iaconsultants

I am about to buy a 2000 G1500 Express Regency van with 5.7 liter V8 engine in it. I am 6 foot 8 inches and my wife is 5 foot 3 inches so she has no problem at all sitting and driving any place in the van. I on the other hand am rather cramped in the van when driving or in the front passenger seat. I noticed the power seat for the drivers side goes far too forward for anyone that has leggs to drive so I figured there must be a way to shift or offset the power mechanism so that instead of going forward so far, that it could be made to go back a few inches further. For me driving this van my knees and along the outsides of my knees are always touching the dash, door panel, and the center console. If I could make the seat go back 2 more inches or even three inches would be great and allow me to be free and clear and sit more relaxed while driving. At this time it feels like I am back in school again and they always made the desk and chari combination too small for me to feel relaxed. Any one changed it or modified it or are there any relocation kits or instructions out there? Thank you in advance.

Athanatos

i think the only way to do this is to physically move the seat support mount back which means drilling new holes in the floor for the bolts

RacerX

OR unbolt the seat from the mounting brace and install it 360. So when you work the switch forward it actually moves the seat back.

Or unbolt the seat and put the mounting studs AND holes further down the mounting brace.

All of this can be done with some effort because MANY of these vans are modified for people with wheelchairs. Your problem is your too tall so actually if you can find the name of your local ADA-approved vehicle customizer you can call them and present your problem and they should have a good solution.

iaconsultants

Thank you both for replying. First I kind of was thinking about redrilling holes or using some angle iron and remounting it that way, but I want to try and keep the interior looking as new and as good as it does. Redrilling hopes means that the floor of the vehicle might end up allowing water to enter the carpet by getting splashed up during rains and driving through puddles. The angle iron might work but looks crude and just would not look right. The option of mounting the unit backwards I had not thought about and seems to have some good potential. I think that has a chance as long as they did not make the unti centered about the seat itself so it goes the same amount forward as backward. I kind of wonder if they did that to begin with since the seat control switches are nearest the center of the van and not located on the outside like I have seen most any other power seat out there. Very interesting to try it out. I think I shall try to do some measurements based on over hang on the power slide rails on the van on the front and the back. That should give me an idea if they are biased one way or the other. I sure do hope so. It almost seems to make sense that since the switches are on the center side of the vehicle that this thing might be in backwards to begin with or may have been for the passenger seat as a power seat. Too bad I don't have power seats on both sides, but it will in the near future. Also, yes I know I am too tall, I guess I figured that out when I could only mail order pants and shoes.

Thank you and I will post what I find out.

iaconsultants

Almost forgot. Regency Conversions is the one that did the van and they have been out of business for a few years already so no luck finding out anything that way and the places I did talk to don't seem to want to mess with Regency for some reason. Seems like there is a bit of bitterness out there towards Regency for some reason.

Thanks again

RacerX

I dont know about Regency but generally speaking you own a conversion van. All that means is the van was sold to them they cut it up and modified it and then sold it to the dealer. The reason your controls may be in the center is because they were added to the truck as a package item. The cars are shipped complete but with incomplete VIN #s. It is the same with limousines, they get cut and altered at a separate assembly plant. Most factory power seat have controls on the base of the seat. Coach builders use a different set up because they derive the power for the seat from their own blueprint. This is usually why no one wants to deal with it. Where can I get a schematic for a coach built custom? Only from the people who built it. There is a guy who can figure it out but you will have to give him a week or two to probe and prod.

And with the seat. The position in the floor isnt the same as the position on the mount. You can move the seat on the mount and not alter the position on the floor. All you want to do is MOVE THE SEAT BASE REARWARD so your legs dont hit the panels. That might just be moving the base of the seat back 3" and drilling new holes for the slide if you cant find 4 that line up to reattach the bolts to.

Another thing to think about it does the motor work rearward as it does front ward? Some of these seats have 1 motor for all functions and others have 3 separate motors to do everything(front, rear, tilt, up, down and lumbar). If you can go forward but not back then one motor may not be good. Either way you ll have to remove the seat and give yourself some ideas of what you might be able to do to remedy yourself.

anjy834u

i doubt if i can suggest drilling holes on the floor. that so not should be kept as an option.