79 series seat up grade

Phil,

We have installed Stratos bucket seats in our 79 series. The seats have suspension so take out most of the jarring caused by sharp changes in vertical direction of the vehicle. Installed cost was about $3300. Well worth the cost in my view but we intend to keep the truck for ten years and go some different places.

Gday Phil,
I bought some second-hand Recaros from the wreckers ($650pair) and got them fitted by a seat company ($290 each side) to my 79series. They are compact, so theres still plenty of space for a console in the middle, and have a tilting lever on both sides of the seat back, so its easy to get to stuff behind the passengers seat - also the tilting is independant of the reclining angle. They feel firm, but I find they support you in the right spots on long trips, and hold you tight offroading.

To fit them involved welding up a custom frame to a new set of runners. The passengers seat belt is a pain for a couple of reasons. The solid stalk from the middle seat won't click into the passengers seat, so can't be used; secondly, Willshires had to drill a hole in the floor and slip in a new captured nut for the seatbelt. Also, theres a front hole for the RHS passengers side runner, but not a rear hole, so another captured nut needs to go in there.

If a seat has a flat base (like the aftermarket seats), then its easy to adapt. I'd doubt the 100series seats would be easy, but haven't looked.

Cheers
Phil G

My experience much like Phil G's re fitting difficulties. I used seats bought from ebay (uncertain what they originally fitted). I then attached metal plates to their base (bolted) so that I could fit the standard runners to the seat bases.

Instead of interfering with the vehicle body (Phil's installation of captured nut), I fabricated a 6-10mm plate with tapped holes for the passengers seat rear attachment point and the passengers seat belt. (tapped holes to match the seat belt anchor bolt and the seat anchor bolt.)

This plate is installed under the passenger's seat using the vehicle's existing seat belt and seat attachment points. Now is RTA approved 2 seater.

In my case I wanted to keep the area between the seats clear as I have an alley way right through the car - allowing me to move between front and rear.

Cheers

Chris

I fitted Paratus easily with supplied brackets but wished now I'g got the Stratos suspension seat for the drivers side.

I have just fitted a set of Stratos Compact 3000's to my 79 series are they are great. They are about the same size as the drivers bucket. Stratos can supply the adapters for you original rails even the 1-3/4 seat. The seat cost me $700 off ebay and the adapters $240 off stratos.
Regards
Phil

I got Stratos XT Commercial seats, pair off ebay for $1050. Adaptors from Opposite lock for $105 each seat. Well worth it!

I got Stratos XT Commercial seats for my 79 series, pair off ebay for $1050. Adaptors from Opposite lock for $105 each seat. Well worth it!

Hi
Not sure what state you're in, but in NSW once you make the change, "in theory" you will need an Engineer's certificate, a weighbridge certificate, a blue slip (not pink) and get the rego changed to reduce the seating capacity.

Mal