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Focus Seat Extender Brackets - More Legroom!

6K views 23 replies 11 participants last post by  BC_ST 
#1 ·
(moderator, if this is in the incorrect forum, please move...)

Hello,

I'm 6' 5" with long legs and although I can fit in my '04 SVT Focus fine, I start to get really uncomfortable and achy on longer trips. I posted on this website and FocalJet asking if there were any aftermarket seat track extender brackets available similar to the ones that are available for 1994-2004 Mustangs from Kenny Brown or Dugan Racing. From research, it appears there are none.

So, I went ahead and ordered a set of them from Dugan Racing, hoping that by some miracle they would fit my Focus or could be easily modified. No such luck...the front lines up good, but the bolts that hold the rear of the seat brackets in place are located to the left and right of the seat tracks instead of directly in-line as in the Mustang.

Here are some pictures: http://home.cfl.rr.com/svtruck/brackets/

I called around to some metal fabrication shops here in Orlando, Florida and was directed to Tim Takash of Takash Racecraft (http://www.takashracecraft.com/index.html) here in Orlando. I stopped by his shop tonight after work and talked with him about having some brackets fabricated for my car. My first impression of Tim is that he is a really nice guy, very professional, respectful and is a straight-shooter...he even complemented my car.

He said he could either fabricate a single set for my car or he could construct a jig in which to make any number of sets of the brackets exactly alike. Sooooo...since he is busy for the next couple weeks...I told him I would post on the major Focus websites in the meantime and see if there is any interest from others who would want a set of these (or two, one set for each seat). He said he could make them for $150 per set (set of two brackets, to relocate one seat).

For comparison, I paid $89.95 for the Mustang ones from Dugan...which are actually manufactured by Interactive Systems & Technologies in Winder, GA.

Kenny Brown gets $104 for theirs, see this website for example, right side, second from the bottom:

http://kennybrown.com/cgi-bin/ecomm...96-1998SVTCobra

Realizing that $150 is pretty steep, you have to factor in the fact that if you are a tall driver of a Focus, 4 more additional inches of legroom would do wonders for your car's comfort level. Also, this would be a much smaller production run than what Kenny Brown or IS&T would produce...and, frankly, there aren't any other solutions available for the Focus.

Either way, I am going to have Tim fabricate a set for my driver's seat...it's worth it to me. So, let me know what you guys think and if you are interested...I will have to catch back up with Tim in a couple weeks to discuss the specifics if there is a lot of interest in these brackets.
 
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#3 ·
I guess so...my right knee rests on the dash next to the stereo and gets pretty uncomfortable after a while...plus the my knees are at an almost 90 degree angle, and my ankles are bent to work the peddles. Sounds really bad...it's not really...but I could definitely use that extra room!

[thumb]
 
#10 ·
good luck getting this to work, but i feel sorry for anyone who has to sit in your back seat. i have my seat set all the way back and there isnt enough leg room in the back for any of my friends.
 
#11 ·
I'm not to worried about it. I'm never going to carry more than two people with me.

What is it with people on this website?! I am trying to help out the Focus community!

What's with giving me a hard time about me needing more leg room in my car?

If you aren't interested in a set of these brackets, then don't reply to this post.
 
#12 ·
whats with people on this website?
we all have opinions and the right to express them.

i simply stated that there is little enough leg room in my back seat as it is. i am 6'2" and the shortest of my group of friends, and since my car is the only one in good working order whenever we go anywhere we take my car.

if you dont have to worry about leg room in the back, and you need more leg room for yourself, then this is a great thing, i am just saying it is useless to me.
 
#13 ·
crazy_urn said:
whats with people on this website?
we all have opinions and the right to express them.

i simply stated that there is little enough leg room in my back seat as it is. i am 6'2" and the shortest of my group of friends, and since my car is the only one in good working order whenever we go anywhere we take my car.

if you dont have to worry about leg room in the back, and you need more leg room for yourself, then this is a great thing, i am just saying it is useless to me.
Yeah, that's fine, but listen, if "it is usless to you" why even respond to my post then?

What you said has nothing to do with the topic of my post...I didn't ask "please respond if you don't need these".

