Jeep CJ5 seats issues

[DaveB]

A few years back I fixed up an old 72 CJ5 for a friend of mine that had been out in his field for 30 years. The seats in it were shot so I found some Dodge van seats that I thought were nice. The problem is they are too thick and the only people that can drive the Jeep are short skinny people. My friend can't drive it because he is too tall and the seat can't go back far enough. I can fix it in several ways, get thinner seats, cut the wheel well and make it so the seat can slide back farther or stretch the Jeep. I think I'll try the seat route first. Does anyone know of a seat that is thinner that would work well for a CJ5 ? Here is a shot of the seats in it now. I also need to modify the Confer roll cage since they hit their heads on the side bar. Maybe thinner seats would give more head clearance. I would also like to find a top for it so that rain and snow stay out up on the ranch.

 

[bryson]

The cheaper Bestop seats are a pretty good bang for the buck in a CJ. They'll be thinner in the seat cushion for sure (more head room), and from the looks of your current seats, they'd be thinner in the back cushion as well (more leg room). They are a bolt-in replacement if you have stock CJ seat frames. I actually have a set of them in one of my Cruisers currently if you want to check them out/take some measurements.

 

[Pile of parts]

I can't remember from my '73, if the mounting was the same. Aftermarket is great for '76-'86 but not so good for the "Intermediate" Jeeps. Jeep did low back seats in those because of the under passenger seat tool box. This allowed it to be folded and flipped up for access. I'm just not sure if all the mounting holes line up. I know I had bought a set of cheaper Bestop seats to put in mine but ended up going with those plastic Baja buckets because they were the only thing that gave me enough room and I'm short and small. However, I had built a cage with seat mounts tied into it and all of that tied into the frame. That may have been the reason for my extra trouble... I wish I could remember. I do remember that I hated those Baja buckets after a day on the trail!

 

[boogie_4wheel]

A few years ago I modified the fender for more leg room on a friend's CJ5. I marked and carefully cut out the section of fender, then flipped what was cut and welded it back in place with very little patching required. It allowed full seat travel like in a 7, and the stock suspension didn't flex enough for the tire contact it.
I wish I would have taken a couple pictures...

 

[DaveB]

A few years ago I modified the fender for more leg room on a friend's CJ5. I marked and carefully cut out the section of fender, then flipped what was cut and welded it back in place with very little patching required. It allowed full seat travel like in a 7, and the stock suspension didn't flex enough for the tire contact it.
I wish I would have taken a couple pictures...

That would have been good to see what you did. I think I would still need a thinner seat as the Dodge seats will hit the cage if it goes back too far.

 

[DaveB]

The cheaper Bestop seats are a pretty good bang for the buck in a CJ. They'll be thinner in the seat cushion for sure (more head room), and from the looks of your current seats, they'd be thinner in the back cushion as well (more leg room). They are a bolt-in replacement if you have stock CJ seat frames. I actually have a set of them in one of my Cruisers currently if you want to check them out/take some measurements.

Thanks for the offer it would be good to see how much thinner they are. The 72 uses a different mounting bracket than the 76-86 CJs, it's a bar that goes from side to side with tabs that mount the seat. I modified the mounts (moved the tabs) for the seats that are in there now so it would be easy to modify them again. Anyone have some BestTop seats they no longer use ?

 

[Hickey]

My 83 CJ had custom seats that were thinner in the backrest. I'm only 5'-9" and I don't see how anyone taller than me could fit in there comfortably.

I would suggest looking at SXS seats, both aftermarket and stock. They are much thinner in the backrest.

 

[DaveB]

Maybe I should steal the seats out of the grandkids go-cart.