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Bryan Irons
Bestop TrailMax II Seats Install
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Bryan Irons
Bestop TrailMax II Seats Install
1. We would swear that the seat covers were so old they were developing bald spots, but chances are that’s a chemical burn or some other affliction we would rather not know about. It’s all just so wrong and had to go.
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Bryan Irons
Bestop TrailMax II Seats Install
2. The possibly bipolar previous owner had intelligently reused the original Toyota mounting brackets, and even used hardware in places to bolt the seats down, in others, the seats were welded to whatever steel was “close enough”. The vast majority of our install time was spent digging for buried treasure and old purchase records. Who remembers when Sears sold mud tires?
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Bryan Irons
Bestop TrailMax II Seats Install
3. With the death trap seats removed and the interior sanitized, we moved on to assembling the seat tracks to the bottoms. Leave the plastic on the seats unless you want to make them a mess before the final install. We didn’t put the backs on just yet as we wanted to be able to get them in and out of the rig a few times for placement adjustments.
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Bryan Irons
Bestop TrailMax II Seats Install
4. With the bottoms secured to the framework and just tacked together, we put the backs on to make sure everything fit properly before we set the Miller welder to “permanent”.
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Bryan Irons
Bestop TrailMax II Seats Install
5. We didn’t paint the brackets as we felt that would take away from Tim’s theme of abuse and neglect. You'll notice that the passenger seat sits a little higher than the driver, this is to be able to clear the fuel tank.
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Bryan Irons
Bestop TrailMax II Seats Install
6. Installed and ready for the trail.
Story & photos by Bryan Irons, 4WDrive Magazine - @bryanirons
We knew we totally scored a deal on our latest project rig, a smokin’ deal. But that doesn’t mean that we scooped the perfect ride and we had changes planned as we trailered the old iron home. The 90’s off-roading time capsule of a 1976 Toyota FJ-40 had barely landed in the yard when the kids dubbed it “Tim Toyota”. It looked bad even from 30 metres, then once behind the wheel, it got even worse; to the point that driving the rig was literally a pain in the ass. Step #1 was for a new place to park our kiester.
The 90’s were a great time for re-building a wicked off-road rig and the Land Cruiser platform was a solid foundation. ‘Tim’ was a prime example of how it was done with a junkyard Chevy V8 swap, a junkyard power steering conversion, junkyard onboard air and (wait for it) junkyard seats. The laughable loungers were mounted to a sturdy one inch square tube frame with electric motors in the power seats that were big enough to pull an anchor on a tug, and made the seating position more of a crow’s nest then a pilot’s chair. With the steering wheel grinding on our legs and our heads thumping against the fibreglass roof, this wasn’t a wheeler; it was a death trap and should have been named “Christine”.
TrailMax II seats from Bestop and a set of sliders for a (gasp) Jeep were ordered as we just didn’t feel safe rolling around town in Tim, and were certainly not going to feel at ease with our family riding along (with the exception of an in-law or two). At this point, we didn’t care if the seats were not a direct fit as the framework was butchered to the point of no return. The TrailMax II’s were chosen for a variety of reasons, the first of which is the success we have had with Bestop soft tops over the decades. Durable materials and easy to clean (read; kid resistant) designs make us think that the seats will last a long time - just like the tops. A welded steel tubular frame provides the support for the springs and different density foam in the seat making them durable for the long haul. We have broken more than a few factory sheet metal framed seats in the past. We could have splurged on a fancy set of suspension seats, and they are typically our first choice, but annoyingly deep bolsters on a daily driver and a smouldering credit card told us to go with a quality seat at an affordable price.
After the install, we got to take the rig wheeling a few times and freelance writer Budd Stanley took Tim on a West Coast adventure. He claims that 10 hours solid behind the wheel were not a problem (this also explains the smell). The reclining mechanism works very well, and in conjunction with the back bolsters, keeps you in place on the trail. The seatbacks also have storage pockets that are a nice touch in the cramped quarters of a Land Cruiser. The seat bottoms are a comfortable length and we have yet to bottom the seats out driving over rough roads. We especially like the slider mechanism as they take up little room, feel solid, and do not add any rattling to the already noisy cab. Follow along here as we spend a day cutting out the old-nasty and install the new-hotness while keeping Tim’s mojo intact.
- Bestop – www.bestop.com
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