I have seen this question posted a couple of times lately, “Seat lift for Scab?” Yes, I know I know LMI has one. Well if you don’t think they are overpriced then you shouldn’t be driving a 10-year-old vehicle. With just a little ingenuity and a couple trial and errors, I have been able to make this and so can you. Ok, time to cut to the chase.

Parts List:

1. Material for spacers-In my case I used Delrin. This is a hard plastic, very durable, and easy to work with. It was readily available at my father’s workplace so we went about using it as it was also free.



2. Bolts, Nuts, and Washers-Now for this I went to a local hardware store and bought these



1 Bolt-says 10.9 at the top

6 Bolts-say 8.8 on the top


Old bolts for comparison


6 3/4" Washers

3 3/4" Nuts

3. Drill Press-This will make it so much easier to drill out for the holes in the material.

4. Power Saw-This should be a given

5. Miscellaneous ratchets and a torx bit.
15 mm for the original nuts in the front
18mm for new bolts
3/4" for long bolt and nuts
Torx(star like bit) to remove original back seat bolts. I don't remember the size, but if you know it please share. I borrowed this set from a friend who owns a body shop therefore I can't just go outside and look it up.

6. Belt Sander (stationary)-This will help in getting the blocks all the same height because we all know our cuts are not always perfect

7. Time

Ok so now you have the parts, you may ask where to start? Measuring. I wanted to fit a sub box under there without the seat putting pressure on the box when someone sat down. You may be lifting the seat a different height or for a different reason. I calculated that the height I needed was 1.5 inches. This accomplished my goal without giving up too much room for the passengers.

Ok, now that you have determined the height you want your blocks to be we start by removing the rear seats.

First the back rest comes off


There are 3 of these "clips". One on either side and one in the middle. As well as 2 clips on the bottom on either side.

To get this off just pull up hard on the seat back with one hand and forward at the same time. Just experiment you will get it. Trust me you won't break anything. Now you have this.



Then loosen these bolts


There are 4 across.

Now yank everything out


And it should look like this.

Now we take the saw and we cut our blocks. I used a stationary power saw to do this. The measurements of my blocks were all the same.



If the height measurements are a little off, use the belt sander to make them all the same height.

Now we need to test fit them in the truck to make sure they fit good.





Now to modify the blocks for the bolts. Before the pictures, I am going to describe what I did. For the back 4 blocks I just simply measured how far over the holes were from the edge of the block and just guessed and drilled, remember if it ends up hitting a little you can always sand away some of the side. For the front 3 though, it took a little thought. For this you will need the drill bit(I think I used a 1/2") used before and a cut-out bit like this


(This is not the exact one I used, just found it on google to show you what I am talking about)

so a nut will fit in there. Ok, so what we are going to do is cut out of the block so that the original stud screw will go through the block, like the back 4. But on this you will use the cut out bit so that the nut will be able to go down and bite on that stud. This just took some measuring, drilling, testing, drilling, etc. It will now look like this

 

Then you are going to want to drill out for the new bolts and nuts you purchased. You are going to do the same thing as before except you will drill out for the nut on the opposite side like so


Notice that it is shallower for that side.

You are going to do this for all 3 blocks. Now they will look like this



Now for the tricky part….to drill through the metal seat bracket. This will attach to the block via the new holes made. The block is connected to the floor also by the original stud. You starting to see how this works? There is really not any excellent way to do this except for just measure, test fit, and then use a hand held drill. It will end up looking like this





Now it is time to install everything back into the truck. This is a bit tricky to get right. The ones connected front and back cannot be tightened by themselves, they have to each be tightened little by little, alternating between each one.

For the back. Here is how it is set up





The front is set up like this

 

And here is your final product!






At the end, I am very happy with it. The only thing is the seat belt receivers stick out some and the seat back is snug fitting(more so than it was before). But now I have about 9 inches of clearance! Hope this helps some of y'all. And if you need me to add, change, delete some stuff feel free to comment, because this was written to help you!

James

 

Only 1 comment. Vacuum!



