Adapting 2008+ GM SUV Seats to Blazer - The 1947 - Present Chevrolet & GMC Truck Message Board Network

**29od1** · 03-02-2012, 08:56 AM

Hi Guys,

I've had a few people ask me about how I adapted the 2008+ GM SUV 2nd row and 3rd rows seats to my Blazer, so I thought I'd start a thread to try to somewhat document the process of what I did. I'm sure there many other ways to do it, but this is how I went about it.

I originally got the idea of using these seats by seeing what a member on here did, epsorenson. Here is the thread that details how he put the rear seats in.
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=260518

I really like the way he did it, but I didn't want to cut the bed floor of my Blazer (and I didn't want to do that much work). So I tried to adapt all the brackets I made to pick up the existing mounting locations and reinforce the underlying floor structure to account for the newer seats.

I'll start with the rear seats first.

**29od1** · 03-02-2012, 09:08 AM

So here's what I started with. They're out of a 2008 Escalade ESV. These are popular SUVs for conversion to limo's so you can come by the seats for a "reasonable" price if you can find a conversion place. Anyway, seats from a 2008 and on Suburban, Tahoe, Yukon can all have the 2nd row captains and 3rd row removable seats as options.

The reason I like the 2nd row seats is because they fold up really well to be able to get into the back seat of a Blazer with the top on.

**29od1** · 03-02-2012, 09:21 AM

I initially borrowed a 3rd row seat from my mom's Suburban to have something to use to build a frame from. I wanted to use the existing mounting holes in the bed of my Blazer, so I built an external frame out of 1-1/2" square tubing and made tabs on the inside to attach the frame.

I lot of people have used this same idea to attach their removable rear seats as well. The threads on the built in mounting nuts of the bed were not very good, so I tapped them out to 1/2" UNC and used grade 8, 1/2" bolts to attach the frame to the floor. Here's a few pics of the frame as I was mocking it up.

**29od1** · 03-02-2012, 09:27 AM

The rough dimensions on the rear frame are 49-1/2" wide by 24-1/2" deep.

**29od1** · 03-02-2012, 09:30 AM

The front seats were a bit more difficult to adapt than the rears. If you sit the front seats in with the stock mounting frame that's attached to them, they are really tall. So I had to figure out a way to shorten them down to a height that felt and looked right.

**29od1** · 03-02-2012, 09:40 AM

I'll start with the passenger side.

I took the seat mounting bracket off of the seat. Here are a few pics of the mounting bracket once it's removed from the seat.

DustinU · 03-02-2012, 10:25 AM

Very helpful, THANKS! My captain chairs brackets are a little different, they have a bend in the rear that raise the rear brackets about 3"...in addition to the mods you made to the front bracket.
This got me on the right track, thanks again!

**29od1** · 03-02-2012, 10:31 AM

Quote:

My captain chairs brackets are a little different, they have a bend in the rear that raise the rear brackets about 3"...in addition to the mods you made to the front bracket.

I had to cut the back outside edge of the flanges down on the stock bracket to get it as close as I could to the floor on the passenger side. On the driver's side I didn't use any of the stock bracket because the floor geometry didn't lend itself to the bracket like the passenger side. I'll take some pics of it later and add them.

BLUE THUNDER · 03-05-2012, 12:33 AM

I like!!!

Firebirdjones · 03-05-2012, 12:34 PM

What a coincidence. I did this very same thing and made the bracket structure just as you did so the seats either tip up or can be completely removed as intended.

I find them at the big swap meets around here for about $200 for leather. Brand spanking new take outs for vans that are converted for the handicap.

I did the buckets with the small secondary seat in the middle that does double duty as a console storage compartment.

**29od1** · 03-05-2012, 04:47 PM

Here are some finished pics of the rear. Sorry about the dust, but that's after a summer of dirt roads and fields with the top off.

**29od1** · 03-05-2012, 04:50 PM

And here are some pics of how I finished the driver's side front bracket. Basically the same concept in the front as I used on the passenger side.

Then I used some 1"x1/4" strap for the front to back sides and used some 3/8" thick strap on the back to spread the load out a bit for the rear attachment. The only thing I used from the stock bracket were the two U-shaped seat attachments.

BigCountryx · 03-06-2012, 03:29 PM

Got any pics of how they look with the top off?

**29od1** · 03-06-2012, 03:36 PM

Quote:

Got any pics of how they look with the top off?

Yep.

BigCountryx · 03-06-2012, 03:43 PM

Cool, not quite as tall as I thought they would be, I would probably see how it looked without the headrests, but I do like the mod. great work.

**29od1** · 03-06-2012, 03:48 PM

Thanks.

I've thought about removing the headrests also and making a removable cover for them, but that's on a long list of things to do yet.

