Mastercraft "Pre Run" Seats
Or, ""How to avoid frequent trips to the Chiropractor""
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| The Mastercraft Pre Run seats come with vinyl backed cutouts, ready to accept 5-point competition harnesses as standard equipment. The vinyl backing protects the seat foam from wear, and hides it from external view. Pretty slick! |
Sure looks comfy don't it?
As you settle in, and the tingling fingers of the V-Twin powered back masager begins to work it's majic on your battered and beaten frame, another thought crosses your mind....
" Ahhhhhh...........'Best investment I've ever made."
Of course since you've just spent a couple days punishing your body worse than a Spanish Inquisitor with a new whip to crack, you NEED a $2,000+ theraputic chair to sit in. Perhaps an additional couple thousand for season tickets to the 50 yard line of your Chiropractors office wouldn't hurt either.
While there's as many different ways to go off-roading as there are people who enjoy it, there are 2 basic schools of thought when it comes to hitting the trail.
1. Full dresser rigs equipped with everything from DVD players, Playstations, and 5,000 Watt stereo systems.
2. Rigs stripped of everything but the bare essentials, built to maximize performance out in the rough.
The one common thread shared by the rival schools is that in 99% of the cases, they will be running stock, or stock type seating. All well and good, after all, they look good, match the interior, and they're comfortable on the highway.
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| Multi-layered / multi-density foam covers the tubular steel seat chassis. With reinforced wear areas, and additional foam in all the right places, the Pre Run's will keep you comfy for some time to come. |
Are you still wondering why you're unit's hurtin' Bevis?
Simply put, stock type seating is not, nor was it ever, designed to work in a demanding environment like off-road motorsports; Wether that sport constitutes rockcrawling, desert running, or even recreational trail running. So what's a wheeler to do? Ever heard of suspension seats? No wiseguy, not the kind you can find at adult bookstores, the kind that will keep you firmly planted behind the wheel of your truck, in style, and in comfort over the long haul.
Back in 1970, Jack Miller and Alan Taylor designed the original suspension seat, a radical reparture from the traditional Foam / Spring concept in use since the days of the horse and buggy. Over time, Mastercraft has refined the design in a variety of configurations to meet specific applications, and progressively built on it's reputation as the best seat of it's kind. Today, Mastercraft seats are the choice of many of the top drivers in off-road racing, yet for many off-roaders, the name conjures up images of pleasure boats more often than it does truck seats. All that is about to change.
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| The heart of the Pre Run's design exposed. Nylon cord, elastic banding, and a textile mesh combine to "suspend" the user. The end result is like having a couple extra inches on your rig's suspension. |
So What's All This "Suspension" Stuff About Anyway?
Glad you asked. Built over a tubular steel frame, suspension seats achieve a level of comfort, strength and durability unequaled by any "factory" style seat on the market.
While retaining foam (alibet multi-layered / multi density) as their formost padding material, suspension seats utilize a combination of textile mesh "slings", and elastic banding to cradle and fit the body. Additional foam inserts built in to the structure shape the seat to better conform to the body's natural countours.Mastercraft utilizes the tube frame chassis to best advantage, turning cagework into lateral support for the hips and torso during off-camber / hard cornering situations.
As if that weren't enough, there's even an optional adjustable SchUkra lumbar support available to maximize your seating comfort over long trail, or highway runs. The result is a seat you sit "in", rather than simply "on".After much begging, pleading, and a promise to gut and restore our 79 F-150's "worn" interior, Robbie was finially conned into fessin' up a pair of Mastercraft's "Pre Run" seats for the cause. With a bit less lateral support than the "race only" Pro seats, and more option laiden than the "Sportsman" model, The Pre Run seats make for a perfect addition to the interior of any off-road vehicle.
Whereas many factory type seats come in a mere handful of colors, (usually grey, tan, and black), Mastercraft provides you with a broad spectrum of colors, trim, and fabrics to choose from. Heavy gauge Naugahyde/Vinyl, combined with a high thread count textile ensures a long wearing, durable cover that's both attractive, and easy to maintain. You pick the color / Fabric combo, Mastercraft makes it fit. Things don't get any easier than that.
Details, Details, Details........Get
your Details! *.065 wall, 3/4 mild steel
chassis Because these are custom seats designed to be
installed in a variety of vehicles.
* Perelli rubber strapping
* .055 stiching
* Brass Grommeting
* Nylon Lacing cord
* 1.4 lb. foam
* Slotting for 5 point harnesses standard
* Reinforced belt holes
* 6.5 in. Hip Containment
* 5.5 in. Upper Torso Containment
* 35 in. height, 22 in. width, 28 in. depth
* 5.5 in. sitting height from floor
* Optional Lumbar Support
* Naughayde/Vinyl/fabric cover (in your choice of styles and
colors)
* Lightweight
Yea, so how do they work?
Well, I'll tell you. Over the years, I've had a variety of seats in my off-road vehicles; Everything from bucket seats pulled from junkyard Firebirds, to Dick Cepek "Super Truckers" to fiberglass "buggy seats".
It wasn't till I dove head long into the desert scene that I was turned on to suspension seats. |
| For a few extra bucks, Mastercraft can install an adjustable lumbar support. Having experienced the results of the Mastercraft design firsthand, I think it's safe to say that it's well worth the investment. |
I'll leave all the gory details for another article, but I'll tell you this. After nearly 200 miles at an average speed of nearly 50 MPH, over one of the most brutal SF250 courses in history, I climbed out of the truck tired, but suprisingly pain free. Oh, there were a few muscles I hadn't used in a while letting me know what they thought of my little juant, but all in all, I was intact.
With the adreneline level still crankin', the real test would come the next day.I awoke the next morning to no back pain, no posterior discomfort, and in justafiable awe of just how effective a properly designed seat can be. Looking back on our dash across the peninsula, I remembered whoops and jumps that even 20+ inches of wheel travel couldn't overcome. Fortunately, the Mastercrafts gave their all to absorb the shock that the coilover's couldn't, and by and large they were very effective at doing it. Bearing witness to this fact was my fully ambulatory person loading a Weekend Warrior, for a 10 hour trip home in......(it hurts to say it)....factory seating.
Fortunately, that won't be for long. Stay tuned as next
month, Off-Road.com will be bringing you the full scoop on
installing the Mastercraft "Pre Run" seats in our 79 F-150, with a
little help from the folks at Autofab and their custom fit mounting
brackets. Until then, can someone pass the Advil?
Santee Ca.
1-800 -565-4042
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