Need to level out the front drivers seat

[jonrjen]

Recently post another thread of "Should it stay or should it go" talking about how bad my right leg cramps up after approx. 2 hours of drive time in my 2018 GT Platinum. I didn't have this problem in my base cloth seats of my 2017 Ecoboost Mustang.

Wondered if it was due to the cloth seats allowing for more cloth material stretching vs the leather. Or the lower seat IE: butt cushion being a firmer foam.

I took the GT out for a drive yesterday trying to pay more attention to leg pressures against the seat. Later in the day I was on youtube watching videos on the Focus ST. The reviewer made mention that many people found the S2 an S3 version of the ST come with the upgraded Recaro seats with higher side bolstering. These seats also were designed with a more pronounced pitch of the lower seat keeping the butt planted lower than the forward edge of the seat saying this position of the seat helped keep the driver more secure in the seat during heavy braking if course racing.

Well after hearing this a light went off in my head, maybe/does the leather seats in the GT Platinum sit with the leading edge of the driver seat set higher and designed to keep the butt lower? After taking a look at the seat and playing with the electric seat adjustments it appears that the forward leading edge of the seat does sit higher than the butt pocket of the seat. The electric controls will not lift the rear of the seat high enough to level out the lower seat cushion. It does come close, but also greatly limits your head room and shortens the leg length clearance creating a whole other issue.

OK, now you have the history behind my question which is. Would it be feasible to loosen the 4 mounting bolts of the seat then using washer to raise the rear of the seat base mount by stacking them under the mount frame and floor of the car then retighten everything sound like a reasonable fix?

I await your feedback Pro or Con.

Thanks in advance,

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[Interceptor]

Body shims.

 

[Anthony 05 GT]

I see no reason why you couldn't space the seat up higher in the back.

 

[Norm Peterson]

Recently post another thread of "Should it stay or should it go" talking about how bad my right leg cramps up after approx. 2 hours of drive time in my 2018 GT Platinum. I didn't have this problem in my base cloth seats of my 2017 Ecoboost Mustang.

Wondered if it was due to the cloth seats allowing for more cloth material stretching vs the leather. Or the lower seat IE: butt cushion being a firmer foam.

I took the GT out for a drive yesterday trying to pay more attention to leg pressures against the seat. Later in the day I was on youtube watching videos on the Focus ST. The reviewer made mention that many people found the S2 an S3 version of the ST come with the upgraded Recaro seats with higher side bolstering. These seats also were designed with a more pronounced pitch of the lower seat keeping the butt planted lower than the forward edge of the seat saying this position of the seat helped keep the driver more secure in the seat during heavy braking if course racing.

Well after hearing this a light went off in my head, maybe/does the leather seats in the GT Platinum sit with the leading edge of the driver seat set higher and designed to keep the butt lower? After taking a look at the seat and playing with the electric seat adjustments it appears that the forward leading edge of the seat does sit higher than the butt pocket of the seat. The electric controls will not lift the rear of the seat high enough to level out the lower seat cushion. It does come close, but also greatly limits your head room and shortens the leg length clearance creating a whole other issue.

OK, now you have the history behind my question which is. Would it be feasible to loosen the 4 mounting bolts of the seat then using washer to raise the rear of the seat base mount by stacking them under the mount frame and floor of the car then retighten everything sound like a reasonable fix?

I await your feedback Pro or Con.

Thanks in advance,

Are these bolts actual bolts that screw down into captive nuts in the floor or are they studs with nuts? If they're studs, be sure to leave half a thread or so of the studs outside the tops of the nuts. This would be to ensure that you maintain full joint strength.

Otherwise, I see no problem, having done the same thing once or twice myself.


Norm

 

[1004ron]

It does come close, but also greatly limits your head room and shortens the leg length clearance creating a whole other issue.

Wouldn't the headroom be an issue if you placed spacers on the rear mounting bolts?

I have just changed from cloth seats to Katzkin leather, and it makes no difference to the comfort and degree of cushioning - maybe not relative to this discussion, seeing as there's a chance the factory installed leather vs cloth may be different.

I would not rely on washers to raise the rear attachment of the seats - on the rear there's a locating dowel pin in addition to the Torx bolt.

I raised the passenger seat rear 2" using a short length of square tubing which has holes for the locating dowel.

See locating dowel pin hole alongside the screw hole:

https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/threads/how-to-cloth-removal-and-leather-install.30323/

 

[jonrjen]

Are these bolts actual bolts that screw down into captive nuts in the floor or are they studs with nuts? If they're studs, be sure to leave half a thread or so of the studs outside the tops of the nuts. This would be to ensure that you maintain full joint strength.

Otherwise, I see no problem, having done the same thing once or twice myself.


Norm

These are actual bolts the thread down into a captive nut.

 

[jonrjen]

Wouldn't the headroom be an issue if you placed spacers on the rear mounting bolts?

I have just changed from cloth seats to Katzkin leather, and it makes no difference to the comfort and degree of cushioning - maybe not relative to this discussion, seeing as there's a chance the factory installed leather vs cloth may be different.

I would not rely on washers to raise the rear attachment of the seats - on the rear there's a locating dowel pin in addition to the Torx bolt.

I raised the passenger seat rear 2" using a short length of square tubing which has holes for the locating dowel.

See locating down hole alongside the screw hole:

First off, let me say that is a great write up on changing the cloth seats over to leather.

By raising the rear up with spacers would raise the rear seat pitch upward without moving the whole seat forward as it does when using the factory seat controls. Yes, it would bring my head closer to the roof by two inches, but I can afford a 2" loss of head room if the seat is reclined and my legs are in a straight forward stance...I think.

You mentioned that you used a piece of 2" stock to raise the rear of the passenger seat on your Mustang. Was this simply one piece of 2"X2" square tubing a little wider than the width of the rear mounting bolts? Or did you use one spacer per side on the mounting points?

To give you an idea as to how serious this seating situation is to me, I spend part of the day removing the Ford Performance cowl and strut tower braces, the catch can, Pedal Max, and RocBlox mud flaps in preparation for trading the GT on a different toy.

 

[1004ron]

First off, let me say that is a great write up on changing the cloth seats over to leather.

By raising the rear up with spacers would raise the rear seat pitch upward without moving the whole seat forward as it does when using the factory seat controls. Yes, it would bring my head closer to the roof by two inches, but I can afford a 2" loss of head room if the seat is reclined and my legs are in a straight forward stance...I think.

You mentioned that you used a piece of 2" stock to raise the rear of the passenger seat on your Mustang. Was this simply one piece of 2"X2" square tubing a little wider than the width of the rear mounting bolts? Or did you use one spacer per side on the mounting points?

To give you an idea as to how serious this seating situation is to me, I spend part of the day removing the Ford Performance cowl and strut tower braces, the catch can, Pedal Max, and RocBlox mud flaps in preparation for trading the GT on a different toy.

I used 2.5" square tubing at 2.5" long with four holes drilled to suit the securing bolts and locating dowel pin, with Grade 8 bolts and Nylock nuts.

I was going to use 2" tubing, but as can be seen, even the 2.5" in the rear does not fully level the seat - Its my wife's car, but when we go out I drive and she complained bitterly about the angle of the seat hurting her back.

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