Geo Tracker Seat Installation

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" height=85 BGCOLOR="#111111" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <B>Geo Tracker Seat Installation</B></div> <div> <B>© Yankee Off-Road, LLC.  All rights reserved.</B></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>re.  Even the nicer JX and late model JL seats</B></div> <div> <B>with the side bolsters and removable hoop headrests were that comfy for a full-bodied</B></div> <div> <B>individual.  Our ‘94 Samurai JL seats had seen better days.  While wanting to stay with a</B></div> <div> <B>seating choice that didn't deviate far from being Suzuki, we searched the wrecking yards</B></div> <div> <B>for the perfect seat.  Originally wishing to find some Swift GTi seats, I realized just how</B></div> <div> <B>scare they are.  So we need to find one that fit this criteria:</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>One that was comfortable and fit an average sized frame.</B></div> <div> <B>One that was readily available and in abundance.</B></div> <div> <B>One that added good looks</B></div> <div> <B>One that was inexpensive (the Suzuki motto)</B></div> <div> <B>and one that was all Suzuki.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>We settled on seats from a trim level Geo Tracker, the step sister to the Suzuki Sidekick. </B></div> <div> <B>They are the high back type.  They are a grayish-black vinyl side and back, velour on the</B></div> <div> <B>bolsters and have a sport knit material on the center panels.  The fit a normal American</B></div> <div> <B>man.  Point one satisfied.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>The are almost as common as the less fancy standard Tracker or Sidekick seats, but could</B></div> <div> <B>be found in most yards making replacement in the future easy.  Point two satisfied.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>The looked sweet.  Very sporty and I found them in red, the accent color on my white </B></div> <div> <B>with black trim rig.  I have also seen the same seats in blue, purple, yellow and green with</B></div> <div> <B>black trim, so as to match almost anyone's rig.  Ixnay point three.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>I got mine by pickin’ and pullin’ for $20 a pair.  That made my kilt fly up.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>And for point five, dude, they were 20 bucks!</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Installing the seats</B></div> <div> <B>First, remove the existing seats from the truck.  Flip the seats upside down and unbolt the</B></div> <div> <B>tracks from the seat/  Do the same to the Tracker seats.  CAUTION:  Keep track of what</B></div> <div> <B>pieces came form where and which seat is which.  This is very important especially if the</B></div> <div> <B>first tool you wrench with is a cold, wet one.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Starting with the driver's seat, position the Samurai tracks on the bottom of the Tracker</B></div> <div> <B>seat. Notice it is not a direct bolt-up.  That's right fire up the MIG!  The tracks needs to go</B></div> <div> <B>back into the truck and in the furthest back position, unless your shorter that 5’8”.  (I'm</B></div> <div> <B>5”11 and need the room.). Place the Tracker seat on top of the tracks.  Test fit by sitting</B></div> <div> <B>in them and see where you want it to be.  We placed the seat so them went back a little</B></div> <div> <B>further than stock seat.  Mark the locations on the tracks on the seat frame and remove. </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Next, etch the location where the tracks go and prepare the surfaces for welding.  Make</B></div> <div> <B>sure the tracks are strait and tack weld them on.  Test fit the seat and if all is good, weld it</B></div> <div> <B>solid.  One seat down.  Check out the pic of the installed seat.</B></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>The passenger seat isn't so easy.  You'll notice that some of the support legs need to be</B></div> <div> <B>cut and massaged down to a common height.  Break out the cutoff and a BFH (big,</B></div> <div> <B>friggin’ hammer).  Cut down and massage until each side is even to each other, mainly even</B></div> <div> <B>with the interior side of the seat frame.  We decided to keep this seat closer to the location</B></div> <div> <B>of the stock seat, for ease of rear entry.  This may cause a little grief as the seat is longer</B></div> <div> <B>than stock, but its not big deal.  You can just move the seat rearward on the track and</B></div> <div> <B>you can skip the next step.  But moving it rearward will restrict an already cramped</B></div> <div> <B>entrance and exit pathway.</B></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>Looking at the shot below, you'll see what we did.  You'll need a couple of  pieces of</B></div> <div> <B>angle and some rod or flat stock.  We used a couple of pieces of scrap 3/16” box steel,</B></div> <div> <B>and some hardened head bolts from a V8.  Weld the angle on the track to form a support</B></div> <div> <B>for the front of the seat.  Mark the locations on the tracks on the seat frame and remove.  </B></div> <div> <B>Follow the same steps as the driver's seat and weld them up.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>We added a support under the seat by welding a stud between the angle support and the</B></div> <div> <B>bottom of the track, just to make sure it was strong.  We used the hardened bolts because</B></div> <div> <B>they were there, and it was late.  You could use some rod or bar stock to do the same</B></div> <div> <B>thing. </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Finally, paint up the tracks and supports to hide and protect the weld spots.  All in all the</B></div> <div> <B>seats worked out great and you would think they came that ways stock.  Considering all</B></div> <div> <B>the other seat install write-up that are out there, we figured this one made sense to do. </B></div> <div> <B>For a cheap, easy and good looking fix, we suggest that you head out to the yard and</B></div> <div> <B>track down a set of these beauties.</B></div> <div> <B> ~ from the staff at Yankee Off-Road</B></div> <bR> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=395 BGCOLOR="#111111" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <bR> <div> <B>WHY TRACKER SEATS?</B></div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="2df5c6d0.jpg" border=0 width="92" height="109" ALT="Geo Tracker Seat Installation" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="5" VSPACE="0"><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" >Original Samurai seats leave a lot to desire.  