Smittybilt Seats in M998

[wjgarvey]

I am installing smittybilt aftermarket Jeep seats in a 1989 M998. The rear were straight forward drill and bolt although the left sits further forward on the stock base. My hurdle are the fronts. On the passenger side the seatbelt housing gets in the way of sliding the seat back and on the drivers side I’m wondering how others mounted that one. I’m assuming cutting the backrest off the original is step one. I’m hoping not to re-invent the wheel.

 

[Mogman]

I put them in my M998 and had no trouble with clearance, on the passenger side I took some heavy paper and made a template, using a ball-peen hammer to knock out the paper where the mounting holes are in the seat, I taped it to the seat in exact position with the holes, then I placed the seat in the truck with the battery box cover in place and carefully transferred the template taping it the the battery cover, and then drilled the holes.
Got lazy with the drivers seat and welded it to the mount, being careful to limit the heat (read short tacks then cooling period) that worked out fine for me.
Both seats clear the seat belt mounts.

 

[wjgarvey]

I put them in my M998 and had no trouble with clearance, on the passenger side I took some heavy paper and made a template, using a ball-peen hammer to knock out the paper where the mounting holes are in the seat, I taped it to the seat in exact position with the holes, then I placed the seat in the truck with the battery box cover in place and carefully transferred the template taping it the the battery cover, and then drilled the holes.
Got lazy with the drivers seat and welded it to the mount, being careful to limit the heat (read short tacks then cooling period) that worked out fine for me.
Both seats clear the seat belt mounts.

On the Driver side we cut the Backrest off and the wire springs leaving just the base frame. we welded angle iron across the front on the inside to take out the curve then put 6" pieces of flat across the front and back to give us drilling space. Used the shipping cardboard to make a template for hole positions for all locations. My passenger side must be hitting the seatbelt reel/retractor because of the padded heatshield although it seems it would still be tight. We are moving it around to the back of the pillar. The rear right passenger needs to be careful not to smack his knee getting in and out.

 

[chazd1]

I put Bestop TrailMax II High back Bucket Jeep seats from summit in my 1992 M998. They worked out OK. They were priced right. They are a tight fit, but we like them. It changes the M998 experience a lot.

The passenger seat and driver seat mounting is wildly different, of course. I don't have exact dimensions, but I am adding a bunch of pics.

• Passenger seat-- Drill holes oversize and use fender washers. I also used short lengths of fuel line to take the stress out of the bolt attachment to the fiberglass.
• Drivers seat-- I cut the back off the original metal seat back, drilled holes in front tube and welded brackets to the underside for the rear mounting holes. I used different lengths of rubber tubing 1-1/8 for back bolts and 3/4 inch for the front bolts between the seat and the mount for some stress relief.

I was shaking my head when I realized there are 16 bolts holding the seat mount to the vehicle. I find very few things on the M998 are like normal trucks.