New seats?

Dealing with all subsystems specific to the diesel powered Datsun-Nissan 720 pickup trucks.

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abumariah
Posts: 21
Joined: 17 years ago
Location: kentucky

New seats?

#1

Post by abumariah »

hey guys. i'm looking for aftermarket upgrades to my stock butt-busters. any ideas? i've been to jcwhitney but i don't think what they have is what i'm looking for.
1985 720 kc 4x4 z24
1981 720 kc 2wd sd22
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asavage
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Posts: 5431
Joined: 18 years ago
Location: Oak Harbor, Wash.
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Re: New seats?

#2

Post by asavage »

abumariah wrote:hey guys. i'm looking for aftermarket upgrades to my stock butt-busters. any ideas? i've been to jcwhitney but i don't think what they have is what i'm looking for.
Member ocd said that he heard that 280Z seats fits.
Regards,
Al S.

1982 Maxima diesel wagon, 2nd & 4th owner, 165k miles, rusty & burgundy/grey. Purchased 1996, SOLD 16Feb10
1983 Maxima diesel wagon, 199k miles, rusty, light yellow/light brown. SOLD 14Jul07
1981 720 SD22 (scrapped 04Sep07)
1983 Sentra CD17, 255k, bought 06Jul08, gave it away 22Jun10.
EvergreenSD
Posts: 70
Joined: 18 years ago
Location: Eugene, OR

#3

Post by EvergreenSD »

I'm using seats out of an Acura Integra and I love them. I got the pair for $50. They're very supportive, offer lots of headroom and don't take up much space in my KC. They don't bolt right in but I got them to work by drilling some new holes in the floor (be sure to use big washers) and fabricating some simple brackets out of angle iron.
'82 SD22 720 Kingcab with flatbed
abumariah
Posts: 21
Joined: 17 years ago
Location: kentucky

#4

Post by abumariah »

what it a g1 integra (pre '94)?
1985 720 kc 4x4 z24
1981 720 kc 2wd sd22
EvergreenSD
Posts: 70
Joined: 18 years ago
Location: Eugene, OR

#5

Post by EvergreenSD »

I don't know for sure. Probably so.
'82 SD22 720 Kingcab with flatbed
redmondjp
Posts: 204
Joined: 18 years ago
Location: Redmond, WA

#6

Post by redmondjp »

You can also check the junkyards for seats out of later-model Nissan pickups which will directly bolt in (at least up to '87, not sure about later years). They changed the support design in the lower cushion in the later years such that the center part of the cushion is held up by a suspension system (think suspension bridge) instead of having the wavy wire springs underneath like the earlier model seats. I have one of these in my truck now and it is way more comfortable than the broken-down original seat (which I actually threw away, as after disassembling it I discovered several broken springs, which just takes too much time to repair when you can get another seat for a few bucks from the JY).

Also, you will probably find that the passenger-side seat is less worn out than the driver's side one in most vehicles. A passenger seat will bolt right in the driver's side in one of these trucks, but the release handle for flipping the seat back forward will be on the inboard side, and the adjustment handle for moving the seat forward and rearward will also be on the opposide side as normal. Not a big deal, if your main concern is having a comfortable seat without a lot of work. My truck is this way right now.

While out in the junkyard last summer, I spent an hour or so looking at seats out of a lot of other cars--mainly Toyotas, Nissans, and Subarus--some of them look like they will fit without too much work. If you have any metal fabrication experience, you can use some flat bar and bolts to make adapter plates for the front and rear seat mounting holes, using the original seat mounting points to hold the adapter plates to the vehicle, and then using bolts through the bars to go into the new seat mounts. That way you retain the strength of the stock seat mount bolt locations. But use at least 1/8" thick flat bar if you do this--DON'T use sheet metal as it may not hold in an accident.

The other way to skin this cat is to keep the stock seat mounts and adjusters, but bolt another seat on the top (again, may require some plate steel or flat bar to adapt the new seat onto the stock mount). This retains the stock look and hides the adapter underneath the lower cushion.
1982 Datsun 720 King Cab, SD22, 86K miles (sold)
1981 Rabbit LS 4-door, 1.6D, 130K miles (sold)
1996 Passat TDI 4-door sedan, 197K miles
abumariah
Posts: 21
Joined: 17 years ago
Location: kentucky

#7

Post by abumariah »

found a apair of seats in a jy out of an 85 "st" trim model that are doing the job nicely. they were definitely an upgrade that year and my back is thanking me.
1985 720 kc 4x4 z24
1981 720 kc 2wd sd22
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Zoltan
Posts: 136
Joined: 18 years ago
Location: Honolulu, HI

#8

Post by Zoltan »

My bench seat on the driver side simply collapsed (bottomed out) in the past 4 days and I am on the hunt for bucket seats now. I had one seat from a later model 720, but the distance b/w the tracks were 17" instead of our 15" so couldn't put it in. So, for the time being, I will try to rebuild the wire mesh. What a PITA !!
Last edited by Zoltan 16 years ago, edited 2 times in total.
- Zoltan -
________________________________
'82 Datsun 720 SD22 California model
'86 Ford Escort 2.0L Diesel
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Zoltan
Posts: 136
Joined: 18 years ago
Location: Honolulu, HI

#9

Post by Zoltan »

I called all THREE junkyards on Oahu but none of them had seats, so I got some 18g galvanized steel wire and spent most of Sunday evening rewiring the driver side seat. My fingers are sore ...
- Zoltan -
________________________________
'82 Datsun 720 SD22 California model
'86 Ford Escort 2.0L Diesel
bacho
Posts: 121
Joined: 17 years ago
Location: Greenville South Carolina

#10

Post by bacho »

Early 90's Ford explorer seats will bolt in, not sure about the later years. I went to go get some nice ones I found in leather and all for $50. Got talking to the guy and told him what I was doing, turns out he had a 720 with bad seats in it so he decided to keep them. I havent found that good of a deal again yet but I am still looking.

1987 D21 and WD21 will not bolt in. I was bummed becasue my old pathfinder seats wouldnt really work.

use car-parts.com to find parts at JY's in your area, it works great.
1992 nissan pathfinder 4x4
1985 KC 720 4x4
1982 KC 720
lackneramanda
Posts: 3
Joined: 13 years ago
Location: california

#11

Post by lackneramanda »

I am looking for a nissan driver and passenger seat or cheap seat cover. I am looking for red only and in good to excellent shape. Will settle for driver side if that's all I can find. OEM seat covers are just too expensive. Leads or recommendations welcome. thanks
dn29626
Posts: 249
Joined: 14 years ago
Location: Anderson, SC

#12

Post by dn29626 »

I have 2003 neon seats in mine. The inner rail mount at the back had to be slotted.
82 King Cab 2wd (nice)
82 Reg Cab (body damage)
Anderson , SC
Since Fall 2009
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