More leg room - looking for advice

[Bunyan]

Hi all,

I stumbled across this forum on a search and have been reading a bunch of the posts. Good stuff!
I?m posing a question to the experienced. I need more leg room in my ?88 110.
I just received my newly restored 110 South African Defender and had initially installed the Rovers North seat risers by Exmoor.
They look great and trimmed out very nice but raised the seat a bit too high.
I like the extra three inches of leg room but sat me up too high.
Anyone know of another way to give more leg room without sacrificing seat hight?
I?m not opposed to trying out new seats or bolting down a style of racing seats if that will lower the seat hight. I?d also like to move the seat inward a few inches if possible to add more shoulder room.
I?m a pretty big guy, 6?6? 290.
The other problem I have is that my rear seats seam to be very high as well.
Do they make adjustable seat hight legs for them to be moved down and back as well?
Looking forward to seeing what you guys have tried.
Thanks in advance!

 

[DiscoDavis]

The easiest answer is: It's a Land Rover. Not to be sarcastic at all.

The harder answer for the front row is a mix of seat risers and longer rails to scoot them up and back of the bulkhead/box lip? If you could, I would just live with it standard.

 

[RDavisinVA]

You didn't state which model 110 you have, so there is no specific answer to your questions.

 

[The Dro]

I see you are from NoVA... Happy Hour is next week. Plenty of trucks and knowledge.

 

[Bunyan]

I see you are from NoVA... Happy Hour is next week. Plenty of trucks and knowledge.

Yes, I went about a year ago and was planning on going to the last one when my headlights quit working. Got them sorted out now and am looking forward to the next HH.

@RDavisinVA, it?s a RHD 110 station wagon (pic of it under my name).
Is there more you need than that?

I found some extension rails on expeditioncentre.com.au (Mulgo extenders which raise only the rear) but they probably do the same thing my current ExMoor extenders do which is raise the seat too high.
Might have to learn to live with it or try a direct bolt down install of some type of racing seat in hopes it brings the seating hight down.

 

[The Dro]

Can you post pics?

You probably need something like the ones MUD sells, they move the seat up an 1" and back around 2"

http://www.mudstuff.co.uk/mud-seat-rails.html

 

[Tbaumer]

Dealing with the same problem & taking desperate measures, cutting down & bending new supports under the seat areas, just to get the seat height back to stock after installing slider/extenders. It's not going to be as easy as I expected. I'll post pics when finished.

 

[Bunyan]

Can you post pics?

You probably need something like the ones MUD sells, they move the seat up an 1" and back around 2"

http://www.mudstuff.co.uk/mud-seat-rails.html

I left the passenger seat extender/riser in my truck. I?ll see if I can add a pic tomorrow. The ExMoor ones I have installed are pretty much like the MUD I believe. They?re great for adding leg room but since I?m so tall I have to hunch down just to see out of the side windows. My wife says it looks like I?m sitting in the rear seat.
Here?s a pic of my current extenders (not fully pushed back).

 

[Bunyan]

Sorry, the new iOS update must have changed my ‘ for “?”...

 

[The Dro]

You need a soft top.

I don't know how you can easily "fix" your problem, because the seat-box has a 1" lip that won't allow you to move back without lifting the seat.

Your solution might be to grind the lip; get something like this seat riser and use Flat Socket Cap Screws.

 

[RDavisinVA]

@RDavisinVA, it?s a RHD 110 station wagon (pic of it under my name).
Is there more you need than that?

The signature icon rarely relates to the actual vehicle of ownership. Just because it's there in minuscule form, doesn't mean it relates to the actual vehicle owned.
Besides with the angle of the shot and size, it could have been a 110 2 door with African Roof Sides (dual windows).
You never mentioned which side the driver's cockpit was as well.

Now for some advice, big guy...
If this was a problem we were trying to solve in our shop, we would:
1.) remove the seat base and cut down the drivers side to make it lower
Since the battery is commonly under the left side, there is no negative side to battery storage height loss.
2.) Modify the seat stop pipe support, if your vehicle has one, to allow the seat to go further into the middle row passenger area.
If not then you don't need to worry about it since the !!0 seats have a seat back that locks in place.

The positive is you have the leg and head room you need.
Downside is you have a modified seat base and the drivers seat further protrudes into the small middle row passenger leg room.

There are several different seat configurations for the middle row.
It has been my experience that the 60/40 split provides the most leg room, but it is debatable.
It would be possible to just add the 60 - 2 passenger portion and leave the space behind the driver open.
You'd loose a passenger seat, but gain as much room as possible.
We reconfigured the the interior in a 1983 110 and switched to a 60/40 center row seat config and got rid of the fragile seat locks in favor of the earlier manual style that we had manufactured to adapt once the single bench was removed.


The following pictures will convey the idea.
Good luck.

 

[RDavisinVA]

Left out 3.) Reposition right front seat based on driver body measurements.
Possibly reconfigure middle row passenger seating.

 

[ezzzzzzz]

I cut down the panel behind the front seats on my modified IIA years ago. It allowed me to fit better seats that also allowed these to move back another 2" or so. I never had a problem with structural integrity of the body and I wheeled the crap out of that truck eventually cracking the chassis in several places.