Passenger seat adjustments Options

[rkelln]

Does anyone know of an aftermarket fix to allow the passenger seat recliner to adjust like the driver's?

[bilgladstone]

There is no after-market solution.
See the online smart car encyclopaedia for a notion HERE

Bil

This post has been edited by bilgladstone: Jul 29 2010 - 07:41 AM

[FlossyTheSmart]

Bil, that solution is for the driver seat. He's looking for a way to be able to recline the passenger seat. Because of this, I believe it is a 450 he is talking about, since the driver has the reclining wheel thing, but the passenger seat has no mechanism for reclining.

As far as I am aware, there is no aftermarket solution. Maybe if you were to get your hands on a driver seat from a RHD smart, it might be possible to swap out the passenger seat for the RHD driver seat?

[Mike T]

I think this has been dismissed by others who looked into it in some detail.

[Alex]

One can add a SHORT spacer under the front mounts to have a fixed angle slightly more reclined. Not too much, be sure you have enough thread engagement, about 3/16 inch spacer makes a noticeable difference, no more than that. The security of the seat mounting is VERY important for safety! Too much spacer and the bolts will be stressed due to the angle change.
As far as an adjustable angle, no, not possible unless you want to import a RHD drivers seat from the UK or other RHD country.

[FlossyTheSmart]

What we really need is a set of seats that are already destroyed that can be torn apart, and have the internals compared. I have to wonder if the little levers on the passenger seat are just a different, more limited, implementation of the wheel in some way? Are the two seats assembled differently on the interior? Or is there just a special rigging in the drivers seat that is hooked onto the adjusting wheel, whereas there are just clips of some sort with the levers (Maybe with tabs like in the 451 preventing it from going backwards?)

Sorry, big block o' text...

[Speedie]

The passenger seat slides further back than the driver seat - so in order to recline it you would have to slide it ahead then recline - which makes it intefere with the driver a bit (why they staggered the seats in the first place). The seat rails are also different side to side as well as the seats so it would take more than a minor amount of fabrication. If you are really keen you could get a driver's seat from a RHD out of a wrecker in Britain - shipping would be a bit much though.

The shims under the front of the seats do make a difference and are easy to make - I have 1/8" ones and there is still plenty of thread left to make sure it is safe.

Cheers,
Cameron

[bilgladstone]

In reference to Sppedie's notes above,

Regarding swapping seats:
http://www.evilution.co.uk/index.php?id=492

Regarding swapping the runners in order to same:
http://www.evilution.co.uk/index.php?id=492

And as regards the original poster's question: once again, the short answer is... no

[Duck]

What we really need is a set of seats that are already destroyed that can be torn apart, and have the internals compared. I have to wonder if the little levers on the passenger seat are just a different, more limited, implementation of the wheel in some way? Are the two seats assembled differently on the interior? Or is there just a special rigging in the drivers seat that is hooked onto the adjusting wheel, whereas there are just clips of some sort with the levers (Maybe with tabs like in the 451 preventing it from going backwards?)

Sorry, big block o' text...

Completely different mechanism. Passenger's side is just releasing latches. Driver's side incorporates a high-ratio gear reducer for the knob.

I like the RHD idea.

-Iain

[Speedie]

So all you have to do is find someone in Britain (or Hong Kong or Oz) that wants to do similar - ship them a driver's seat from a wreck in exchange for a driver's seat from a wreck (mind you they do have a plentiful supply right across the pond in Europe - be so much easier if folks all drove on the same side - or just drove which side they wanted to - like South America, Central America and Egypt).

Cheers,
Cameron

[Mike T]

However, if this swap works, the folding down seat function would be lost of course.

[Alex]

Read the second link in post #8!
It can be done, but you need to swap the lower part over. The mounts to the Tridion are different. The part that bolt to the car stays with the car, the seat itself and the sliders swap.

[Speedie]

Still either or - the recline seats don't have the flip forward mechanism and the flip forward can't be retrofitted with the recline (at least not with out a lot of effort).

Cheers,
Cameron