I need to resolve a leg room issue

In my 40 GMC truck, I have an ongoing leg room issue. I go out for a ride and there just isn't enough room between the drivers seat and the brake and gas peddle....

Last night after a great build session on my buddies 67 elcomino, we decided to go for a ride in my truck.... The cab is small, so we where shoulder to shoulder, no big deal cuz I normaly cruise with my girl, but, my legs keep cramping.

Is there anything I can do or has anyone had a similar issue, and they found a resolution?

I can try to post pics cuz I know how we like pics, so you can see how I am folded up to fit...

 

The idea is to get your **** slipped as far back as possible so your legs can stretch out. If the backrest on your seats are too thick they will keep you shoved forward, so you need maybe to go to a seat that is thinner in the backrest area and that goes tighter to the rear wall of the cab.

How tall are you ? If you have ever looked at pictures of people from the 40's they were a lot thinner and probably a little shorter than we are today.

Don

 

You think you have problems,,I'm 6'4" and drive a 32 pickup,,talk about a small cab and you can bet you sweet **** I don't have any leg room!

Short of amputation I don't know how to gain leg room.

As I have grown older I have the leg cramps too after being in the truck for a hour or so,,,how I did the long drives several years ago is beyond me.

I just drive the pickup locally or within 100 miles and stop to stretch more often. HRP

 

First, seriously, space issues aside, bounce this off your doctor the next time you see him/her. It might be nothing, but it would be better to not find out the hard way that it is not.

As for the leg room, top-swing pedals have helped some, others have stretched the cab. The shape of the seat and how well it supports your lower-half plays a role, but also puts you in non-period-correct territory, in appearance, to correct.

 

Thanks Gimpy... My first love is powerlifting, and as I get older, I become less flexable? I don't know that I will ever give it up. That coupled with Chinese Kenpo, and Aikido, and running, I think I am battling the clock. I am only 47. I do see my doc often.

I am 5ft 11. So ya you got me Hotrod.... I don't know how you fit.

Here are some pics. I will add a few with me sitting in it....

The seat that was in it, was an Astro van bench mounted atop the old mount. I felt like I was riding a horse, and wanted a more sit in it feel. SO these seats are out of a 70 Nova. They are as far back as I can get them while achieving a slight lean back....(Not a Detroit lean) If I go any further I feel worse then in a kitchen chair....

I can only think of perhaps moving the pedals, or switching the gas to a Higher mounted s**** type...

 

Your seat needs to go back and up slightly, and your pedals stick out way too far toward the driver. Those are your problem.

Don

 

Thanks Don, as we speak (or type) I am putting 2x4's behind the head rest trying to figure out if I can gain just as you said. I think you are right...

 

You need to pad the back of the cab and make a plywood and foam bench,,you will gain several inches of leg room. HRP

 

I'm an old 6'2" and have never had enough leg room in my '55 Studebaker pickup. I've thought about different seats, but as it is, my head is already against the back gl***. It would seem that by padding the back of the cab, there would be slightly more leg room, but the tradeoff would be sitting straight upright.

An aftermarket cruise control is on the bench as we speak. It's not traditional, but it's the only way I can put any highway miles on it. The old right leg just won't sit at that angle for twelve hours straight any more.

jack vines

 

If you look at most of these old trucks, the seats are like Hotrodprimer describes. Just a flat backrest up against the back wall and a seat for your ****. These trucks were originally built for use around town and on the farm, so they were never super comfortable on long trips. We can make them slightly more comfortable, but if you start shoving modern, thick seats into them you quickly run out of room for you.

Don

 

Being comfortable is not traditional...


....ok, I'll shut up.


HRP and DHR have hit it smack on the head.

 

Go to a s**** gas pedal and shorten that brake lever. Then, make a back piece that starts out thin at the top and tapers out at the bottom. Mount it flush against the back of the cab.

Also, keep in mind, it's a truck. P***enger comfort wasn't at the top of the list back then.

 

If you look at a stock pickup of that era, the seats were higher so your legs dropped straight down instead of having to go straight out. I think if you raised your seat higher you would be more comfortable.

Don

Stock interior looks like this:

 

Exactly! A truck is probably one type of vehicle that a hot rodder should leave the seat alone. Reupholster, but leave the shape alone.

 

Maybe I should trade her off for a shoebox? or something like that....

I like to sprawl out LoL... This is cozy.... I gotchya though... raise the seat, set it back a few, and move the peddles forward....

Don , that's eat is right under the steering wheel. I thought old farm boys where much bigger back in the day.... Everyone I ever met was definatly corn fed....

 

I had a buddy in high school who used to lament "You modify, you cry."

Every time I'm bit in the ***, I remember his dreary mantra.

But it doesn't stop me. I just put more time in and figure it out.

I save the crying for that damn Teresa chick on tv who talks to the dead.. p*** the tissues.

