Racing Seats for Big and Tall guys???

Scibetta

Scibetta

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 2, 2005
Location
Hillsborough
So I've been on the hunt for a fiberglass 1-piece (non-suspension) racing seat to fit my 6'6" 270lb frame and seem to be coming up empty. It would be going in a custom chassis to run in Ultra4 so needs accommodations for a 5-point harness and HANS compatible. Now I've been at my share of races and on the Lakebed at KOH and while I'm big.......I'm certainly not the.........let's just say the widest guy I've seen in a race rig. The two areas that seem to be causing the issues is the width at the hips, most seats even claiming to be Wide and Tall versions seem to be measuring 15"-16" and I just don't fit. The other issue is that a lot of my height comes in my torso so having the highest possible openings for the shoulder harness is key somewhere in the 29" height range from seat to top of opening.

I've looked at MOMO, Corbeau, Sparco, PRP, RaceTech (there's an outside change they might have one version that might could work). Any other players I'm missing? I've searched the web and continue to come up empty which is leaving me perplexed? What are other big guys using?? are they going with a non-racing style seat? maybe a suspension seat without the side-hip bolsters that would otherwise cause fitment issues? IDK so if anyone has some wisdom on the topic I would appreciate it.
 
Mastercraft makes (or made)a 22"w seat in a suspension style.
Pretty sure they made it for Curt Leduc who isn't a small dude
 
I have a similar issue for height.

The tallest suspension seat I could find was a PRP that is exclusively sold through WOD, it's the COMP model without the removable cushion. They have a +4" tall option that can be combined to a wide version too.

And they have the mud drains too, which is nice.
 
Mac5005 said:
Have you spoken with the guys at prp about making the alpha seat taller to fit you?

If not them then sparco
Click to expand...
I did talk to PRP quite a bit actually and they will not customize the Alpha seat.
Already looked at Sparco, unfortunately nothing they offer will fit me.
 
Poly seat ok?
I mean is just as safe as fiberglass. ( I personally suggest a real aluminum seat for ANY safety application.)
Summit racing has their house brand combo set 20 in. width x 32.250 height.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-csum110b
 
Lizooki said:
( I personally suggest a real aluminum seat for ANY safety application.)
Click to expand...

And once you go here (and I agree you should) then a quick call to Joie of Seating in Charlotte and you will have a custom tailored to you seat that feels like sitting in your lazyboy.
 
Give the guys at butler built a call they are local to Charlotte. I had them build a fitted race seat for my sprint car. Wasn't cheap but walked away from some heavy hits.

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk
 
Ron said:
And once you go here (and I agree you should) then a quick call to Joie of Seating in Charlotte and you will have a custom tailored to you seat that feels like sitting in your lazyboy.
Click to expand...
The lazy boy part is the truth. I have fallen asleep in it during staging.

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Ron said:
And once you go here (and I agree you should) then a quick call to Joie of Seating in Charlotte and you will have a custom tailored to you seat that feels like sitting in your lazyboy.
Click to expand...

BTW, how important is a good fitting aluminum seat for any performance type vehicle?
Back in my racing days the itinerant Cup drivers who moved from car to car during the year would literally carry their own seat around with them just like their boots, gloves and fire-proof undies.
Like a good old coot friend said about cheap helmets. If you got a 100 dollar head buy a hundred dollar helmet.

So how much is your ass worth?
How about to your family?
Not being mean .... just realistic. None of want to see anyone hurt, cuz stuff happens on the trail.
It all comes down to how you wheel and the type of wheeling you do I guess.
I don't have that type of seat, but I wheeled a stock-ish Zook at URE.
If I went to anything buggy-ish, I'd have at least a generic aluminum seat.
 
Lizooki said:
BTW, how important is a good fitting aluminum seat for any performance type vehicle?
Back in my racing days the itinerant Cup drivers who moved from car to car during the year would literally carry their own seat around with them just like their boots, gloves and fire-proof undies.
Like a good old coot friend said about cheap helmets. If you got a 100 dollar head buy a hundred dollar helmet.

So how much is your ass worth?
How about to your family?
Not being mean .... just realistic. None of want to see anyone hurt, cuz stuff happens on the trail.
It all comes down to how you wheel and the type of wheeling you do I guess.
I don't have that type of seat, but I wheeled a stock-ish Zook at URE.
If I went to anything buggy-ish, I'd have at least a generic aluminum seat.
Click to expand...



Aluminum and hard shell seats are great and off far superior safety over suspension seats. Just be sure to have the correct density foam between you and the seat. Also much easier to get and keep your harnesses tight and keep the correct position in the seat with tightened harnesses, in a hard shell seat.

Most of the composite and the higher end custom alum models feature one time use foam. Meaning the foam is designed to protect your spine from impact one time, then it needs to be replaced.

Think about it this way, if you are in a rig and trying to hit a waterfall ledge with some decent momentum to bump the rear up and over the ledge.

Generally most of the rigs that are looking into these seats have plenty of suspension up travel to soak up the abuse the chassis and you back experiences.

However if on that ledge, the belly pan and skid hits the ledge before the rear tire. In a hard shell seat, the only cushion to that impact is the foam between your body and the seat.

The higher end foam supports you without degrading, and upon a high g force impact it then compresses to protect your spine. It absorbs the load, but doesn’t return to original shape afterward. Hence the need for replacing it.

Cheaper options for the foam, support you buy degrade over time, but don’t offer the impact protection.

On a rig with minimal suspension travel, high chances to have belly and skid impact, and not racing, is where the benefits to a suspension seat really show.

As well not all suspension seats are created equal, there exists giant differences in materials and craftsmanship between brands and products within each brand.

Hard shell seats aren’t for everyone and aren’t an end all solution and neither are suspension seats.

Just wanted to point this out, so anyone following doesn’t immediately go shop thru the kirkey aluminum dirt model seat catalog for their rock bouncer or crawler.

I’m averaged sized 6’0” 215, so I can fit in most off the shelf seats.

I have been really impressed with PRP alpha, mastercraft, and sparco hard shell seats for competitive use. Those three have been tested in the field and have left drivers with no injuries after major wrecks. (Campbell, Shirley, Nelson, Currie)

The corbeau XP in kens race jeep felt great for a suspension seat for KOH. I made sure my belts stayed tight, and felt secure and wasn’t beat up post race and post roll.

I have regular corbeaus in my crawler and are fine for it, but aren’t nearly as comfortable or supportive as my prp premiers.

If I needed what the OP does and the big 3 can’t provide, I’d be going to ISP or another Charlotte area custom containment seat builder that has experience with the fitment, shell design, and correct foam to get the best product.
 
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