Pics: Fabricating a 3rd Row Bench for the Safari

PAVAN KADAM · 6th February 2010, 22:32

I forgot this thread

Lot of R&D going on since last 3 weeks, the third row seats for a Safari has very limited scope. I have done 30 different settings as on Date and freezed on one.

This seat will offer almost similar seating comfort and leg room as the rear seat in the Maruti-800, though the head room is something i need to check once its ready.

1 week since its with the upholsterer, even there we are trying different density of foam to get the required shape and comfort level.

48 hrs from now, the seat might finally go on to the Safari, just hoping to finish it soon.

This seat folds and levels itself to the midrow backrest, i loose only 1 feet loading area on the whole, not much of difference, and will again seat 2 adults or 3 kids easily.

The only headace for me is where the H*** shall my MBQuart Subwoofer go

.

arijit.co.in · 7th February 2010, 12:19

Hi brother,

Its a really nice effort you have been putting up. Keep it up.

well what about the scorpio, innova or fortuner seats or even the new sumo grande mk II ? whats wrong with them? It would be a hell lot better to have fortuner kind of seats, the ones splitting up and folding completely in the sidewalls like the jump seats provided by tatas. please do try them if possible. getting the fortuner seats with a bit of modifications can really help maintain the luggage space, comfort and everything.

well we all are eagerly waiting for your custom made seats, many of us seriously need them. please do get back to us along with the details as soon as it is fit in your vehicle.

regarding your subwoofer, why dont you purchase a bass-tube and keep them underneath your 3rd bench?

PAVAN KADAM · 7th February 2010, 14:40

Hi guys,

I'll take you through the experiments that i've done with few car seats available.

1) Maruti Omni= This was the ideal kind of seat that can go into the Safari, but its just a little bulky and tooo rounded to fit at the rear, tried altering the frame, but the experiment was un-successful and had to abort this idea. Rs 1500/- wasted.

2) Innova = I still love the way innova seats fold up to the sides, but the seats are a bit bigger considering the limited head space the Safari offers in the last row. The Innova floor is low and can accomodate such arrangement, but 100% not for the Safari. Again unsuccessful . No money spent as did not buy the seats.

3) Qualis = Seats were too upright and again Qualis has more head room since the floor is flat from the front upto the rear, Safari rises at the rear by 1 feet, hence no success found here. No money spent here.

4) Endevour = Too small seats, but fits in perfectly, Even in our good old gujri the endevour rear seats cost around Rs. 10000/- Aborted due to high price, but by now i almost caught the basic idea of designing the rear seats.

5) Sumo Grande = Nice seats but again too high at the rear, cant modify too much. Brand new seats costs around 17,500/-, and not available at Gujri yet.

Too much of experiments, permutations and combinations worked on for the last 1 year, dejected that nothing could be done to the 3rd Row Safari seats, i was almost on the verge of giving up. But felt, let me do some designing and somehow got the fabricator to agree to my idea.

It was a simple idea of making square frames, thats just good enough to go inside the rear of the Safari, and lateron worked on the overall dimensions. After 3 weeks and lot of welding and cutting the basic frame structure was ready and was a perfect fit. Giving ample head / shoulder and leg room.

Gave it to the upholsterer and made him use high density foam, as i needed low thickness. Too much of foam would again make the seats big . Today morning the upholsterer called up and gave me the good news of the seats being ready finally.

Posting the pics of the seats on the Safari, while there is yet lot more to be done on the sides (places where the old jump seats were removed), Gradually will execute the other pending work, but the major part of the experiment was a huge success, and i am happy.

KALINGA · 7th February 2010, 15:17

Good work!!!

Congratulation....
I think this is the first safari in Team-BHP with such kind of seat arrangments.

aargee · 7th February 2010, 16:08

Congratulation & Thanks for sharing this info. This has provoked some thoughts to carry out some fabrications for my WagonR.

Wind splitter · 7th February 2010, 16:09

Seats look good, congratulations. Is the seat bench long enough for long drives, hope they are not uncomfortable.

subhasis_999 · 7th February 2010, 18:17

Pavan Sir,

Hats off to your innovative ideas

PAVAN KADAM · 7th February 2010, 18:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by KALINGA

Good work!!!

Congratulation....
I think this is the first safari in Team-BHP with such kind of seat arrangments.

I think so, thank you.