BigCountryx · 03-06-2012, 03:52 PM

Boy, I know how that is! Lot's of things that I want are real low on the priority list

Firebirdjones · 03-06-2012, 04:26 PM

On mine, the headrests pop right out and the seats still have a somewhat finished look to them (other than 2 small holes) so I don't plan to run the headrests at all.

I never take my top off, but I still don't like the looks of the headrests, and they actually hamper my vision anyway.

My only goal with these seats was to remove and save the originals that I spent hundreds on recovering. Bag and tag them and set them on the rack so I can daily drive my rig without fear of tearing them up. Don't care about the new leather seats, they were cheap to buy, wear em' out and buy some more

72Blazing · 03-07-2012, 12:17 AM

Do any of you guys have any idea who I can contact at one of these conversion companies to get a set of 2nd row buckets?
I have the back seat already.
FIREBIRDJONES, if you find a set around there at another swap meet in black I would buy them from you if you would be willing to make a little money

**29od1** · 03-07-2012, 08:51 AM

Quote:

Do any of you guys have any idea who I can contact at one of these conversion companies to get a set of 2nd row buckets?

There's a limo conversion company in Ft Worth/Dallas area, but that's still a long way from you. I would guess Houston or San Antonio has one? If you can, try to find someone close to you because shipping will be $200 and up for those seats because they're big and heavy.

Firebirdjones · 03-07-2012, 11:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 72Blazing

Do any of you guys have any idea who I can contact at one of these conversion companies to get a set of 2nd row buckets?
I have the back seat already.
FIREBIRDJONES, if you find a set around there at another swap meet in black I would buy them from you if you would be willing to make a little money

I would think as big as Texas is there should be a worthwhile swap meet to go to.

Where I'm finding my seats are at the Goodguys events down in Phoenix. I'm sure there is a Goodguys event in Texas somewhere, they have them all over the country. Or any other big swap meet that you are aware of in your area. These guys setup down here in Phoenix twice a year and sell these seats. I actually visited his shop (also in Phoenix) and he had (I kid you not) no less than 5 53 foot semi trailers full of seats packed to the ceiling. It took us 4 hours to dig through 2 trialers and find the year and color and material that I wanted. $200 for a complete bucket set with the center console that doubles as a 3rd seat. I bought 2 rows of them for $400 in brand new tan leather. I'll put up a pic shortly.

Funny you ask, I'll be seeing the guy again this coming weekend as the Spring Goodguys is coming to Phoenix March 10-11-12. But I'm sure shipping would be outragious.

Firebirdjones · 03-07-2012, 12:37 PM

As 29od did a fantastic job, I'm surprised I don't see more of this out there. These seats are nice, cheap, they all tip forward, and all are easily removed with the flip of a switch if need be.

He built the same bracket system for the back seat as I did for mine. Very easy to do. I even used the same square tubing with round bar stock. I currently have my back seat setup on the floor but you can see some of the frame work in one of the pictures.
I have issues with photobucket so not sure how long these pics will stay up....

Here you can see the middle seat has a hidden console underneath. These seats come in various combinations.

Here you can see it also flips down with cup holders, and can also flip out and be completely removed like the rest of the seats if you don't want it there. I plan to run this setup in the front too so I can remove the original console for safe keeping.

Here is the bigger seat tipped up so you can see some of the bracketry I made for the rear seats.

29od made some nice brackets for the front seats that look to stay low profile and work well. Great for back seat passengers that have to tip the seats up and walk through there.

72Blazing · 03-07-2012, 06:19 PM

Those are real nice Firebird. I am up for a road trip anytime when comes to hunting down parts for my Blazer. Thanks for the advise.

BOHICA · 03-08-2012, 12:38 AM

Would love to use these. Too bad they don't have an integrated seatbelt. I'd rather have a shoulder belt.

Firebirdjones · 03-10-2012, 11:23 AM

They have little pockets in the seats to pull the belts up through, kind of nice actually as it keeps the belts from falling between the seats (rather annoying I might say)

I don't care for the shoulder belt idea as it would hinder people getting into the back seat area, so no worries there for me.

03-02-2012, 08:56 AM	#1
29od1 Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Wichita, Kansas Posts: 1,050	Adapting 2008+ GM SUV Seats to Blazer Hi Guys, I've had a few people ask me about how I adapted the 2008+ GM SUV 2nd row and 3rd rows seats to my Blazer, so I thought I'd start a thread to try to somewhat document the process of what I did. I'm sure there many other ways to do it, but this is how I went about it. I originally got the idea of using these seats by seeing what a member on here did, epsorenson. Here is the thread that details how he put the rear seats in. http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=260518 I really like the way he did it, but I didn't want to cut the bed floor of my Blazer (and I didn't want to do that much work). So I tried to adapt all the brackets I made to pick up the existing mounting locations and reinforce the underlying floor structure to account for the newer seats. I'll start with the rear seats first. Last edited by 29od1; 03-02-2012 at 10:20 AM.

