Suspension seat system upgrade

[BruceL2_Fish]

I will post pictures once I have them installed.   They sound be to me in a couple of weeks. 

[Ssericz]

anyone use the seaspension pedestals? after buying the parker and going on their forum thats all anyone over there ever talks about

[BruceL2_Fish]

Looks like they are popular with Parker.  I looked at those as well. 

[BruceL2_Fish]

I plan to have the new Shockwave S5 suspension system on the boat for Neah Bay.   Feel free to stop by if you want to check it out.   Hope it is as good as I think it is.   They have it on sale for Christmas at $100 dollars off.   Still pretty expensive, However if it reduces injury and overall body fatigue on those long run days, it will be well worth it.   

[Speedbump]

I believe my boat has the Bostrom air rides in it.  The seats have 6-1/2" vertical travel, 9 inch fore and aft, recline, arm rests, swivel and built in air compressors. I hadn't had a boat with air ride seats in it before this one, and it is sure nice! 

[BruceL2_Fish]

Nice set up.

[BruceL2_Fish]

Well, here are what my new Shockwave S5 Suspension systems look like.  I will be able to mount on my existing companion box and will build a new aluminum box for the helm side.  I think I could just mount like a 1/2" aluminum plate to the pedestal and mount it but want a seat box on that side anyway.

Don't look at the mess on the floor, still working on putting the boat back together after the plumbing and Electronic upgrades this winter.

[Tom Mac]

Nice, look as well made as the rest of the seat systems I have seen from them.

[J Chaser]

Wow that looks heavy duty.

J.

[BruceL2_Fish]

From my first inspection they are really robust.   all of the bores have bushings installed, the aluminum casting look great and the machine work is well done.   the shock system looks to be top notch.    I am excited to experience the difference at Neah Bay this spring.   I am sure the 20 mile runs out of Westport will be much more comfortable as well.

[Speedbump]

Those look really skookum Bruce!  Good luck with the install...

[BruceL2_Fish]

Today I mounted one of the Shockwave S5 units to the passenger seat box and attached the Centric SAS seat.   The fit is tight but works.   The seat box might need to move aft about 4 to 6 inches.   My wife likes it where it is so I will leave it for now.   The seat now sits almost 8 inches higher and my wife really likes the better visability.    The Centric seat bolted right up to the S5 with the existing swivel base I had. 
I hope to get the aluminum to the shop for the brake press work this week for the helm side seat box.   For now I will only build one new box for the helm side.   Really like the way the S5 feels once I charged the shock.   

[rasslingref]

Very Nice Bruce


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[Ttcustomz]

Very nice!!! How much does something like that cost?? Looking at options fishery supply has a Bentley one. That I might end up going with because of cost.

[BruceL2_Fish]

They are not cheap for sure.   The ShockWave S5 are $900 each.   I was looking at almost $750 for the Glyde Ride system and there some higher and lower.   After doing all of my research and seeing how beefy these are build I think we have made a good choice in protecting our backs on those rough water days.  Additionally I think these are a good fit for an Arima.   
I guess we will find out this spring out on the big water.

[GregE]

You're going to need a step stool to get into that port seat.....

How high of a foot rest will be needed?

[BruceL2_Fish]

Greg, I will be mounting a foot step 7.5" up on the front of the seat box to make up the height the S5 raised the seat.   I have some extra Aluminum diamond plate left from when I built my Drift boat so that should work well for it.   I will do the same with the helm side seat box when I fabricate it.

[BruceL2_Fish]

I will see how this works out on the port side.   If it ends up being too high I will build another box to lower it.   We have always felt the seats were too low in the boat, the wife really likes the height.   If I had a hard top, I would have to make new boxes for both sides as the hard top is lower then my skip tower.   

[Speedbump]

Something that you have probably already thought about Bruce, but if you can build the footrests to be able to fold up and get out of the way, it allows you to run the boat standing if needed and lean into the seat if needed...

[BruceL2_Fish]

I am looking at that option for the helm seat as well.   I will mock up the foot rest and decide before I commit to a direction.  Good input, thanks

[BruceL2_Fish]

I got back out to the shop this morning and fabricated and installed a foot rest on the Port Passenger seat box.   As Greg noted the foot rest is pretty high on the box but it seems to work well.   

[BruceL2_Fish]

Another picture of the foot rest.

[rasslingref]

Will the cuddy door still fully open?  Once again very nice work Bruce.
Another thought is the shin busting corners of the foot rest.


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[BruceL2_Fish]

Dave, The foot rest is made so that the cuddy door is fully functional.  As we all know, the port side is a bit tight to begin with so that was a design consideration.  I thought about making the corners softer but, went with the small radius created when I TIG welded the unit.   The rest is inset a couple of inches from the edge of the seat box so I believe he risk of inadvertent shin busting will be minimal.  As you noted time will tell if I am correct.

[ATGEP]

Bruce,
The setup looks awesome. One thing that sticks out in the pictures is the hinges for the box top. You may want to consider beefing up the lid attachment as you have raised the height of seat by a large margin.