Hinged seats with storage compartments below?

Looking to gain some additional storage in my 56' F100, thinking this would be good for storage and maybe other things we like to hide like fuse panels.

My seats have 4-6" risers below them. I have been debating on how to hinge the seats so they will tip forward. What type of hinges were used etc.

Does anyone have any pictures of hinged seats?

Another question is do they need a latching mechanism on the backs or will a shoulder belt hold everything in place?

 

PT Cruisers have comfortable passenger side seats that have forward tilting seat backs and a storage drawer under them.

 

Pictures of YOUR setup would probably help.

I would say you absolutely need your seats secured. Otherwise they are catapults, seat belts or not.

You'd be better off looking at seats whose bottoms flip up from the front, like the back seats in my RAM.

EDIT: I found these things as an example. They appear to be for newer F150 back seats. This should give you an idea of what I'm suggesting.

 

Take a look at a Dodge Journey - the front passenger seat cushion is hinged at the front and there is a storage compartment underneath.

 

Anyone else got anything? I have seen them at several car shows especially on bench seats where the bottom flips out. I just failed to take any pictures of them!

 

some of the older dodge caravans have bucket seats on risers with slide out storage



http://imganuncios.mitula.net/2005_...n_front_seat_seats_gray_99377861919273030.jpg


might look into seat risers for jeep wrangler for hinged ones


hope it helps

 

i am working on making a drawer, that slides out the side of the seat riser, for a customers '38 chevy pickup. he wanted storage and lifting the original seat bottom was a pain to access the space underneath that originally housed the fuel tank. i plan to use drawer slides and building a steel box.

 

The seat in a pick up only needs to have a good hinge at the front to allow it to tilt forward. The driver will keep it from flipping up or forward, the seat belt holds the driver in, as long as you're wearing the seat belt there is nothing to worry about, if you're not wearing it you should not be driving the truck. The only time you would need to secure the back of the seat base is if it's a rear seat and the vehicle could be driven without anyone sitting in it.
Now, what I did on my 40 Chevy P-U was remove the gas tank, which was under the seat, then I hinged the seat across the front with a good thick piano type hinge welded to the seat riser and screwed to a plywood base that the seat was mounted to. It worked very well for the 10 years I had it.
That was almost 20 years ago and I don't have any pictures of it but I think you can picture yours with that set-up, very simple to do. This is one of the only pics I have of the truck.

 

Look up Metaltwister.
Or pm him to invite him to comment.
I borrowed this pic of his model a or 32 lift up seat base design, I would like to order for myself.
I think his company makes lots of sizes. Bengals(SP?)

 

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=615201
Bengels

 

Check out chevy trailblazer and gmc envoy rear seats. The bottom flips up and the top flips forward. If the width is correct this could work out well. You have storage underneath and you can still access behind the seat. Its a split bench, 1 seat on driver side and 1.5 on passenger.
Plenty of them with black leather if you can figure out how to get rid of the headrest.

 

finished making the drawer;

 

VERY inventive!

 

That sir is a great idea!!!!!!!!!!!

 

thanks Fred. the seat bottom on this truck, '38 chevy, are a pain to lift up and out. unfortunately, do to the size of the riser, there is a lot of wasted space around the drawer. on the other half of the under seat area, he will have to lift the seat to get at the jack, handle, lug wrench and other things that are not needed often.

 

thanks

 

You clever guy. Great idea. Gary

 

thanks!

 

Used a glide seat the cushion folds forward. The EFI electronics are in the storage pan below. Electronics are set up about an inch and a half. Just in case of a heavy rain inside.

 

Nice work TB. My onlly gripe is the key! Seems like I am lucky to keep up with the few i have.

 

That worked out beautifully. I like how you matched the drawer face to the ribs in the riser. Did you build the entire drawer from scratch?

 

In general that's true, but if you have a heavy seat that could be a lot of force against your back in an accident. It would probably be a good idea to have some sort of latch, even if you had to fabricate something.

 

used a tray from my tool box

 

I've been thinking about rebuilding the seat base on my F250 to include a storage drawer or two, very nicely done.

 

Check out marine seats. My 32 chev had the hinges set up like them. It was a hinge welded to a hinge. First hinge allowed the front of the seat cushion to flip up and forward about 2 inches. The second hinge allowed the cushion to flip forward from the rear. Sorry, no pics and no longer have the car.

.bjb

 

thanks tl and Rob the key is what the customer wanted, it made the latching and securing easy. i built the drawer from scratch, but the slides are a hardware piece, if i was to do it over i would use heavier ones [like a file cabinet has].

 

If you use full extention slides you could make a deeper draw.

 

good idea! although a drawer on each side would be better, i left room on the other side for the radio.