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Re: New Member Intro
Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2011 4:37 pm
by texas pinzgauer
More importantly, what makes you think there's room for those?
A number of us have successfully installed seats from a M-B Sprinter. Depending on your height, they may be an option for you to consider.
Re: New Member Intro
Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2011 5:12 pm
by bdelaporte
pcolette wrote:For the uninformed among us, what are LMTV suspension seats?
Thanks!
Light Medium Tactical Vehicle (LMTV); it is the current replacement vehicle for the old style 2.5 and 5 ton vehicles. It is a cab over design 6x6. Google will have pics for anyone interested. They changed the design specs on the seats so a lot of 400 or so of these were sold at auction last year. I picked up 4 from the buyer.
Re: New Member Intro
Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2011 5:20 pm
by bdelaporte
texas pinzgauer wrote:More importantly, what makes you think there's room for those?
A number of us have successfully installed seats from a M-B Sprinter. Depending on your height, they may be an option for you to consider.
I will look at the Sprinter syle seat, although I like to keep military things "military", If the LMTV seats will fit properly then I would like to go with these seats as they are OD Green, waterproof and full suspension (in addition to already having them on hand versus having to buy new ones).
I see there are a number of different seats used on 710/712 series both on this forum and others from honda, jeeps and other things. These fit very well on the base, although they may be too "tall" in the thigh area (ie: they my bring my legs to close to the steering wheel to be comfortable). I will have to mess with some mounting brackets and see how they will fit.
I will take pics after they are fitted and I have completed a trial drive with them.
Re: New Member Intro
Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2011 5:22 pm
by undysworld
Just from a casual glance, those seats seem like you'd be sitting pretty high. Do they fit in the passenger side as well?
Thanks for the pix.
Re: New Member Intro
Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2011 6:17 pm
by CentAr712
If LMTV seats fit, it would be kind of cool and a bit ironic since the LMTV is a truck design licensed from Steyr.
Re: New Member Intro
Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2011 7:37 pm
by bdelaporte
undysworld wrote:Just from a casual glance, those seats seem like you'd be sitting pretty high. Do they fit in the passenger side as well?
Thanks for the pix.
The seat is just sitting with its fastening studs on the floorpan. I also need to take the spacers off of the frame (I guess it needed more height for the LMTV setup). It may still be too high in the thigh area, but the seats to way too nice not to try to install them. I will know more after the weekend.
Re: New Member Intro
Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2011 7:41 pm
by bdelaporte
CentAr712 wrote:If LMTV seats fit, it would be kind of cool and a bit ironic since the LMTV is a truck design licensed from Steyr.
Very cool.... I did not know they were licensed from Steyr.
For those that asked what an LMTV is, here is a little info on the platform:
The Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles (FMTV) is a series of vehicles that was manufactured by BAE Systems Land and Armaments (until 2011)based on a common chassis, which vary by payload and mission requirements. The FMTV were derived from the Austrian military truck Steyr 12M18. The Light Medium Tactical Vehicle (LMTV) has a 2.5-ton capacity (cargo and van models). The Medium Tactical Vehicle (MTV) has a 5-ton capacity (cargo and long-wheelbase cargo with and without material handling equipment, tractor, van, wrecker, and dump truck models). Three truck variants and two companion trailers, with the same cube and payload capacity as their prime movers, provide air drop capability. M1078s have been deployed to Iraq with armored cabs with roof gun mounts with shields, similar to those fitted on humvees and M113s. Beginning in October 2010, Oshkosh Corporation commenced production on their newly awarded "re-buy" contract. The last truck built under the S023 contract in TX was produced by BAE in June 2011.
The cab-over FMTV replaces obsolete and maintenance-intensive 2.5 ton and 5 ton M35 and M939 series of trucks previously in the fleet and performs local and line haul, unit mobility, unit resupply, and other missions in combat, combat support and combat service support units. It is rapidly deployable worldwide and operates on primary and secondary roads, trails, and cross-country terrain, in all climatic conditions. Commonality of parts across truck chassis variants significantly reduces the logistics burden and operating and support costs. New vehicle applications are being developed to meet new requirements.
Re: New Member Intro
Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2011 7:43 pm
by pcolette
I also bought some of those seats from an auction buyer but they were a year or 2 prior to the ones you got. They're black Tuff-Tex cloth and probably not a true suspension seat. I've got a set installed in my Pinz with olive camo seat covers.. They're made by Seats, Inc. who continues to make them for the military not far from here - Reedsburg, WI.
After trying a few different mounts I ended up using the original seat frames with additional cross bars welded in place to match up to the new seats. They ended up a little taller than I'd prefer but are very comfortable on and off road. There were some 1/2" spacers on these seats too and removing them helped the overall height.
Re: New Member Intro
Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2011 7:47 pm
by undysworld
Here's a link to an article about the mastercraft seats:
http://www3.ausa.org/webpub/DeptIndustr ... EBP-777LZU
It sounds as if they are pretty much standard civi mastercraft offroad seats. (Which is to say, pretty nice stuff, IMHO.) I don't blame you for wanting them to fit!
Re: New Member Intro
Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2011 7:49 pm
by mopar
Here's a 4x4 LMTV that sold last year on Gov Liquidators
http://www.govliquidation.com/auction/v ... vertTo=USD
Re: New Member Intro
Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2011 7:55 pm
by pcolette
They must be military spec seats because the Mastercraft and Seats, Inc.
http://www.seatsinc.com/ngp/!slmenu_tem ... 168761.cat look almost identical. Nice!
Re: New Member Intro
Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2011 8:05 pm
by bdelaporte
They have Mastercraft tags in them. I remember seeing an ad for the seats in the "Green Book" that AUSA publishes each year, I will have to dig it out and post the specs. They are very nice seats with full harnesses, great support and cushioning.
I think the deletion of the spacers and the change in brackets will make them usable.
Pcolette, I think you have it right by using the original seat pans and adding additional crossframes to mount the seat. I guess your use of a set solves the "will it fit" questions.... Thanks for the info. I will ensure I take pics when completed.
Re: New Member Intro
Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2011 8:13 pm
by bdelaporte
Mopar, here is a pic of the MTV that I found on a recent trip. It was a 1995 model that was sold last year on GL. Obviously this is the Medium version of the Light/Medium Tactical Vehicles. Nice condition.
Re: New Member Intro
Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2011 11:49 pm
by krick3tt
I am not following all of this but when I lived in San Diego I went to Santee to the MC shop and they would sell me seats but would not install them.
I had to provide my own seat supports and the seats were too wide for my pinz anyway. Now that I have been welding for awhile I was able to fab my
own platform for Honda seats from a scrap yard. They ride about 1 inch higher than OEM seats but are very comfortable on long rides, as in from
Seattle to Denver.
http://s400.photobucket.com/albums/pp88 ... C00010.jpg
Re: New Member Intro
Posted: Sat Dec 31, 2011 7:08 am
by texas pinzgauer
These trucks were manufactured here in the Houston area (Sealy, Texas) until fairly recently when BAE lost the contract to Oshkoch. Big loss to the local manufacturing base and it was always cool to see these trucks going by on the highway on flatbeds or on rail cars.