Quote:

Originally Posted by aargee

Congratulation & Thanks for sharing this info. This has provoked some thoughts to carry out some fabrications for my WagonR.

Wagon-R and fabrications, do keep us posted.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wind splitter

Seats look good, congratulations. Is the seat bench long enough for long drives, hope they are not uncomfortable.

We tried 50 kms drive today, with my bro and my kid at the last row, as per his inputs, the seating is extremely comfortable, 100 times better than the earlier jump seats.

The only problem being the roof cladding touching the head, but not a major issue, will provide enough padding for that cladding.

Will post more photos sometime later.

aargee · 7th February 2010, 19:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by PAVAN KADAM

Wagon-R and fabrications, do keep us posted.

Now that you've given me your idea, the toughest job is to find out a right person who can carry out this work. There're some more homework that I need to do in addition. Sure I'll keep them posted to help others.

arijit.co.in · 7th February 2010, 20:46

Post Deleted by the Team-BHP Support : SMS / Slang is STRICTLY prohibited on this community. We would much appreciate your using full & proper English in posts, for the benefit of other forum users.

Please view our board rules carefully before proceeding any further.

mooza · 22nd February 2010, 12:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by PAVAN KADAM

Hi guys,

1) Maruti Omni= This was the ideal kind of seat that can go into the Safari, but its just a little bulky and tooo rounded to fit at the rear, tried altering the frame, but the experiment was un-successful and had to abort this idea. Rs 1500/- wasted.

Great job Pavan, gives me hope for my Scorpio 3rd row seating, which is side facing as of now.

I am wondering whether the Maruti Omni seat could be fitted into my Scorpio (mine is 2004 Dec model)? If yes, you could get back your 1500/-

SamtheLeo · 22nd February 2010, 12:42

Nice work there Pavan,

Just quick question, will AC be effective enough now ??

arijit.co.in · 22nd February 2010, 17:03

Hi all,

will, installing a 3rd row seat void the warranty??

wanderernomad · 22nd February 2010, 17:38

What happened to the rear jump seats? Are they available for give away or for sale?
Plus Pavan nice effort but could you demonstrate the folding mechanism for the seats?

boohooper · 23rd February 2010, 17:56

how about a grab handle to help the passengers get up from the seat? Or they would have to reach for stuff like headrests, etc.... I would suggest one at the corner on the 'C' Pillar. Make it small but strong!! or people might bump their heads or shoulders on it as they enter exit!

6th February 2010, 22:32	#16
PAVAN KADAM BANNED Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: NAMMA BENGALURU Posts: 5,602 Thanked: 2,549 Times	I forgot this thread Lot of R&D going on since last 3 weeks, the third row seats for a Safari has very limited scope. I have done 30 different settings as on Date and freezed on one. This seat will offer almost similar seating comfort and leg room as the rear seat in the Maruti-800, though the head room is something i need to check once its ready. 1 week since its with the upholsterer, even there we are trying different density of foam to get the required shape and comfort level. 48 hrs from now, the seat might finally go on to the Safari, just hoping to finish it soon. This seat folds and levels itself to the midrow backrest, i loose only 1 feet loading area on the whole, not much of difference, and will again seat 2 adults or 3 kids easily. The only headace for me is where the H*** shall my MBQuart Subwoofer go.
	() Thanks

7th February 2010, 12:19	#17
arijit.co.in BHPian Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Kolkata Posts: 68 Thanked: 0 Times View My Garage	Hi brother, Its a really nice effort you have been putting up. Keep it up. well what about the scorpio, innova or fortuner seats or even the new sumo grande mk II ? whats wrong with them? It would be a hell lot better to have fortuner kind of seats, the ones splitting up and folding completely in the sidewalls like the jump seats provided by tatas. please do try them if possible. getting the fortuner seats with a bit of modifications can really help maintain the luggage space, comfort and everything. well we all are eagerly waiting for your custom made seats, many of us seriously need them. please do get back to us along with the details as soon as it is fit in your vehicle. regarding your subwoofer, why dont you purchase a bass-tube and keep them underneath your 3rd bench?
	() Thanks

