A while back there were several threads specifically about the lack of headroom in our trucks, particularly those trucks with moonroofs. The topic has also been raised in passing during the course many unrelated threads. Rather than resurrect all of those old threads, I thought I'd create one new thread.

First, has anyone come up with a solution or made progress towards a solution? Assuming the answer is no, I'm going to take a stab.

Looking at the situation on the whole I see the following possibilities:
1. Lower the floor (or at least a portion of it) - probably not practical
2. Decrease the height of the seat mounts/mechanisms/etc. - baxterboy and Marauder92V proposed this option and it's the one I currently favor. Consideration must be given to the operation of a/c seats (which I have).
3. Decrease the height (thickness) of the seat itself - mikequ recently discussed this option. I'm less enthusiastic about it because with my weight I want all the padding/support possible. Additionally I'm not thrilled about cutting out foam and trying to reupholster the seats.
4. Decrease the effective torso height of the occupant - this covers the workarounds previously discussed such as reclining the seat back, leaning to the side, and slouching - none of which I consider to be a real solution. I'm also not willing to wait long enough for age/activity to compress my spine.
5. Raise the roof (or at least the headliner) - it has a fair (1/2 inch?) amount of give when I poke it. Consideration would have to be given to the side airbags and the sliding moonroof blind.
6. Did I miss anything?

Tomorrow, with the above options in mind, I'm going to dig into the truck, take some measurements and snap some photos. I'm open to suggestions or any specific requests for information.

More to follow...

MA

 

Ok, I spent some time investigating the seats. During the process, I removed the driver's seat. Since I couldn't find a 'how to' about this subject, I might make one in another thread if there's any interest. Here's what I found:

The distance from the seat cushion to the headliner changes by 2 1/4 inches with the seat full down compared with the seat full up. This isn't as much as I thought it would be. More importantly, I didn't see an easy way to make it go lower.

Curious about how much room there was under the seat, I looked under there. Here's the view from the rear of the driver's seat looking forward.



This is the front of the driver's seat looking rearward.



I thought I might be able to clean up some of those wires, so I pulled the seat.



I re-routed some of the wires. Because the seat was in the full down position, I could be fairly confident that if the wires fit in this configuration, there would be little danger of crushing them later. With that said, I'll be watching to ensure there are no ill effects. By the way, I took some more detailed pictures of the seat a/c system while it was convenient. If anyone is interested in those, let me know. Here's a photo after moving the wires.



This is how it looks under the seat after relocating those wires. From the rear looking forward.



From the front looking rearward.



Moving the wires cleaned things up a bit. Now the limiting factor is seen from the rear and is marked in red. You could probably get slightly more than 1.5 inches if you were willing to compress the air duct a little. It's important to note that even if the seat was lowered until the red line was nonexistent, the seat a/c intake would not be obstructed. This is because the seat a/c intake is 1) mounted about 0.75 inches higher than the silver cross member and 2) located aft of the air duct in the carpet. As it sits now, there is about 3.5 inches from the bottom of the seat a/c intake filter to the floor. So, if the seat were lowered 1.5 inches, the a/c would still have 2 inches of clearance.

In the next post I'll cover the mounting 'feet' that connect the seat frame to the truck floor.

MA

 

Subscribing. I've not really had any complaints about the headroom, although I did notice a big difference from my '05 to this truck. I'm 6'4" and have no problems adjusting the seat to a comfortable position while still having adequate headroom.

That said, you did a really good job of cleaning things up under there. Even an inch +/- makes a difference.

 

Others have suggested modifying the mounting 'feet' that connect the seat frame to the floor. Here's what I found when looking at those feet:

1. They are attached to the seat frame by fasteners that resemble rivets. Thus, uninstalling them is not for the faint of heart. I did not drill/cut/remove mine, so I couldn't do any side by side comparisons or photos.

2. They are all unique. All four corners are different, the front two being more different from each other than the rear two. Thus, there is no 'one size fits all corners' solution.

3. I suspect that shortening these feet would render the plastic covers incompatible, or they might have to be modified at best.

4. The cuts look complicated enough that they're not something I'd want to attempt with my simple tools.

Here's what they look like: Front outboard



Front inboard



Rear outboard



Rear inboard



At this point I'm inclined to contact a conversion/custom interior shop to see what they say.

