New Seats in my '90 Blazer

[3MAX]

Thought I would share some pictures of the seats I swapped in last spring. I put an '07 Ford 40/20/40 up front and an '02 Suburban in the rear.

This gave me room for six last summer...

Getting the front seat at the right angle was the toughest part - this is the same seat that's in my DD though, so I used it for measurements

The transmission tunnel was the perfect height for the front of the center console / seat (I based the height of the other seats from this), and added this bracket to support the rear. I angled it so it could bolt to the flat spot where the original console was bolted.

 

[3MAX]

And for the rear seat...

I wanted the rear to be easily removable like in the newer vehicles, so I kept the front latches from the new seat & added my rear latch to it as well.

New seat bottom with cover removed - I trashed most of the cables / locks that force you to remove it in a certain order.

Rear latch from original seat.

The new seat is deeper than the original, so I extended the handle so the latch could mount further underneat it.

I also added some bumpers at the rear corners to support the weight where I removed the latches. I used door stoppers bolted to a couple of brackets that I made.

That's it for the seat, now I needed add the strikers in the floor.

 

[keelue]

dude that is awesome!

 

[3MAX]

The rear strikers needed to be recessed for the seat to sit at the proper angle. This also keeps the strikers out of the way when we sleep in the back on camping trips.

I started by measuring the latches on the seat and forming a template...

I cut the recesses out of 12ga metal.

Perfect fit:

This also gives me shoulder harnesses for the rear passengers even with the top off since they are built into the seat.

 

[coreyk5]

Super clean install. Nice.

 

[3MAX]

dude that is awesome!

Thanks! I thought it turned out well.

 

[K85 Octane]

crazy clean install, totally factory like

 

[scottsdale86]

Did something similar to my K10 recently. Retro fitted a 1995 C2500 truck seat into my 86'. Had to remove the tracks on the stock seat of my 86' then added them to the new seat. Bolts right in the factory spots. Then added some new carpet and what a difference.

 

[Russell]

Did you do any bracing to the floor to prevent the seats from tearing through in case of an accident? That is one of the reasons why I haven't pulled out my worn out spring in your butt stock seats and put in something modern with integrated seat belts.

 

[3MAX]

Did you do any bracing to the floor to prevent the seats from tearing through in case of an accident? That is one of the reasons why I haven't pulled out my worn out spring in your butt stock seats and put in something modern with integrated seat belts.

I'm confident the new seats are as secure as the originals. The front driver & passenger seats use the original mounting holes and bolts, and there's no doubt my frames are stronger than the original ones. The center front seat is mounted with nuts and backing plates welded underneath much like the oem setup.
The rear seat uses the original latch and strikers in the floor. I used 1/8 plate welded to the seat bottom to bolt the latch to it - stronger than the mount on the old seat. And the recessed strikers for the front of the rear seat are built from 12ga sheet metal and welded securely - they aren't going anywhere.
Safety was a concern when I was putting it together - my 8 year old and his buddies are the primary passengers in the back, but I think it's safer now with the improved seatbelts than it was with the old seats.

 

[AJMBLAZER]

Maybe I'm misreading this but did you beef up the floor any? That's the weak point on these with even the factory seats.

 

[3MAX]

Maybe I'm misreading this but did you beef up the floor any? That's the weak point on these with even the factory seats.

Yes - I had repaired the floor when I bought the blazer about a year earlier. The drivers side rear mounts were cracked out pretty bad, so I cut that section out and weled in a replacement panel. The front mounts and passengers side looked ok, but I still welded 2"x3" reinforcement plates over all the mounting holes. So far everything is holding up well

 

[AJMBLAZER]

Ah, gotcha. My '89's in good shape being from the PNW but my seat mounts were horrible. Looked like two massively obese people had monkey sex in the seats every day for over a decade. Buckled downward, cracked, rusting, just baaad.

I cringe when I see people putting newer seats in these but not beefing up the floor. Just because it's flat doesn't mean it's smart to just bolt a seat to the floor...expecially the modern ones with belts in the seats.

 

[blowedupmotor87]

Ah, gotcha. My '89's in good shape being from the PNW but my seat mounts were horrible. Looked like two massively obese people had monkey sex in the seats every day for over a decade. Buckled downward, cracked, rusting, just baaad.

I cringe when I see people putting newer seats in these but not beefing up the floor. Just because it's flat doesn't mean it's smart to just bolt a seat to the floor...expecially the modern ones with belts in the seats.

Mine were cracked through the floor as well, could rock up and down about 3" in the driver or passenger seats! Cracks spider webbed out for several inches on the floor from the mounts by the tranny tunnel.

A lot of the newer seats have integrated seatbelts so, gotta figure a lot more potential force being put on the mounting points on the floor!

At any rate, 3MAX, your seat swap is looking sweet!!! Looks like they fit in perfect, nice work bro!!!

 

[AJMBLAZER]

Mine were cracked through the floor as well, could rock up and down about 3" in the driver or passenger seats! Cracks spider webbed out for several inches on the floor from the mounts by the tranny tunnel.

A lot of the newer seats have integrated seatbelts so, gotta figure a lot more potential force being put on the mounting points on the floor!

Yeah, we welded 3/16" plate on top of the floor so that the mounts are nice and heavy duty. No more seat mount failures thank you.

At any rate, 3MAX, your seat swap is looking sweet!!! Looks like they fit in perfect, nice work bro!!!

Yeah, home now so I can finally see the pics. Nice work man!

 

[rjfguitar]

Looks good, I also agree, trying to decide how much to angle up the seats with the adapter bracket was the hardest to decide on.

I went with late model Mercedes benz C class seats myself.