No really, good write up. Maybe a little more info on the plastic would be cool. The seat lift I used was quite different but this appears to be a much cleaner install.

 

Turned out good.

Looks much cleaner (Layout wise) than my 99. I have 3 brackets and 1 solid piece that bolts to the brackets, from there the seat folds down.
Wish I knew how to convert to a 40/20/40 bench or even better captains, Then i'd do the Sub box I REALLY want.

Hey, maybe your front seats will fit in my back seat spots... lol

 

Great write-up!

I need to raise the rear seats in my 2010 about an inch. Doesn't look like it would be much different than this.

Any idea where to buy thick pieces of delrin (for those who can't get it at work)?

 

Thanks man, yeah eventually I want to do the bucket seats in the back as well. Doing a full center console with a couple bm's or something.

Here is a link to a price calculator

http://www.interstateplastics.com/Ac...e+it+%3E%A0%A0

It is a little expensive but it just depends.

 

Yeah, that stuff is more expensive than I thought. Over $60 shipped for the amount needed.

I think I'll check what we can get at work. It might end up being welded steel brackets, since whatever's in the scrap metal bin is free. Its just that it is a lot more work than cutting and drilling a few blocks.

 

Yeah, but it is better than the LMI kit price. Even if I would have payed that it would have been cheaper for me. And I had though about the metal bracket thing but I think this came out really clean and is sturdy. If you do the metal, share some pics!

 

looks easy! i will c what i can do this weekend and mabe take a few pics and sent them 2 everyone

 

There's a place here in my part of town called tap plastics... they sell every kind of plastic you can think of for a decent price. Some stuff I used to work with for construction was called UHMW (Ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWPE or sometimes shortened to UHMW) was some really dense and durable stuff. Withstands the elements very well also. Comes in a variety of colors.

"Ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene or high-performance polyethylene (HPPE), is a subset of the thermoplastic polyethylene. It has extremely long chains, with molecular weight numbering in the millions, usually between 2 and 6 million. The longer chain serves to transfer load more effectively to the polymer backbone by strengthening intermolecular interactions. This results in a very tough material, with the highest impact strength of any thermoplastic presently made.[citation needed] It is highly resistant to corrosive chemicals, with exception of oxidizing acids. It has extremely low moisture absorption, has a very low coefficient of friction, is self-lubricating, and is highly resistant to abrasion (in some forms, 15 times more resistant to abrasion than carbon steel). Its coefficient of friction is significantly lower than that of nylon and acetal, and is comparable to that of polytetrafluoroethylene, but UHMWPE has better abrasion resistance than PTFE. It is odorless, tasteless, and nontoxic.

Polymerisation of UHMWPE was commercialised in the 1950s by Ruhrchemie AG, which changed names over the years; today UHMWPE powder materials are produced by Ticona, Braskem, and Mitsui. UHMWPE is available commercially either as consolidated forms, such as sheets or rods, and as fibers. UHMWPE powder may also be directly molded into the final shape of a product. Because of its resistance to wear and impact, UHMWPE continues to find increasing industrial applications, including the automotive and bottling sectors, for example. Since the 1960s, UHMWPE has also been the material of choice for total joint arthroplasty in orthopedic and spine implants.[1]

UHMWPE fibers, commercialised in the late 1970s by the Dutch chemicals company DSM, are widely used in ballistic protection, defense applications, and increasingly in medical devices as well."


Good stuff. I would recommend using it

 

before and after pics?

 

? Before it was stock....the after pic is one of the last ones posted.

 

I need to do this to my 97 scab. Where did you get that plastic from and how much was everything you bought for the seat lift?

 

I got the plastic from my dad's work for free. It is a bit pricey, around $60 shipped for enough to do it like I did. The bolts, washers, and nuts were not expensive at all though. I do have enough material left over to do another 1.5" kit, PM me if you would like me to make it for you. I wouldn't charge too much and would go buy the bolts and everything.

EDIT: 97 is most likely different from my 01. I would check before you PM me, but the PM offer is open to anyone.