Gary. Going to look good with paint.

Dane
1986 F250HD SC XLT Lariat 4x4 460 C6-Sold
1992 Bronco XLT 4x4 351W E4OD
1998 GMC Sierra SLE K1500 350 4L60E
Arizona

Gary Lewis

Re: Big Blue's Seat Platform

Administrator

Thanks, Dane. May actually powder coat it as I think it'll fit in the oven. We shall see.

I also need to make the rear spacers as I don't want to have washers stacked up. But until I get the angle of the seat perfected there's no reason to make the spacers. I'll want to powder coat the spacers, and I want to powder coat the bolts that go through them as their heads are quite visible when the seat goes forward, and shiny bolts look out of place.

So there's a bit more to do, but I'm wanting to get it installed so we can test it before the trip to the car show we are going to on the 25th.

Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

Gary Lewis

Re: Big Blue's Seat Platform

Administrator

Time for an update. Took Big Blue on a short trip today, with about an hour of driving each way. Here are the observations:

Driver's Seat: I really like the new seating position. I can tell that it has my head a bit forward of where it was because I need to tweak the outside mirrors slightly. But oddly enough it feels like there is more room between the steering wheel and my chest. And, it feels like their is now even pressure on my rear end and thighs, where before most of the pressure was on my rear end.

Passenger's Seat: Janey wants her seat tipped back like it was before. She said it feels like her legs aren't touching the seat, and believes that tilting it back will help - even though we'll have to slide the seat forward some to get the back to lean back properly. So I'll put the wedge back in that will raise the from about 3/4" of an inch and see what she thinks.

Console: The height is good, but it could be moved forward an inch or so. However, that would get a drink pretty close to the shift lever, so we'll probably leave it where it is.

It is important that we get this right as we hope to take the truck to Santa Fe in late April so our son and I can do our overlanding trip. And that will have us sitting in those seats for several hours going and coming.

Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

Gary Lewis

Re: Big Blue's Seat Platform

Administrator

Got the wedge in place on the passenger's seat. The factory wedges are 1 3/8" tall in the front and 1/2" in the rear, so they effectively raise the front of the seat by 7/8".

They bolted in nicely, but I had trouble lining up the rear bolts from the platform to the tracks, so I put studs in the tracks with Loctite blue. Went in easily that way.

In this pic you can see that the passenger's seat is angled back more than the driver's seat. But what is hard to tell is that it sits 3" farther forward when the top of the back hits the glass.

Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

BigBrother-84

Re: Big Blue's Seat Platform

Gary Lewis wrote

But what is hard to tell is that it sits 3" farther forward when the top of the back hits the glass.

Gary, sorry for my stupid question, but do I conclude that Ford bucket seats did not have back angle adjustments, back in these years? Same as the bench seats?

Jeff / 1984 F350 Crew Cab 4x4/5.8L w351 4V/ T18/ D50 4.10 front/ 8' bed.
Restored 2019-2022.
Nicknamed «Big Brother 1984», due to its soooo-looong shape & nod to George Orwell's 1984 famous novel.

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