[gnatbean]

Nate here, I have built myself a pair of passenger seats with seat belts for the bed of my truck and I thought I would share my process.

The two seats, their brackets and the seat belts are from Summit racing and the strut channel is from McMaster Carr all totaling less than $200.

This build works with my "Custom DIY "UtiliTrack" Utility Rails" explained in my thread of that name. If you have the Nissan brand UtiliTrack you can bolt to that. If you have a spray liner without rails or a drop in liner you can install these over top through existing holes in the bed just by drilling through the liner but it will have only half the secure points and may deform a drop in when bolted.

You will need two SUM-G1100 Seats
two SUM-G1150 Universal Seat Brackets
two HFM-SB2PBK Seat Belts
one pack of T nuts from your Home Depots electrical strut channel section
a dozen 3/8 by 1" bolts 20 washers and 8 nuts
four more 3/8 bolts we will measure soon
and two lengths of strut channel four feet long
I would suggest buying four foot lengths and cutting them a bit because while three works it is just barely enough and caused me head aches.
Buy the un-slotted aluminum channel in either depth to keep weight down. Slotted never lines up quite right and you have to do some drilling anyway.

To start lay your channels across the bed and cut them to fit if necessary.
Measure how long a bolt will be needed to bolt into the channels T nuts or through the bed.
Measure the distance between the rail centers or between the two bed holes and drill matching 3/8" holes in your channels.

Next drill the 3/8" holes in four of the seat brackets to match the seats threaded holes and bolt the brackets to the seat bottoms.

Drill two 3/8" holes each in the other four of the brackets about an inch down and an inch in on the brackets. Just be sure all of your holes are in the same place on each bracket or it will be hard to line up later.

Next we will bolt these four brackets to the mounted brackets for a test fit and set the seats on the channels in the bed.

Notice the brackets can mount two ways to the seat bottom and two more ways to those brackets allowing a large number of options for bolt position.

Arrange your brackets in "C"s as these instructions for the brackets from the Summit website shows.
Notice I bought too short of channel and had to mount in a Z and re-use one hole for the bolting down. $%@*!!!

Now that you have a configuration in mind for the brackets bolt the brackets all together that way.
Drill two more holes in each channel for the outer bracket on each seat.
Set the seats back on the channels and mark the hole positions on the channel through the existing holes in the brackets.
Drill your remaining holes, put all your nuts and bolts in and tighten vigorously.
Bolt your seats down to the T nuts and hop in.

 

[HunterFL772]

think you can modify it to put a kid's carseat back there?

 

[HarshReality001]

^^you didnt really just ask that question, right?

nice work, OP. looks good and strong.

 

[mike]

what will you be using the seats for?

 

[gnatbean]

I am pretty sure you could easily use the existing car seat seat belt mounting to put the car seat right in the existing seat where you could......
Hey wait a minute......

I am going to strap my family in to those seats and take them up across the sand dunes to Lake Michigan near my cabin up there.

 

[Mylt1]

DO NOT allow anyone to sit in them if you are driving on the streets. the tracks are only rated for 200lbs each and the forces involved in a crash can be 10X what the person sitting in them weighs. you have 4 bolts holding down 2 seats and they are 2.5ft away from each other. not a good combination.

 

[gnatbean]

Ok woah there man. We all know DIY modifications are for off road use only and not DOT approved, the seat belts are there just so you don't fall out of the bed.

But also remember, at least in my state it is legal to ride in the bed of the truck entirely un-aided by any seat or restraint.

A 200lb rating on a channel is the strength at the weakest point along that rail and usually, being a human safety rating, compiled with a four to one safety factor. These seats are installed directly over the mounting points of the rail. The bolts and T nuts alone can apply more than two thousand pounds of upward force to the rail.
Strut channel and bolt combinations including safety factor when mounted properly far exceed these numbers.

This is NOT and endorsement of the safety of these for road use. Just informed analysis.

 

[Jordo]

Yo, these seat look professinal! Well done! These will work great for what you wanna do with them! Again, well done!

 

[Nissan4Life]

I'd put in a 5 point. Used ones are cheap, and still hold you in.

Reminds me of a subaru BRAT!

 

[gnatbean]

Used five point isn't a half bad idea. Would distribute the load from a collision to the front rail which is the strongest one. New five points alone would have doubled the cost of the build.

 

[nizmut]

1 seats are way to high
2 there is no over head protection
3 Never use 5 point harnesses with out a cage. With your body pinned to the seat, just a slight blow to the head will break your neck.

4 as stated above, stronger attachment points

"UR 11: SEATING
A recognized manufacturer that specializes in seats for racing applications must make all seats. No stock production seats are allowed. All seats must be securely mounted to the frame of the vehicle and be properly reinforced in such a manner as to keep the seat from moving in relationship to the frame. Adjustable track type seats must be securely mounted as to allow no lateral or vertical movement. Stock VW-type seat runners must be clamped to the floor with a minimum of two 0.375-inch diameter U-bolts per rail and have 1-inch minimum diameter flat washers on the underside. Head and neck restraints designed and installed to prevent whiplash are mandatory on all vehicles. Restraints must be a headrest constructed of at least 2-inch thick resilient padding and be approximately 36 square inches in area. "

 

[Mylt1]

Ok woah there man. We all know DIY modifications are for off road use only and not DOT approved, the seat belts are there just so you don't fall out of the bed.

But also remember, at least in my state it is legal to ride in the bed of the truck entirely un-aided by any seat or restraint.

A 200lb rating on a channel is the strength at the weakest point along that rail and usually, being a human safety rating, compiled with a four to one safety factor. These seats are installed directly over the mounting points of the rail. The bolts and T nuts alone can apply more than two thousand pounds of upward force to the rail.
Strut channel and bolt combinations including safety factor when mounted properly far exceed these numbers.

This is NOT and endorsement of the safety of these for road use. Just informed analysis.

your forgetting the fact that the rails are made from extruded aluminum. that in itself is the weak point. has nothing to do with the way it is secured to the bed nor the fasteners used to secure it. their not talking about the bolts failing, their referring to the rail itself failing.

 

[gnatbean]

Legal, meet "safety standards", have five points, are mounted without a roll bar, are the same seat height and cost $750 plus shipping
BedRyder Truck Bed Seating
Don't start in with the their frame is stronger cause it's welded argument. I'm not denying mine aren't quite as strong but this combats nearly all previous arguments.

 

[BLKFRONTIER]

I think its a great setup for what its going to be used for. He's not jumping the truck over dunes with people strapped in back there.

Its much safer than just throwing people in the bed and telling them to hold on tight.

 

[nickman]

Sorry to bump an old thread, I'm new. Just wanted to say when I saw that pic the first thing that crossed my mind was "fishing"! Slide em about 3/4 the way down the bed, back the truck up towards the lake, pop a cold one and cast!

 

[Dropdown3]

The rails aren't the strongest, but this is much better, safer, than just sitting on the tailgate, on a bucket in the bed, etc. These seats would be great for a slow ride through the mountains or a gravel road just rolling along slowly.