Has anyone successfully lowered the front seats?

[tomjonesrocks]

As an addendum to the "front seats are killing me" thread posted earlier, I'm wondering if anyone has somehow successfully modded the front seats so they sit lower in the car. It seems with a little ingenuity (and/or special parts) this is an accomplishable task. I'm not the tallest person in the world, and you sit VERY high in this car. I think the car would be a lot more comfortable to drive sitting a bit lower, maybe 2"-3" or so. Any suggestions or tips on doing this?

With this car having been out a few years it's hard to imagine someone hasn't tried it.

 

[Se7enLC]

I lowered my seat this morning. There's a little knob on the side you just move up and down and the seat moves <jk>

I think it's probably more cost-effective to just find power seats and install them, rather than trying to modify the existing seats. Since once you modify it, it'll probably not be quite as sturdy, and you might have it at slightly the wrong height, and it'll be hard to change once you cut & drill, etc.

 

[tomjonesrocks]

I lowered my seat this morning. There's a little knob on the side you just move up and down and the seat moves <jk>

Actually have th power seats--even at the lowest setting seems like you're sitting up too high to me.

 

[melted]

I think it's probably more cost-effective to just find power seats and install them, rather than trying to modify the existing seats.

The boss has this problem - even with the power seat she can't get it low enough. That begs the question about 6 way power seats, "What are the six ways?"

I speculate:
1 - forward
2 - backward
3 - front tilt up
4 - front tilt down
5 - rear tilt up
6 - rear tilt down

This leaves out two other possibilities that may be included in 8 way power seats (not an option for the KJ).

7 - entire seat up
8 - entire seat down

Thus, lacking motions 7 & 8 perhaps the "too high" KJ driver is pooched.

 

[Dwight]

manual

I would have guessed that typically manual seats are lower than power just due to the motors on the power seat.

-Dwight #-o

 

[TRAILN]

I had the opposite problem. I'm short and felt like I was sitting too low so I made some custom seat risers

 

[cpafla]

I've only had my 05 a week & agree with the high seat problem. Have you had any luck on a solution? I saw some Cordeau brackets on another site but don't know how much they will solve the problem.

 

[tomjonesrocks]

I've only had my 05 a week & agree with the high seat problem. Have you had any luck on a solution? I saw some Cordeau brackets on another site but don't know how much they will solve the problem.

Haven't gotten anywhere on this, but I don't think it looks good. The transmission hump is very high through the middle (at least in the '02) and there's hardly any bracket height on that side as it is. So the outer brackets are huge but the inner brackets are very low. So not sure a solution would be possible at the moment--would love a solution though. Have never heard of the brackets you mentioned.

Too bad though, I think I'd be a lot more comfortable sitting about 2-3 inches lower than the lowest setting I can get.

 

[Tightwadsjeeper]

I think I remember reading somewhere that the average guy in America is something like 5'11" or 6'0"..... so for the most part, they design the vehicles for someone at or near that height.

I'm 6'2" so it could be a little higher and it still wouldn't bother me.

Probably not what you want to do, BUT... if nothing else, you could probably take the seat to an upholstery shop and have them remove the cover, remove some of the foam, and re-cover the seat to make it sit lower... I know some motorcycle enthusiasts have done this with certain models of bikes to make the seat-to-footpeg, or seat-to-ground height shorter. But that's a LOT easier on a motorcycle with a seat that's about 1/10th the size of an automotive seat, and I doubt you'd get more than about an extra 1" lower this way.

Luis