Seat Height Increase for Grande

[Godfather]

That is going to work?

ok ok..

1. remove tool box
2. remove bolt
3. remove seat
4. add metal inserts
5. put seat back on
6. tighten bolts

happy now.. damn perfectionists

[Dev11]

Interesting and cute problem!

Following two solutions are viable, in my view.

But, carefully assess for the maximum increase in seat height that you can go for, else you may need to re-adjust the height of ABC pedals to suit Bhabhiji!

The only way I can think of is to replace your existing seat with the seat from GX variant, because it will come with the built in mechanism and will fit perfectly into the existing area.

To increase seat height what you would need to do is :-

1.Remove the seat from the two metal brackets.
2.Get 2 pieces of 1.5 inch od square tubing ( 15 inches long IIRC).
3.Drill holes in the tubing so they match up with the ones on the bottom metal bracket.( when you make a through hole, you will have to increase the hole size on the top so that you can drop in the original allen bolt.
4. Now mark positions for holes for your seat rails.
5. Drill holes and tap them.
6. Buy new bolts and screw the seat rails to the square tubing.

[junaid]

UPDATE


First and foremost, my apologies for disappearing yesterday after posting the thread.. I had to move out due work and dint have time to access net even on the phone..

Sooo


Last evening while returning from office, i took a deviation from Kamanahalli to avoid the massive jam in the Nagwara ring road, i have taken this road earlier, and have noticed this BIG seat cover shop en-route a few time, now, why i say BIG? because compared to the normally seen match box size seat shops this one is pretty large.

Anyway since i passed it, took a 'U' turn and went back to the shop to get a quote and idea for the seat height...

I told him how much height i need, and inquired on what exactly could be done for the height increase without hampering the originality, he was overly eager to work on it, he goes inside and gets a large piece of hard and soft foam, then explains to me how the mechanism of seating is in the Grande. Apparently, i believe its exactly the same as to Safari. This gave me some confidence in him to get the job done, i thought for a while, checked for the price, he says you see the amount of work which goes into then you can quote the price, i said fair enough and give a go ahead, he begins the Job.

The biggest surprise comes now, he removes the bolts from underneath the seat and only the bottom portion comes out while the rest of the seat still being bolted to the body. TATA has engineered in such a way that only the base can be removed and no need of removing the seat assembly. Once the bottom portion was out, he removes few hundred clips which are fixed with the seat cover to the metal frame, as those come off the cushion above the frame is completely off, all this took only 10mins.

The metal frame looks like a large cooking bowl but this one has a few holes in it, he now applies the gum inside the frame, leaves it to dry till he cuts the hard foam to the exact size of the frame, he then presses it hard for it to fit it in, he does the same with soft foam too, and fixes the original cushion back with few temporary clips, places the bottom piece to the seat.

He asked me to sit over it to check if the purpose is served. I sat and it was perfect, exactly what i was looking for, he pulls off the seat to fix rest of the clips, and bolts the bottom piece over the seat frame.

He asked me if the back rest should also be beefed up, i politely decline the offer. I will drive it around for some time, if a need arise then i will get this done too, other wise, as i mentioned before, i don't really want to mess up the lumbar mechanism.

I asked him to put the beeds also, everything put together the bill came up to Rs. 1,000. Drove back home the seat feels softer than before, and the biggest change is it feels like i am sitting a floor above

Later in the night we went for a drive, and wifey drove the Grande, she gave a thumbs up as the seating was perfect for her.

Thank you all for the suggestions and i am sorry for not been able to take the pics of work being done, it happened so fast that, before i could realize the seat was fitted back into the Grande

I took this in the morning... notice the bump, it goes back in when seated.





Clicked this pic placing the mobile from shoulder height...

[junaid]

The Seat height increase has completely changed the view and outlook of the driving Grande...

The visibility was good, now it just got better, the usual blind spots are not that bad compared to before, feels great to be seated high

Though i had to do this at gun point (just like my wifey calls it ), now, it has me thinking why on earth did i not do this before, but then for everything there has to be a time, aint it?

Anyway, why i thought of posting on the thread again is, to update the other lower seat driven vehicles, if you guys think the bonnet visibility is on the lower end, then just get the seat beefed, it will cost a few 100s but the visibility improves to a great extent, but always remember DO NOT over do this, because it may change the ergonomics of the seating structure.

[Guru]

junaid - Nice job you got done, and thanks for the idea too.

Though i had to do this at gun point

You mean wifey held a gun at your head & made you get it done, right?

[junaid]

You mean wifey held a gun at your head & made you get it done, right?

err...hmm...aahh... well, this is what happened

either i go and get the seat height of Grande increased or she will do it herself, needless to say she is capable of doing that

do this at gun point

Guru married? If yes, then you know exactly what i am talking about