That is a very good point.   I actually had some bending already starting on those little hinges.   I straightened them when I was doing the Shockwave S5 install.   I have ordered some 316 Stainless Steel piano hinge for the new helm side seat box I am making and will plan to replace the hinges on the passenger side as well.
It is interesting that the way the seat box is designed on my boat, the back section for the jump seat area rest solidly on the lower box but the front section is edge to edge and only supported by the hinges.   Not sure if all seat boxes are this way.   

Bruce, the thing that concerns me with the height of the seats is the higher center of gravity with sitting up that high. Visibility would be great but,  It may make the boat feel more tippy in rough water  :twocents:

I will find out once I get back on the water.  Worst case I end up building lower custom seat boxes.

Got my material back from brake form on Friday and got out to the shop today to finish welding and getting the fasteners holes in the box for the hinge and Shockwave S5.  Still need to put in holes to mount to the deck of the boat and placement of the foot rest.   hope to have it off to get blasted, primed and powder-coated this week.   Might be able to wrap this project up in a couple of weeks.

This helm side seat box is a lower then the Arima seat box.   The foot rest will not be so high, looking at a folding one as someone mentioned.

Looking good... one suggestion... perhaps include one of these stainless spring "hatch holders" for each box (or even a hydraulic strut).



Lid's going to be really, really heavy with the suspension + seat on it... a spring will help hold it open so you can access the storage, and will prevent it from falling all the way over and tearing the hinge out.  Strut would probably work better, but more $$ and uncertain longevity.

+1. The stainless spring works good.  Can't remember why, but I also added a chain to prevent over-travel. ?

Good ideas on the lift assist, I will look into both options.  Thanks, just what I need, help spending money.   :party:

The Shockwave S5 units are 20# and with the seat close to 30# so, not a bad idea to help on lifting.  Thanks for the help to think about that.

The spring really doesn't help lift. When opening the lid, the spring stiffens to hold the it up. To lower the lid, you just bend the spring in the middle.

Well have been sick for the last week or so and have not got much done.  Got out to the shop today to finish test fitting the helm sit seat box and foot rest.   Here are a couple of pictures.   Ended up not being able to find an swivel adapter for this seat with the correct hole pattern so I made a fixed one out of a chunk of aluminum.   Seat box and adapter will go to Powder coat on Monday.

Fixed seat adapter plate.

The seat is fixed in the forward position?

The seat is mounted to the only location on the Shockwave S5 that is designed for a swivel type mount.  That position has the front of the Centric SAS seats I have even with the front of the S5 unit.   

I was surprised the Garelick seat swivel I ordered hole pattern was too wide and would not mount to the SAS seats, the one that came on the passenger side from the factory did, same brand swivel.   It would mount to the Shockwave unit.   Anyway rather then trying some of the others available I just made the adapter as I do not swivel the helm seat anyway.

Thanks Bruce,your metal work looks great!I have the same seats and after seeing your install I have seat envy.Good to know it's just a matter of finding the right swivel base to make it work.The S5 are spendy units and for me the seats must swivel.Now it's just a matter of finding 2 grand to get a set.

It is an expensive upgrade, but looking to prevent back injury for us as we use the boat more in retirement, believe it will be a good investment.   I am very happy so far with how it is working out.   The real test will be out on the water.   I plan to provide a good report on how effective the Shockwave S5 is after our trip to Neah Bay this year.

I believe Springfield may have he seat swivel that will work with the Centric SAS seat.

Bruce

   Hey Bruce:  Why couldn't you mount that seat on the lower side of an Arima box?   Because the seat adds so much extra height, I was thinking, you could mount the seat on the lower side of their "stepped top" box and have a cushion on the high side....which would face aft.   If that was still too high, might be possible to simply cut the Arima box down.  Cutting the Arima box would involve removing the top, cutting, then remounting the top.  A little work, but maybe not as much as building a box from scratch.   Just thinking about the height issue for the smaller Arimas. 

Yat

Yat, those are all good options.  Many things go into design consideration, cost, fabrication capability, ambition, etc...  I saw a good video of the Shockwave S5 mounted on a low seat box that needed no footrest.  This was a HewsCraft boat I beleive.  For small Arima or hard top this would be a good option. 

One reason we mounted our as we have is when we are running in open seas and at about 13 or 14mph the factory seat height did not provide great visibility over the bow to look for crab pots or debris.  My wife and I both wanted a higher seat position and not need to stand to see so, we went with the current set up.

That said, actual time on the water will give the feedback if we need to make adjustments.   I am fortunate in that I have the resources to do some fabrication as needed and have fun doing it. 

Bruce - really clean work, your seat set-up is looking top notch.

Yes you are fortunate to have the resources for this kind of work - it gets frustrating and more expensive if you cannot fabricate yourself. I am also fortunate, I work at a multimillion dollar machine shop with a weld shop (mostly stainless weld), it helps when you can do your own fabricating when it comes to seat boxes/kicker brackets and so on.

Here is a link to the review I mentioned.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eD6t13rerQI

After a full season of running with the WPS suspension bracket installed at the helm coupled with a "fish-on" type seat... I am very happy with the overall performance of this bracket. The WPS bracket has provided a huge improvement over the ride I was accustomed to with the stock arima ped. seat setup.

Zarn, you did a great job on your suspension system install.   Good to hear it is making the ride much better.   I am hoping for the same with my install.

OK folks, here is the completed installation of my seating modification with new helm seat box and seats mounted on the Shockwave S5 units.   I think this will be a really worthwhile upgrade.   Powder coat turned out good on the seat box and it is mounted on with the old pedestal mount holes and 4 additional holes one in each corner.   All fasteners installed with 3M 4000 seal and the base has a fillet seal around it to keep water out..   

Hope to have a test run support in the near future.

I know who I will be asking for a ride from at Neah Bay.  It won't be WeDoCq or Flying Arima.  Great work Bruce.