Does anyone else have any recommendations or thoughts?

MA

 

modifing a seat could be deamed as a safty hazard, seats are part of the restraint system. not somthing I thing I would tamper with.

 

I agree. If you are ever injured in an accident, your insurance company and Ford would be absolved of any responsibility. Please consider other options.

 

While I seriously doubt that replacing the mounting feet with an equal or stronger part would negatively impact occupant safety, I agree that it would open the door to legal questions after the fact. I suspect that conversion companies have something to address this issue as they do this sort of thing professionally, but they may not. It can't hurt to ask, which I still plan to do.

If one wanted to keep their legal options open, options 1-3 from the OP would be out. 4 is not a solution (at least not for me). 5 could also be considered a hazard if you 'by modifying the headliner, effectively reduce the crumble zone designed to protect the occupant's head from the roof.'

This leads us back to the proverbial drawing board. There are a lot of smart, creative folks on this board and I'm confident a solution can be found. I'm just trying to contribute what I can in order to keep the ball rolling.

MA

 

cut , section, drop and reweld the floor boards... still doent seem to safe. never seen a conversion company mess with seats. however have see some floor board moded for handicap stuffs.

 

Greetings to all. Newbie here. I know this thread is a year old, but? Any new info? I rerouted my wiring like Marching Ant, and cut my carpet to explore a little further. I'm considering diving in this weekend and removing the duct work, cutting and welding the frame feet. Tired of hitting my head on bumps and my liner is getting rub marks.

 

Grizzly,

Sorry for the late response, but I've been off the net for a while. To answer your question, no, I have not made any progress on this. It's still really annoying, but I haven't found anyone/a shop that wants to take on the problem.

I'll be eager to hear what you find out.

MA

 

Well, if it were me that had the frustration y'all have, I would cut the mounting brackets down and weld them back together.

If you can be precise and are decent with a welding machine you should be able to remove 1.25" of height from the vertical parts of those four floor mounts. I would estimate a half day work.

 

Marching,

I have found a fabricator through a motorcycle shop I go to. He is going to cut and weld, modify, and brace the feet for me this weekend. I have already rerouted the wiring under the seat as you did. I drilled out one front rivet and one rear the other day. I hit them with a center punch and stepped up my bits till they broke free. I ended with a 5/16 bit hole size, (all rivets and track holes are definitely 5/16). I had to hit the front with a dremel to break it toataly free. I replaced the front with a 5/16 x 1" #8 torx button head, and the rear with a 1/4 x 1" stainless steel phillips button head and put lock nuts on. I will be drilling the rest today.

I used a 1/4" on the rear because the threads the seat moves on have a small long u shaped retaining bracket at the end. The head of the 5/16 would not fit. Height of replacement bolts do not matter, plenty of room.

I plan on heating the duct to flatten it out. I'd like to keep the a/c under the seats, but if I have to, I'll remove it and cap it off.

The wiring bundle for the harness is pretty thick. I may try and see if I can flatten it out as well?

I plan on cutting the carpet out from foot to foot. I spoke to a boat top maker and he said he could make me a mat with buttons to lay under the seat. He will leave a hole for the duct, and install buttons on the carpet with retainers. It should be a nice clean look with stainless steel snaps up against the black floor mats?

I'll post pics once everything is complete and I paint the new mount.

 

Any updates on this??? I just purchased a new 2012 lariat and am glad i am not the only one who thinks this is a problem. I cant believe no aftermarket company started making a lower seat bracket yet...sounds like there would be lots of demand for them...

 

Yes,

Sorry it took me so long to get back. I have successfully lowered my drivers seat 2 inches. I was not able to go thru the fabricator I found. After a second look, he said it could not be done. I ended up at my father-in-laws, and we did it ourselves. Not the prettiest thing, but it works very well. I'll post pics in the next day or so, or as soon as I figue out how to post pics here.

 

Just loaded the pics I took into albums. Sorry, phone pics. Rough looking, but works very well and is solid as a rock. Still work to do cleaning up brackets, replacing carpet, etc..... letting things sit until warm weather. i'll post details later when I have time to sit here.