Even the nicer JX and late model JL seats with the side bolsters and removable hoop headrests were not that comfy for a full-bodied individual.  Our ‘94 Samurai JL seats had seen better days.  While wanting to stay with a seating choice that didn't deviate far from being Suzuki, we searched the wrecking yards for the perfect seat.  Orignally wishing to find some Swift GTi seats, we realized just how scarce they are.  So we need to find seats that fit the following criteria:</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b70118ffffff00.gif" HEIGHT="19" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">One that was comfortable and fit an average sized frame.</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b70118ffffff00.gif" HEIGHT="19" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">One that was readily available and in abundance.</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b70118ffffff00.gif" HEIGHT="19" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">One that added good looks</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b70118ffffff00.gif" HEIGHT="19" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">One that was inexpensive (the Suzuki motto)</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b70118ffffff00.gif" HEIGHT="19" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">and one that was all Suzuki.</div> <bR> <div> We settled on seats from a trim level Geo Tracker, the step sister to the Suzuki Sidekick.  They are the high back type.  They are a grayish-black vinyl side and back, velour on the bolsters and have a sport knit material on the center panels.  The fit a normal-sized  american man.  Point one satisfied.</div> <bR> <div> They are almost as common as the less fancy standard Tracker or Sidekick seats, and could be found in most salvage yards making replacement in the future easy.  Point two satisfied.</div> <bR> <div> They looked sweet.  Very sporty and we found them in red, the accect color on our white  with black trim rig.  We have also seen the same seats in blue, purple, yellow and green with black trim, so as to match almost anyone’s rig.  Ixnay point three.</div> <bR> <div> We got ours by pickin’ and pullin’ for $20 a pair.  Personally, that made my kilt fly up.</div> <bR> <div> And for point five? Dudes, they were 20 bucks.</div> <bR> <div> <B>INSTALLING THE SEATS</B></div> <bR> <div> First, remove the existing seats from the truck.  Flip the seats upside down and unbolt the tracks from the seats  Do the same to the Tracker seats.  CAUTION:  Keep track of what pieces came form where and which seat is which.  This is very important especially if the first tool you wrench with is a cold, wet one.</div> <bR> <div> Starting with the driver’s seat, postion the Samuari tracks on the bottom of the Tracker seat. Notice it is not a direct bolt-up.  Time to fire up the MIG!  The tracks needs to go back into the truck and in the furthest back position, unless your shorter that 5’8”.  (I’m 5”11 and need the room.). Place the Tracker seat on top of the tracks.  Test fit by sitting in them and see where you want it to be.  We placed the seat so them went back a little further than stock seat.  Mark the locations on the tracks on the seat frame and remove.</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="2e1a6cc0.jpg" border=0 width="422" height="204" ALIGN="RIGHT" HSPACE="5" VSPACE="0">Next, etch the location where the tracks go and prepare the surfaces for welding.  Now put the tracks back in and refit the seat.  Tack weld them on.  HINT:  You want to solidly tack weld them in the truck, to make sure the tracks are where they need to be.  Remove the seat and  weld it solid.  One seat down.  Check out the pic of the installed seat.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> The passenger seat isn’t so easy.  You’ll notice that some of the support legs need to be cut and massaged down to a common height.  Break out the cut-off and a BFH (big, friggin’ hammer).  Cut down and massage until each side is even to each other, mainly even with the interior side of the seat frame.  We decided to keep this seat closer to the location of the stock seat, for ease of rear entry.  This may cause a little grief as the seat is longer than stock, but it’s no big deal.  You can just move the seat rearward on the track and can skip the next step.  But moving it rearward will restrict an already cramped entrance and exit pathway.</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="3a9039d0.jpg" border=0 width="259" height="157" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">To do what we did you’ll need a couple of  pieces of angle and some rod or flat stock.  We used a couple of pieces of scrap 3/16” box steel, and some hardened bolts.  Weld the angle on the track to form a support for the front of the seat.  Mark the locations on the tracks on the seat frame and remove.   Follow the same steps as the driver’s seat and weld them up.Take a look at the following pics for a better idea of what we mean.</div> <div> <IMG SRC="3ac98ef0.jpg" border=0 width="152" height="239" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"><IMG SRC="3ae338a0.jpg" border=0 width="307" height="138" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"><IMG SRC="3b011d60.jpg" border=0 width="273" height="214" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"><IMG SRC="3b206cc0.jpg" border=0 width="262" height="204" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"><IMG SRC="3b4b8cc0.jpg" border=0 width="440" height="204" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="2e56eb30.jpg" border=0 width="366" height="435" ALT="Geo Tracker Seat Installation" ALIGN="RIGHT" HSPACE="5" VSPACE="0">We added a support under the seat by welding a stud between the angle support and the bottom of the track, just to make sure it was strong.  We used hardened bolts because they were there, and it was very late at night.  You could use some rod or bar stock to do the same thing. Finally, paint up the tracks and supports to hide and protect the weld spots.  All in all, the seats worked out great and you would think thay came that way stock.  Considering all the other seat install write-up that are out there, we figured this one made sense to do.  For a cheap, easy and good looking fix, we suggest that you head out to the yard and <I><B>track</B></I> down a set of these beauties.</div> <div>  ~ from the staff at Yankee Off-Road</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <A HREF="id18.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Tech Tips "><U><IMG SRC="28982410.gif" border=0 width="130" height="65" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> <div> © Yankee Off-Road, LLC.  All rights reserved.</div> </td> </tr></table></body>