Rear Seat Repositioning - J71 SWB (HZJ71V)

[Sabilco13]

I have imported a J71 swb from Japan. This vehicle it is a heavy duty utilitarian that is designed to carry up to 500kg. Therefore, the rear seat has been designed thinking more in having more space to accommodate cargo than in passenger’s comfort.

That is why the positioning of the rear seat is very upright as can be seen in the pictures below

I found in Japanese forums a custom-made metal fitting that tilts and lift the rear seat as can be seen below.

Below there are some pictures of the custom-made metal fitting that I have found in Japanese forums and how they look installed.

Unfortunately, I have not been able to ask for their measurements because you need a Japanese telephone number to be able to register to the forums to ask questions.
I have approached some local companies to manufacture these custom-made brackets for me but they need exact measurements which I do not have.
I have checked the different LC manuals for different models and I have found that my LC have this bracket part

The LC models that have comfortable seats have these bracket part

The solution to my problem could be ordering these parts and swapping them over. However, by close examination of other pictures I think I will be needing other parts.

That is the reason I am reaching out to you guys. If for any chance you have one of these vehicles and your rear seat is the comfortable type I would appreciate if you can share some pictures of the bracket and how it is connected to the seat. This would help me decide if just ordering the parts will solve my problem or if I need to get an extra custom-made part manufactured.

Many thanks.

 

[Shayne]

I am assuming the seat back folds and so the lever sits in a catch .

Before i ordered anything i would remove the seat to get a good look at that catch because possibly its just a case of adding another notch allowing the seat to lock upright in a more reclined position .

 

[Sabilco13]

Thank you for your response Shayne.

I think the catch for the two models is the same. The only differences that I can see are the actual bracket, the frame and probably the rear seat cushion support position as can be seen in the picture

My Model

The Comfortable type model

As shown in previous picture in my last post. The brackets are different. In this pictures you can see that the shape of the frame is different too and the rear seat cushion support position for the comfortable type is further out in line with the seat-belt anchorage point.

If the bracket and frame are swapped I think the inclination angle of the seat would became like the comfortable type. However, the cushion lock wouldn’t lock the catch. I think this can be solve by adding a custom-made metal fitting like this one
(which would be easier to manufacture).

Any thoughts?

Thank you.

 

[Shayne]

Your wanting to move the entire seat backwards for more leg room whilst i was just thinking to alter how upright the seat back is which should not involve any of those parts .

 

[Sabilco13]

I would like to do both. Move it backwards for more leg room and achieved a better inclination angle for comfort

 

[Shayne]

That kit looks to move the whole seat backwards maybe 2 inches which could be done by simply putting a 3 hole plate on top of the existing seat bracket and welding the catch loop to another plate so it could be bolted on further back .

Is 2" worth it ?

Trains , planes , and ferries all lack legroom but it doesn't matter much if you can get the seat to recline some .

I would leave the bottom of the seat where it is and instead look at the mechanism which folds the seat back .

 

[Sabilco13]

I see your point. However, if I am going to start making modifications to make it more comfortable, I probably better increase the leg room too. I think I do not need to touch the folding mechanism to tilt it a few degrees. I just need to lift it, that will create the angle.