Suspension seats for dual cab

[bptp7270]

Not sure if this has been covered recently, but is it possible to install a suspension seat on the passenger side of a dual cab fg or isuzu. If so, how do you get access to the engine?

 

[whatcharterboat]

Not sure if this has been covered recently, but is it possible to install a suspension seat on the passenger side of a dual cab fg or isuzu. If so, how do you get access to the engine?

Hi Anthony,

Short answer is "no".

Longer answer.....there are two big issues here.

First is as you have mentioned " how do you access the engine?" My only thought was that any suspension seat base would need to be mounted to a hinge plate that could lift out of the way to access the engine hatch. It would of course need to be locked down at the front. The engineering alone required to meet ADR's would be a very costly exercise.

Second....any seat that hinged up out of the way, especially a low profile Stratos seat with it's suspension located in the rear of the seat, would need to swing through the main cross bar found in a crewcab. For those not familiar with a FG or NPS crewcab....the crossbar is a key structural component. So removing the cross bar would then require an alternate and engineer-designed bracing of some sort to regain the strength in the cab.

I honestly can't imagine anyone coughing up the money for the development and engineering approvals required to make this happen in a safe and legal manner....and then try to manufacture and market for a relatively limited number of sales.

 

[Amesz00]

It'd probly be easier to design a cab tilting mechanism?

 

[bptp7270]

Hi John,

I did see one on an 07 NPS that was for sale a couple of years back, but only in the photos unfortunately. Has anyone done a conversion to lift the dual cab like the singles?

Anthony

 

[whatcharterboat]

Hi John,

I did see one on an 07 NPS that was for sale a couple of years back, but only in the photos unfortunately. Has anyone done a conversion to lift the dual cab like the singles?

Anthony

Hi Anthony,

Must have been an '08. That was the introduction of the NPS crewcabs. Yeah....maybe it was a dodgey homemade setup.

Hi Andrew,

Yeah, I think you're right but how much would that cost?....I guess if you going to spend big money for a seat conversion then you might as well keep spending and get the ultimate setup with a tilt cab.

 

[SkiFreak]

I must say that I have never really looked all that closely at the crew cab's cab mounting setup, but if a prime mover can have a tilting cab setup I see no technical reason why you could not do the same thing on a crew cab.
I would think that lifting the cab would not be all that difficult, but engineering a lockdown mechanism that allowed for the twisty chassis would probably require quite a bit of thought and engineering.

 

[kerry]

I've read a fair amount of Aristotle and Aquinas and I can't remember where either of them said the Prime Mover had a tilting cab.

I must say that I have never really looked all that closely at the crew cab's cab mounting setup, but if a prime mover can have a tilting cab setup I see no technical reason why you could not do the same thing on a crew cab.
I would think that lifting the cab would not be all that difficult, but engineering a lockdown mechanism that allowed for the twisty chassis would probably require quite a bit of thought and engineering.

 

[bptp7270]

I am guessing that they must somehow lift them in the workshop to do any major mechanical jobs on the engine. All the hinging stuff is the same as the single cab. Could the lifting/lockdown mechanism from a single cab be adapted to do the job?

 

[whatcharterboat]

I am guessing that they must somehow lift them in the workshop to do any major mechanical jobs on the engine. All the hinging stuff is the same as the single cab. Could the lifting/lockdown mechanism from a single cab be adapted to do the job?

Hi Anthony....possibly. Its only 4 bolts that hold them down though. Would it be worth it I wonder? Making the lift setup would be easy enough but I like your thinking.

 

[Czechsix]

I'd check into how Unimog, Tatra, etc do their double cab lifts. Usually hydraulics to lift, the latching isn't that hard to engineer. Stock FG and FE latching would probably be fine, especially since there isn't much twisting going on in the middle of the chassis. If you're going to go to that trouble, you might also want to integrate some kind of cab suspension - scavenge some air bags and a shock from a big rig, fab up some mounts.