I guess you gotta get that post count up, huh? [rolleyes]
 
#15 ·
CKA said:
Hey, it's cool, Urn isn't mean at all. He was just saying. It is awsome though. Trust me some people would love 2 do this. Just hang on and I don't think anyone was knocking u at all. It is an awsome idea. Keep us posted on it anyway. :)
Thanks man...I guess I was just expecting more constructive replies instead of "yeah, I don't need these" or something to the effect of "I'm tall too, but I fit fine, not sure why you need these".

I'm not saying that the Focus is short on leg room, in fact it has a lot of leg room for a compact car...I'm saying that I am abnormally tall and could benefit from some additional rear seat travel.
 
#17 ·
hey bud, i am just trying to be helpful. pointing out something that some ppl may not have thought about.

i said this product is useless to me because it really is. i dont see the sense in me spending $150 on a product that i cant use most of the time, but that is just my situation, which is differnt from yours, and thats ok.

and honestly, i really dont care about my post count.

one final thought... this is an open forum. this forum is compromised of many people, all with differing opinions. there are some things that i like that few ppl on this board like, just like there are some people on this board that i simply do not agree with on most things. and everyone is free to share their opinion, whether it agrees or disagrees with what has been posted. that is the way it works. if you dont like it, either get over it or leave cause its not changing.
 
#18 ·
I totally respect your opinion and all of those on this forum and the others like it that I frequent.

The thing is that you're missing my point. The point of my post was to solicit interest in these new parts for our cars. If you weren't interested in them for the reasons you listed above, then that's fine, why make a useless post about a useless product (to you)?

The tall people, with long legs, like me, will appreciate something like this and I think that their friends and family will understand that they won't be sitting behind them in their car.

Furthermore, any tall, relatively intelligent person who would be interested in these would realize that they are going to have next to zero rear legroom in the rear seat behind them. That's the trade-off for having the additional front leg room day-to-day.

In my opinion your reply didn't add any value to my post...and therefore, in my opinion, it was useless and unneeded.
 
#19 ·
of course you are entitled to your opinion, but i believe it is based on false assumptions...

while you appear to be an intelligent person, not everyone who surfs these boards are. throughout the time i have been a member of this board and others it has been proven to me that not every focus owner can be classified in the "intelligent" catagory. this is simply a fact of life. and my post was intended for those owners.

if you have a problem with one (or all) of my posts, please feel free to report it to a moderator. you have that right. but if you chose not to do that, then why bother adding more supposedly "useless" posts to this thread.

i am done here. there is no sense bringing this thread more off topic then it already is. lets stop this discussion, so you can get back to selling your product. if you have anything more to say to me, please use the PM feature.
 
#22 ·
Did this ever go anywhere in terms of making a set, or someone else coming up with a way of extra legroom? Just wondering if there is an alternative instead of having to have something fabricated up. I'm about 6'3 and all leg, so some extra room especially on those long drives would be a welcomed addition.
 
#23 ·
In the interest of the general public but not trying to dig up up old demons................consider insurance and liability, when you alter car like that the insurance co. can refuse to pay for any damages in accident, you have changed the distance to airbag and other things as well. The insurers would refer to that as 'tampering with a safety system' in court. May be why no one ever jumped up to make scads of those parts. The liability would bankrupt a small company overnight from one lawsuit only and not wise.

I'm 6'2 and not immune to the issue even with seat all the way back. I feel your pain.

It would be easy enough to make up some add-on rails there to extend seat but you're best doing it on your own.
 
#24 ·
I wouldnt see liability being with the company making the rails, if that were true, the companies who make them for other makes and models would be bankrupt. It's along the lines of steering wheel hubs/aftermarket steering wheels, etc. Even the simple notice for off road use. But the companies who do make the parts exist, most brackets are for cars that have some demand behind it, such as a prius. But then the whole rail system would be the same scenario with aftermarket seats, rails, the list can go on and on. It push comes to shove, I might take a stab at making the brackets out of a thinner gauge of steel and taking it around to see if it can be made. I've put in 16,000 miles in the last 4 months and really just want to make things easier on my knees and ankles.
 
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