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Captian Seat Lift Idea


theGrant

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Hey Guys,

My wife always drives while I'm surfing and with the bow way up in the air she has to sit on the back of the seat to see over the bow.

I've wanted to raise the seat a few inches to help for quite a while but found this online today. Do you think this could be added under all the seat bracing to allow for a ton of flexibility? The dimensions of the platform are 9" x 14".

post-26873-0-26647400-1439421407_thumb.j

Edited by theGrant
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I used the same motorcycle lift to create a height adjustable seat in my '02 Wakesetter for my wife. I got the who thing prototyped and installed during the off season and ran in to the following issues:

1. When the seat was forward the arm would catch on the throttle, this could have ripped up the seat and there wasn't a programatic way to stop it other than to have the person using the seat be careful.

2. I wanted it to be a power option due to the significant height difference between my wife and I. I put 4 strong pull springs "inside" the left that helped the unit go up and planned to use my weight to get it to go down. The springs helped, but not enough; the motor that I found to raise/lower the jack would bind.

3. I determined that I needed two linear actuators to keep the lift "balanced" (since the springs didn't have enough force) and pulling from only one side caused the assembly to bind.

If your looking to keep it manual, then you should be all set. Just find a knob that fits the socket-end and you'll be set. I do recommend that you put some springs inside the assembly to reduce the overall load and neutralize the weight of the seat assembly.

I might even be able to find the replacement rotating assembly that I bought to replace the giant version Malibu used if you're interested...

BTW: My contraption never saw use during the season because of the issues listed above. I've since sold the '02 and moved up to a '15. If the wife complains I may look in to this project again.

Edited by mikeo
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I am working out some plans to do this as well with a linear actuator and some plates.

Mike - I'd love to discuss this a little further with you as it seems you have already spent some time down this path. I'll work on getting my thoughts down over the next couple days. This will be a winter project for me.

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Check Ebay there is a guy selling nice billet 4" lifts with a storage compartment built in. Its awesome.

Do you have a link to this? Can't seem to find it.

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Years ago my brother took the air ride out of a Kenworth truck & put it under the seat of his Prostar seat. It would raise & lower via an air bag & worked great.

Where did the air supply come from?

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I used the same motorcycle lift to create a height adjustable seat in my '02 Wakesetter for my wife. I got the who thing prototyped and installed during the off season and ran in to the following issues:

1. When the seat was forward the arm would catch on the throttle, this could have ripped up the seat and there wasn't a programatic way to stop it other than to have the person using the seat be careful.

2. I wanted it to be a power option due to the significant height difference between my wife and I. I put 4 strong pull springs "inside" the left that helped the unit go up and planned to use my weight to get it to go down. The springs helped, but not enough; the motor that I found to raise/lower the jack would bind.

3. I determined that I needed two linear actuators to keep the lift "balanced" (since the springs didn't have enough force) and pulling from only one side caused the assembly to bind.

If your looking to keep it manual, then you should be all set. Just find a knob that fits the socket-end and you'll be set. I do recommend that you put some springs inside the assembly to reduce the overall load and neutralize the weight of the seat assembly.

I might even be able to find the replacement rotating assembly that I bought to replace the giant version Malibu used if you're interested...

BTW: My contraption never saw use during the season because of the issues listed above. I've since sold the '02 and moved up to a '15. If the wife complains I may look in to this project again.

The springs to help it raise and lower were on the bottom and top horizontal bars?

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@theGrant I put 6 total springs on the horizontal bars, 3 on each side of the screw drive. It doesn't matter if they're on the bottom or the top if you're going to use linear actuators (electric) to move the platform up and down. If you're going to use the screw drive, my suggestion is to put the jack in so that the screw knob always stays at the bottom of the seat base (moves up and down with the user). You don't want to have to hunch over further the higher the seat goes.

I packed the springs in so they didn't have much room to slide sideways, so 3 on each side of the screw drive was a perfect fit. Springs are cheap & easy but they have different "return rates" when they're at different points in their travel; this means that it is easier/more difficult to move the seat up/down depending on it's current height. For a consistent/linear return rate you'll need to investigate hydraulic lift shocks, the same thing on your engine compartment hatch, observers seat, etc.

I could have put 7-8 springs on the opposite side of the platform of the jack from the screw drive, but the force of that many springs was beyond what I needed. I think I was getting ~50l bs of force from each of the springs for a total of 300 lbs; this put me close to net-neutral when I sat on the seat (I'm ~225 lbs and I figured the seat was well under 75 lbs.). The issue again was the non-linear return rates of coiled springs. I hope that helps...

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I don't know if the pictures even still exist, but years ago, some guys at the Merced factory were goofing around and made a center-console Response LXi (I think... it's been a long time since I've seen it). A center console surf boat might actually be kinda cool and should solve this problem. :)

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