40 backseat and storage

[SFROMAN]

puting in a back seat so the kiddos can ride safer. went ahead and made a drawer to store tools, camping gear and miscelanous crap.

starting with this


test fitting the new drawer




test fitting the seat




I decided on not using the tumble brackets because I didnt like the way the seat tilted back.

Then I pulled the box back out tonight so I could bedliner it.



I will admit that I am not exactly thrilled with the finish but for now it will do. In the near future I am just going to carpet it up.

del

 

[Hltoppr]

I went through the same type of decision making process when I put the rear seat in my Troopy. As you'll likely want seatbelts and bomber mounts, I'd rethink bolting the seat and/or belts to anything wooden. Even with very good backing plates, the strength of whatever was used to hold the box together (nails, screws, glue, etc.) is not likely strong enough to withstand the forces involved with one or two passengers in the rear seat during a crash or rollover.

If I were to do the system (and I'm actually looking at reworking the rear seat on the 70 series), I'm leaning towards a strong, metal rail system raised up above the box, so that the box is mounted underneath. This would give a very strong place to mount the seat and belts.

From the design you have, maybe make seat/belt mounts that tie into the factory roll bar mounting points on each side, then mount the seat to that....

-H-

 

[zukrider]

x2! no woo involved in the safety of ayone, especially your kids!

rails across the box and tied to the factory roll bar is good, though i would like to see a tie to the frame myself. good luck and keepposting with your ideas!

 

[Box Rocket]

Not to rain on your parade but I'll echo the concerns of mounting the seat to anything wood. Also, the seat is mounted pretty high where the rear passenger's heads will be above the height of the rollbar. That's clearly not ideal in the case of a rollover, as injury to the rear passengers is likely.

Some sort of seat cradle (constructed of steel) would be a far better mounting surface for the seat. And while I really like the design of your drawer system, I would consider making it about half as tall. You'll be suprised how much you can still fit in it.

I had a ConFerr rear bench seat in my 40 with some under-seat storage. The storage compartment was maybe 6" high at the front and dropped to about 4" high at the back of the compartment but I was able to fit quite a bit of stuff in there. Also kept the seat low enough that even with car seats, my kids were not up too high. Of course I also had a family style rollcage, but the same idea applies.

Purely for sake of comparison/discussion here are a few pics of what I had in my 40.

Not the best shot showing the seat but you can see how high (or low) the seatback was in comparison to yours.

My 6 mo old son (now 7 yrs old) in his rear facing carseat on the ConFerr bench.

My 2 year old son (now 9 yrs old) checking things out from the rear seat.

Another trick if you have little ones that fall asleep on the trail. A sweatshirt is a handy head restraint to keep them from hurting their necks if you're bouncing down the trail while they're asleep.

Only other pic I could find of the rear seat....sort of. At least you can see that the seat bottom is almost even with the top of the wheel well. Personally I wouldn't mount it much higher than that if you can help it.

 

[SFROMAN]

Thanks for the response fellas.

No wood mounting. Got it!!

I will run a metal cross bar and mount the seat to that.

As far as height. I made the little ones sit on the chair and they are nowhere near the top of the roof. I can sit on the chair and come close to the roofbar but I am still below it. The seat is strictly for my 2 30 pound kids. I plan on adding a metal tech family cage in the near future.

Thanks for the advise and comments. Keep them coming.

DEL

 

[cumminscruiser]

40 backseat

I love the head restraint, I'll try it next time I can't stay awake driving home.