03-02-2012, 09:08 AM	#2
29od1 Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Wichita, Kansas Posts: 1,050	Re: Adapting 2008+ GM SUV Seats to Blazer So here's what I started with. They're out of a 2008 Escalade ESV. These are popular SUVs for conversion to limo's so you can come by the seats for a "reasonable" price if you can find a conversion place. Anyway, seats from a 2008 and on Suburban, Tahoe, Yukon can all have the 2nd row captains and 3rd row removable seats as options. The reason I like the 2nd row seats is because they fold up really well to be able to get into the back seat of a Blazer with the top on. Attached Images

03-02-2012, 09:21 AM	#3
29od1 Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Wichita, Kansas Posts: 1,050	Re: Adapting 2008+ GM SUV Seats to Blazer I initially borrowed a 3rd row seat from my mom's Suburban to have something to use to build a frame from. I wanted to use the existing mounting holes in the bed of my Blazer, so I built an external frame out of 1-1/2" square tubing and made tabs on the inside to attach the frame. I lot of people have used this same idea to attach their removable rear seats as well. The threads on the built in mounting nuts of the bed were not very good, so I tapped them out to 1/2" UNC and used grade 8, 1/2" bolts to attach the frame to the floor. Here's a few pics of the frame as I was mocking it up. Attached Images Last edited by 29od1; 03-05-2012 at 11:30 AM.

03-02-2012, 09:27 AM	#4
29od1 Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Wichita, Kansas Posts: 1,050	Re: Adapting 2008+ GM SUV Seats to Blazer The rough dimensions on the rear frame are 49-1/2" wide by 24-1/2" deep. Last edited by 29od1; 03-05-2012 at 04:45 PM. Reason: Added pics and dimensions

03-02-2012, 09:30 AM	#5
29od1 Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Wichita, Kansas Posts: 1,050	Re: Adapting 2008+ GM SUV Seats to Blazer The front seats were a bit more difficult to adapt than the rears. If you sit the front seats in with the stock mounting frame that's attached to them, they are really tall. So I had to figure out a way to shorten them down to a height that felt and looked right. Last edited by 29od1; 03-02-2012 at 09:39 AM.

03-02-2012, 09:40 AM	#6
29od1 Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Wichita, Kansas Posts: 1,050	Re: Adapting 2008+ GM SUV Seats to Blazer I'll start with the passenger side. I took the seat mounting bracket off of the seat. Here are a few pics of the mounting bracket once it's removed from the seat. Attached Images

03-02-2012, 10:25 AM	#7
DustinU Registered User Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Orange, CA Posts: 300	Re: Adapting 2008+ GM SUV Seats to Blazer Very helpful, THANKS! My captain chairs brackets are a little different, they have a bend in the rear that raise the rear brackets about 3"...in addition to the mods you made to the front bracket. This got me on the right track, thanks again!

03-05-2012, 12:33 AM	#9
BLUE THUNDER Registered User Join Date: May 2007 Location: San Antonio Posts: 993	Re: Adapting 2008+ GM SUV Seats to Blazer I like!!!

03-05-2012, 12:34 PM	#10
Firebirdjones Registered User Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Prescott, Arizona Posts: 2,396	Re: Adapting 2008+ GM SUV Seats to Blazer What a coincidence. I did this very same thing and made the bracket structure just as you did so the seats either tip up or can be completely removed as intended. I find them at the big swap meets around here for about $200 for leather. Brand spanking new take outs for vans that are converted for the handicap. I did the buckets with the small secondary seat in the middle that does double duty as a console storage compartment.

03-05-2012, 04:47 PM	#11
29od1 Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Wichita, Kansas Posts: 1,050	Re: Adapting 2008+ GM SUV Seats to Blazer Here are some finished pics of the rear. Sorry about the dust, but that's after a summer of dirt roads and fields with the top off. Attached Images

03-05-2012, 04:50 PM	#12
29od1 Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Wichita, Kansas Posts: 1,050	Re: Adapting 2008+ GM SUV Seats to Blazer And here are some pics of how I finished the driver's side front bracket. Basically the same concept in the front as I used on the passenger side. Then I used some 1"x1/4" strap for the front to back sides and used some 3/8" thick strap on the back to spread the load out a bit for the rear attachment. The only thing I used from the stock bracket were the two U-shaped seat attachments. Attached Images Last edited by 29od1; 03-05-2012 at 05:08 PM.