 

Hotrodprimer and Don'shotrods are both spot on. But just in the interior picture of your truck I see good couple of inches alone in the brake pedal and throttle. Both are way too far off the firewall as they sit. Sit in the truck, step on the brake and have someone measure the distance between the floor board and the back of the pedal and **** it in to the firewall that much, then do the same with the throttle pedal... I'll bet it's two maybe three inches at least.

As noted, going back to taller based, thinner backed seat will make all the difference in the world. I know I'm kinda the odd man out, but I cant stand leaning back in a car seat, mine have got to be bolt upright. That means whenever I'm forced to drive a late model around, my face is stuffed in the sun visors, and my neck is craned rom looking just below the windshields top.... It's either that or I'll be asleep in an hour in the modern "moonshot" position!

 

I made new seat pans for the bench seat in my 48 and gained a bunch of room. I applied foam and then covered in vinyl. My back almost touches the back of the cab.

 

I too am over 6 feet tall and I drive a '32 pickup. I narrowed a bench seat out of an '84 Ford Ranger and used it. The seat back is narrow so it hugs the back of the cab. The seating height is fine for me and I still have room to get my size 11's in and out of the cab and manipulate the three pedals. I have heard S-10 seats work well also.

 

Just like the rest have said.

Seat is too low.

Pedal is too far back.
(stock pedal stick out of floor board about 6in and go almost to floor when pressed)

39-46 cabs are roomy.

I think people were midgets before 1939. All people fit tight in pre 39 trucks.

 

Flipper.... That's exactly the seated position I want to achieve... That's comfortable looking.... Sitting in, and back enough to stretch my legs...

The guy who I bought this truck from was a little smaller, and I am not happy with the brake peddle setup at all, and is on my list of changes. I try to do bigger projects over the winter. I can deffinately move my seats back.

If I move the base back and lift it up, it probably will correct most of my issue, then the peddles will finish it....

Brake peddle is, 7inches out, and pressed is 5 inches, so.... I could try to move it in 3 inches., that would be 4 and 2.... I just want to make sure if I broke a brake line, I could still stop since I will loose some peddle, maybe 2 in giving me5 and 3 is the medium...

 

Thanks guys... It seems I can get perhaps up to 6 inches....Which would fix my issue

 

My plywood and foam "Fruit Salad" covered seat. HRP

 

Yep. Make a seat. There was no way I was going to be able to drive my A pickup with the stock ford seat. Figured out how to recess the firewall without losing any toe board, modded the pedals and modified one of those party bus seats I found in the junk. Best compromise between function and comfort i could get.




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My 2002 F-150 has adjustable pedals. Try installing those in your truck. Salvage yards should be full of them.

 

I have a 37 gmc and it was my only vehicle for years. I used the factory seat and after awhile I worked on the seat back to make it thinner. I wired the springs so that they were not allowed to release all the way. I still had the spring to it, but I lost 3 inches in thickness. Worked great. I drove the truck all over the place and never had any issues with being cramped.

I think that a big part of it in these little truck cabs is that they are tall, not long and you need to be raised up to truck ride height vs cars, gives your legs the room that way. I'll be keeping mine on the factory stands and height when I put it back on the road.

Sounds like you have a good plan to fix yours now

Jason

 

I agree with raising the seat and thinning the seat back, but also try raising the front of the seat even more than the back. (without changing the angle of the seat back) this might support your legs better and skrunch your **** into the seat back another inch.
Renault Alliance and Encore (early 80s) had an unusual seat mechanism that rocked the whole seat rather than just tilting the seat back. (kind of like a wall hugger recliner) The seat backs were thinner than most buckets and I did some modifying and got them to fit quite well in my 47 Studebaker pick-up. Truck was a 100 miler, then get out and walk around a bit, wasn't to bad as a tank of gas got me 200 miles so I would stop for lunch or ice cream in between fuel stops. It's about the drive not the destination, right?

 

A few years ago a friend went to the Junk Yard and picked up a bench seat from an old school bus. The back was then and after modifying the seat frame his 34 Chevy Truck was comfortable for him to drive. He is 6' 3".
I am 6'6" and have been crippled in my right leg since 1972 (motorcycle wreck) My only choice has been to try to extend the cab on my 33 Chevy Truck. It includes a 13" extension and now is a 5-window cab. Somewhat different but still all steel. Jeff

 

I used Fiero seats in mine when i built it.They are small enough for leg room,narrow enough that i built a small console/arm rest in the center and i also got the extra bonus of speakers in the head rests.

 

I'm 6' 6" and really don't fit in much but what I did years ago in a37 chevy truck was add power brakes, shorten the pedal and the toeboard was recessed for pedal clearance and that allowd me about 50 miles before I uad to get out and stretch. I have panels so I fit with comfort.