installing my 02 tahoe front seats tomorrow, need advice

[75K5]

Tomorrow I'm finally going to install those 02 tahoe front seats.They sit in there nice, but I have no way to bolt them down. It looks like almost none of the bolt holes match up.

What would you guys suggest I do. SHould I drill thru the floor and run long bolts, or make up some type of adapter brackets? I don't want to do this ghetto, it's a fully restored 75K5.

Thanks,
Brian

 

[HarryH3]

I've got SVO Mustang seats in my '75. We tossed out the brackets that were on the seats, then adapted the brackets from the '75 to fit the bottom of the Mustang seats. That way the seats still bolt to the same holes in the floor and my passenger side seat still tilts forward using the original hardware. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif We had to cut off the release handle for tilting the passenger seat and change the angle on it so I could reach it with the new seats in place. /forums/images/graemlins/eek.gif

 

[75-K5]

I think I'm having an identity crisis /forums/images/graemlins/eek.gif /forums/images/graemlins/eek.gif

 

[ColAdo82K5]

BRIAN !!! Long time no see buddy. Man...you are lazy ! I put in the seats that i got from you that same week...what have you been up to ? I still have that tailgate on my truck but it will come off soon, if you are still interested in it.
Let me know what is new.
Blake

 

[75K5]

me lazy, never /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

how ya doing!

 

[90K5]

i dont know what the bases of those seats look like, but drill holes in them if possible, so they line up with the holes in the floor

 

[ColAdo82K5]

Hey,
The key to positioning those new seats is to basically find how you want to place them and then work from there...I believe that they should line up with the flat spots of the floor pan. When i put in the seats i got from you...I just drilled holes where needed and put in short nuts and bolts. I was able to reuse one of the factory holes, the others were just very different. I put the old bolts back into the factory holes to seal them up and to make them look somewhat normal.
If want to be fancy you couldmake brackets to hide under the carpet like you had before...but...just find out if those seat s will fit level while just sitting on the floor pan.
Are those seats power ? i can't remember.
Blake

 

[transcore1]

I just did it with Avalanche seats. I drilled all new holes because the seats are about 3 inches wider at the track. I measured from the track to the outside edge of the door jamb to get them straight. The front holes are all parallel and the back holes are about 3" behind the stock holes. I don't have carpet (fully Rhino lined from the firewall back) so I just ran the power leads through on of the stock rear holes and down the frame rail. It made a huge difference in ride quality. You don't realize what junk those buckets are until you you ride on a new seat!!!!
I used 3/8" grade 8 bolts and grade 8 fender washers. The 4 bolts are now supporting the seat and the seat belt so 4 bolts are doing what 7 stock bolts were doing.
/forums/images/graemlins/k5.gif /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif /forums/images/graemlins/usaflag.gif
Scott
Transcore Blazer Project

 

[75K5]

have some 1/2" thick steel sheets that were used for the old seat brackets. If they are wide enough, I'm just going to drill some bolts thru, and have the seats sit squarely on that. If that doesn't work out, I'll just drill the holes. I want to avoid that if possible, but who knows what I will resort to if I get impatient.

They are power, so I'll have to run a bit of wire too. No big concern there though.

First step will be to pull up all of the carpet. I have some 50/50 flip and fold rear seats that I'm going to try and install this weekend also. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Mudstud]

Couple little things that I did when fabbing up new brackets for my 76 K5 was:
1. I hung a plum line from the center of the steering wheel and put a piece of duct tape on the seat to mark the center and kept verifying that the two stayed lined up.

2. I used duct tape to mark the postion of brackets on the floor. That way each time you nudge or move the seat you can easily bring it back to where you had it and not have to remeasure everything.

Some notes- Try and mount them as close to stock height as possible. Mine sit about 1"-2" higher then stock and when I first drove it it felt like I was driving a bus. If you don't have a tilt column then that would really suck. I have gotten used to it now. The arm rests will feel a little low too if the seats are too high. Also, I retained the flip forward mechanism on the passenger side and with a hi-back that springs forward becarefull not to hit the windshield with the top of the seat. It will crack it- ask me how I know /forums/images/graemlins/angryfire.gif. My free seats just cost me a windshield. One more thing I wish I'd done differently was mount the passenger side seat on the drivers side and visa-versa. Here's why, if your seats have the recline lever toward the door like mine do then it may hit your leg getting out of the truck. I have a new ritual now whenever I get out of my truck. It goes something like this- Tilt the steering wheel up, then slide the seat back then be concious of the recline lever. To remmedy the lever problem I'll have to cut it off and make a new bracket that lowere it a bit. My K5 is lifted 6" and has 35s so that does aggravate the situatuion some. I don't regret swapping them out because I use the recline feature ALOT and they are more comfortable. Here's a pic of the finished deal-

 

[75K5]

I got the carpet out, have a few questions for the guys that have done the silverado/tahoe/avalanche swap.

Main question is how do you bolt down the outer brackets? I see the tabs for the brackets on the inner side of the seat, but not the sides near the door. Any ideas...


here's no carpet

Here's what the brackets look like that mount near the counsole side of the seats

And here's two pics of the brackets that mount on the door side of the seats. Help!