03-06-2012, 03:29 PM	#13
BigCountryx Registered User Join Date: May 2009 Location: Gonzales, LA Posts: 779	Re: Adapting 2008+ GM SUV Seats to Blazer Got any pics of how they look with the top off? __________________ 1972 Pale Yella 2WD Blazer ..... 350HO/700R4.... '68 Clipped 1970 Original Paint SWB Farm Truck ..... 5.3/4L80.... 2x HRPT Participant

03-06-2012, 03:43 PM	#15
BigCountryx Registered User Join Date: May 2009 Location: Gonzales, LA Posts: 779	Re: Adapting 2008+ GM SUV Seats to Blazer Cool, not quite as tall as I thought they would be, I would probably see how it looked without the headrests, but I do like the mod. great work. __________________ 1972 Pale Yella 2WD Blazer ..... 350HO/700R4.... '68 Clipped 1970 Original Paint SWB Farm Truck ..... 5.3/4L80.... 2x HRPT Participant

03-06-2012, 03:48 PM	#16
29od1 Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Wichita, Kansas Posts: 1,050	Re: Adapting 2008+ GM SUV Seats to Blazer Thanks. I've thought about removing the headrests also and making a removable cover for them, but that's on a long list of things to do yet.

03-06-2012, 03:52 PM	#17
BigCountryx Registered User Join Date: May 2009 Location: Gonzales, LA Posts: 779	Re: Adapting 2008+ GM SUV Seats to Blazer Boy, I know how that is! Lot's of things that I want are real low on the priority list __________________ 1972 Pale Yella 2WD Blazer ..... 350HO/700R4.... '68 Clipped 1970 Original Paint SWB Farm Truck ..... 5.3/4L80.... 2x HRPT Participant



Register or Log In To remove these advertisements.

03-06-2012, 04:26 PM	#18
Firebirdjones Registered User Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Prescott, Arizona Posts: 2,396	Re: Adapting 2008+ GM SUV Seats to Blazer On mine, the headrests pop right out and the seats still have a somewhat finished look to them (other than 2 small holes) so I don't plan to run the headrests at all. I never take my top off, but I still don't like the looks of the headrests, and they actually hamper my vision anyway. My only goal with these seats was to remove and save the originals that I spent hundreds on recovering. Bag and tag them and set them on the rack so I can daily drive my rig without fear of tearing them up. Don't care about the new leather seats, they were cheap to buy, wear em' out and buy some more

03-07-2012, 12:17 AM	#19
72Blazing Registered User Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: McAllen, Texas Posts: 397	Re: Adapting 2008+ GM SUV Seats to Blazer Do any of you guys have any idea who I can contact at one of these conversion companies to get a set of 2nd row buckets? I have the back seat already. FIREBIRDJONES, if you find a set around there at another swap meet in black I would buy them from you if you would be willing to make a little money

03-07-2012, 12:37 PM	#22
Firebirdjones Registered User Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Prescott, Arizona Posts: 2,396	Re: Adapting 2008+ GM SUV Seats to Blazer As 29od did a fantastic job, I'm surprised I don't see more of this out there. These seats are nice, cheap, they all tip forward, and all are easily removed with the flip of a switch if need be. He built the same bracket system for the back seat as I did for mine. Very easy to do. I even used the same square tubing with round bar stock. I currently have my back seat setup on the floor but you can see some of the frame work in one of the pictures. I have issues with photobucket so not sure how long these pics will stay up.... Here you can see the middle seat has a hidden console underneath. These seats come in various combinations. Here you can see it also flips down with cup holders, and can also flip out and be completely removed like the rest of the seats if you don't want it there. I plan to run this setup in the front too so I can remove the original console for safe keeping. Here is the bigger seat tipped up so you can see some of the bracketry I made for the rear seats. 29od made some nice brackets for the front seats that look to stay low profile and work well. Great for back seat passengers that have to tip the seats up and walk through there.

03-07-2012, 06:19 PM	#23
72Blazing Registered User Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: McAllen, Texas Posts: 397	Re: Adapting 2008+ GM SUV Seats to Blazer Those are real nice Firebird. I am up for a road trip anytime when comes to hunting down parts for my Blazer. Thanks for the advise.

03-08-2012, 12:38 AM	#24
BOHICA Registered User Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Cookeville, TN Posts: 274	Re: Adapting 2008+ GM SUV Seats to Blazer Would love to use these. Too bad they don't have an integrated seatbelt. I'd rather have a shoulder belt. __________________ 1954 Ford F-100 1956 Chevy big window 1970 4x4 Blazer CST 1987 Land Cruiser 1990 Chevy K3500 454

03-10-2012, 11:23 AM	#25
Firebirdjones Registered User Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Prescott, Arizona Posts: 2,396	Re: Adapting 2008+ GM SUV Seats to Blazer They have little pockets in the seats to pull the belts up through, kind of nice actually as it keeps the belts from falling between the seats (rather annoying I might say) I don't care for the shoulder belt idea as it would hinder people getting into the back seat area, so no worries there for me.

Register or Log In To remove these advertisements.