strengthening 1966 bronco rear seat by adding bolt-on bracing to bottom

[4x4steve]

the side cantilevered portions.... maybe using a thick steel base plate and trusses constructed from 1" square tube steel, fashioned into something such as upside down right triangles... since the entire structure would be bolt-on, the entire structure could be removed for any concours shows or photography... (strengthening the center spans can be done invisibly by adding 1" t-channel steel beams on the inside surface of the seat plywood base; together, these remedies would help avoid the commonly observed permanent bending and distortion of the rear seat frame under heavy loads) ...anyone ever try it?

 

[BroncoChicken]

I used some L channel to strengthen and widen the frame on my rear seats. The individual buckets wouldn’t fit on the stock frame. I also had the cut the lip off the perpendicular supports, but if you cut around the legs and arm rest/back tubes you could mount the support under and use the stock seat cushion bolts.

 

[4x4steve]

thanks for the response. when i looked at all the photos of the 1966 rear bench seats for sale, the main things that seemed to be getting bent seemed to be the horizontal crossmembers, and the gussets intended to strengthen the front horizontal crossmember. i want to remain stock so i set a goal of no externally visible modifications, including no cuts to the vertical supports. the point is that i think that that leaves considerable latitude in the solution, especially if one gives up a little bit of cargo space under the seat. in particular, the strengthening braces could be designed to mimic the form of the factory gussets, either using triangles or something similar such as trapezoids, and the result would be something minimally intrusive in terms of either appearance or impact to functionality.

(otoh, i may just be blowing smoke, especially since i have not actually made and tested my proposed solution yet...)