Fitting tall guys in Cab 11/12's

[Tony Wheeler]

Originally Posted by Bob Carriere

I have lowered my seat and moved it as far back as I could on my cab 11... it does give me more room for clutching.....As to the boot size... unless I am wearing track shoes, my steel toe capped boots are just plain to big.

Bob, how tall are you, and have you removed all the wooden seat risers on your vehicle? Ford parts list indicates there was only ONE wooden seat riser originally, however there was a field mod kit issued to RAISE the seat by using TWO wooden seat risers. This kit included longer 2 1/4" bolts to replace the original 1 5/8" bolts, which indicates the original seat risers were only 5/8" thick. However, in post war commercial use they may have acquired any thickness of wood, and I notice some restorers use very thick wood to replace the old rotted out stuff.

In hindsight I realize this is why I was unable to operate the clutch on the Cab 12 three years ago - I've checked some photos and the seat risers are far too thick on that vehicle. Even my own Cab 12 has much thicker seat risers than original, however I'm able to operate the clutch on mine, even with the steering bracket in the standard position, because the seat risers are not as thick as the other Cab 12. It's far from comfortable, but I could certainly drive the vehicle if it were running.

This is undoubtedly Sjoerd's problem too, the restored F8 most likely has much thicker seat risers than original.