7th February 2010, 14:40	#18
PAVAN KADAM BANNED Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: NAMMA BENGALURU Posts: 5,602 Thanked: 2,549 Times	Hi guys, I'll take you through the experiments that i've done with few car seats available. 1) Maruti Omni= This was the ideal kind of seat that can go into the Safari, but its just a little bulky and tooo rounded to fit at the rear, tried altering the frame, but the experiment was un-successful and had to abort this idea. Rs 1500/- wasted. 2) Innova = I still love the way innova seats fold up to the sides, but the seats are a bit bigger considering the limited head space the Safari offers in the last row. The Innova floor is low and can accomodate such arrangement, but 100% not for the Safari. Again unsuccessful . No money spent as did not buy the seats. 3) Qualis = Seats were too upright and again Qualis has more head room since the floor is flat from the front upto the rear, Safari rises at the rear by 1 feet, hence no success found here. No money spent here. 4) Endevour = Too small seats, but fits in perfectly, Even in our good old gujri the endevour rear seats cost around Rs. 10000/- Aborted due to high price, but by now i almost caught the basic idea of designing the rear seats. 5) Sumo Grande = Nice seats but again too high at the rear, cant modify too much. Brand new seats costs around 17,500/-, and not available at Gujri yet. Too much of experiments, permutations and combinations worked on for the last 1 year, dejected that nothing could be done to the 3rd Row Safari seats, i was almost on the verge of giving up. But felt, let me do some designing and somehow got the fabricator to agree to my idea. It was a simple idea of making square frames, thats just good enough to go inside the rear of the Safari, and lateron worked on the overall dimensions. After 3 weeks and lot of welding and cutting the basic frame structure was ready and was a perfect fit. Giving ample head / shoulder and leg room. Gave it to the upholsterer and made him use high density foam, as i needed low thickness. Too much of foam would again make the seats big . Today morning the upholsterer called up and gave me the good news of the seats being ready finally. Posting the pics of the seats on the Safari, while there is yet lot more to be done on the sides (places where the old jump seats were removed), Gradually will execute the other pending work, but the major part of the experiment was a huge success, and i am happy. Attached Thumbnails
	(4) Thanks

7th February 2010, 15:17	#19
KALINGA BHPian Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: PUNE Posts: 724 Thanked: 374 Times	Good work!!! Good work!!! Congratulation.... I think this is the first safari in Team-BHP with such kind of seat arrangments.
	() Thanks

7th February 2010, 16:08	#20
aargee Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: TSTN Posts: 6,236 Thanked: 9,641 Times	Congratulation & Thanks for sharing this info. This has provoked some thoughts to carry out some fabrications for my WagonR.
	() Thanks

7th February 2010, 16:09	#21
Wind splitter BHPian Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Bangalore Posts: 131 Thanked: 9 Times	Seats look good, congratulations. Is the seat bench long enough for long drives, hope they are not uncomfortable.
	() Thanks

7th February 2010, 18:17	#22
subhasis_999 Newbie Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Pune Posts: 19 Thanked: 0 Times	Pavan Sir, Hats off to your innovative ideas
	() Thanks

7th February 2010, 20:46	#25
arijit.co.in BHPian Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Kolkata Posts: 68 Thanked: 0 Times View My Garage	Post Deleted by the Team-BHP Support : SMS / Slang is STRICTLY prohibited on this community. We would much appreciate your using full & proper English in posts, for the benefit of other forum users. Please view our board rules carefully before proceeding any further. Last edited by GTO : 11th February 2010 at 13:05.
	() Thanks $Received Infraction$

22nd February 2010, 12:42	#27
SamtheLeo BHPian Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Melbourne Posts: 451 Thanked: 26 Times	Nice work there Pavan, Just quick question, will AC be effective enough now ??
	() Thanks

22nd February 2010, 17:03	#28
arijit.co.in BHPian Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Kolkata Posts: 68 Thanked: 0 Times View My Garage	Hi all, will, installing a 3rd row seat void the warranty??
	() Thanks

22nd February 2010, 17:38	#29
wanderernomad Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Chandigarh Posts: 2,534 Thanked: 1,276 Times View My Garage	What happened to the rear jump seats? Are they available for give away or for sale? Plus Pavan nice effort but could you demonstrate the folding mechanism for the seats?
	() Thanks

23rd February 2010, 17:56	#30
boohooper BHPian Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Goa Posts: 156 Thanked: 87 Times	how about a grab handle to help the passengers get up from the seat? Or they would have to reach for stuff like headrests, etc.... I would suggest one at the corner on the 'C' Pillar. Make it small but strong!! or people might bump their heads or shoulders on it as they enter exit!
	() Thanks