Corbeau Seats Buyer's Guide

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If you want to learn the finer details of buying a racing seat, this handy buyer's guide will make you a pro in minutes! Learn all about the most important issues involved in getting a seat that fits the car, fits you, looks good, feels good, lasts long, and keeps you safe. Let's jump right into it!

Step 1: Select a style

One of the reasons we love Corbeau is they make a seat that is ideal for almost any specialty! Take a look at these categories and get an idea of the styles of seats that are available!

• Corbeau Reclining Seats - These are ideal for the street car that wants to make a powerful statement without compromising comfort.
• Corbeau Fixed-Back Seats - Doing some serious racing? These are your choice. Look here too if you are restoring a historic car or completing a kit that needs a classic bucket seat.
• Corbeau Suspension Seats - Including Jeep seats and offroad seats. Nobody knows more about them than Corbeau. Find the performance and comfort you demand for your offroad adventure.
• Corbeau Bench Seats - Hey, why not? Sometimes a bench seat is exactly what is required. And nobody has a finer selection of bench seats than Corbeau.
• Corbeau Utility Vehicle Seats - Here's a booming market! Millions of users are heading offroad in their Rhino and other utility vehicles. Corbeau has direct fit seats for these vehicles too!

Step 2: Pick a seat that fits your car

This is generally only a big deal if you have a small car, but if you get a seat that won't fit you'll not be happy. So, unless you're putting your Corbeau Seats into a very large car or truck, you should do a few quick measurements. Corbeau seats have 5 measurements, as shown in the image at left. Take a tape measure, jump in your car and get an idea of the available space. The most important measurements are the bottom width and the shoulder width.

Measuring Available Shoulder Width

First, find the very center of your stock seat at shoulder height. Do this by measuring the width of the stock seat at the shoulders and then finding the spot half-way across the seat. This is your starting point. Now, with the door fully closed and the window up, measure from this point out to the window. That is half, so double that number. This is the maximum available shoulder width. We recommend you find a seat that is at least 1-2 inches more narrow. This is important since the location of the shoulder on different seats is at different heights, and you may not have as much room with the Corbeau seat.

Measuring Available Bottom Width

With the door closed, measure the narrowest width from the door panel to the center console. This measurement represents the widest seat bottom that will fit in your car. Select a seat that is at least 1 inch more narrow than this to be safe.

You will notice that we provide a diagram similar to the one above for every Corbeau Seat we sell. Now that you have the measurements you can compare the seats you like to your available space. Or, use this Corbeau Seat Dimension Table for a quick overview of seats by size. Here are a few more pointers:

• Corbeau Seats are usually taller than stock seats - Most high quality aftermarket seats are thicker in the bottom than the stock seat, so you'll sit a little bit taller. The exception are the FX1 and FX1 Pro seats. On the rest, if you already have head clearance issues you may need to consider the custom seat shaving service that Corbeau provides. They can remove, shave approximately 1 inch and replace the padding in the bottom of the seat. When you are ready to order your seat call and mention this when ordering.
• Corbeau Fixed Back Seats are not usually a good match for standard-cab pickup trucks - Fixed back seats come with a pre-set layback angle. Often, the rear window and cab wall require these seats to be installed too close to the steering wheel for most drivers. We recommend a reclining seat for standard-cab pickup trucks.

Step 3: Pick a seat that fits you

Is your midsection diameter 36" or smaller? Great--you can skip to the next section. If you are over 36" you will need to read on. On each Corbeau seat description on this website we offer guidelines for how big a driver will be comfortable in that seat. These dimensions can't strictly compared to your pant size. Man men, in particular, are able to fit into one size pant and then carry far more weight just above that point. Don't kid yourself here, it is your comfort that is at stake. Measure yourself at the broadest part of your midsection. If you enjoy a snug fit and are not spending hours at a time in the car then a slightly smaller seat may work. But we recommend that you get as much seat as Corbeau recommends for your size. Other tips:

• Consider the bolsters - Bolsters are the padding at the thigh and back that keep the driver securely centered in the car during high G-Force maneuvers. A tall bolster is going to be more limiting for bigger passengers. It can also be challenging for handicapped drivers when entering and exiting the seat. This is especially true on a tall vehicle like a 4WD truck.
• Don't forget your passenger's needs - If you are small and it is at all likely that you will have some not-so-small passengers riding with you, you may want to consider a larger seat. This is particularly true if that person will be riding with you frequently or over longer distances.

Step 4: Buy a bracket

All Corbeau Seats have mounting points on the bottom of them that allow the seat to be bolted directly onto one of over 700 different Corbeau Custom Seat Brackets (except the Baja SS and Ultra SS.) This is definitely the way to go. All Corbeau brackets come with single-locking sliders and make the installation process a snap. Unbolt your old seats, bolt the Corbeau Seat to the Corbeau Bracket and the entire assembly directly into your car. Too easy! View the entire list of Corbeau Seat Brackets here!

While the paragraph above covers 90% of our customers, there are a few points to keep in mind:

• Mounting Baja SS and Ultra SS Seats - These two seats are unique in that Corbeau designed them with four vertical mounting tabs. This makes them especially well-suited to custom applications like a sand rail or rock crawler. However, this is one of our best-selling seats for ALL applications. A special adapter is an available option when ordering that allows these seats to be used with the entire range of Corbeau custom brackets.
• Mounting FX1 and FX1 Pro Seats - These seats are unique because they have both bottom and side-mounting points. Racers who will benefit from the safety of a solid mounting and not require sliders often choose the side-mount brackets for this seat. In fact, some race sanctioning bodies require it.
• Mounting Corbeau Seats in Jeeps® - Corbeau obviously has a special spot in their hearts for Jeep owners. While any Corbeau seat can be mounted into Jeep applications using a custom bracket, some of the Corbeau line are manufactured so they can be mounted directly into the Jeep CJ and YJ without the purchase of a bracket, including the Baja JP, the Baja RS, the Moab, and the Safari Bench Seat. They also offer direct fit adapters for the Baja SS, Ultra SS, and the Baja Bench Seats.

Any Other Questions? Call Us!

We love to get phone calls! You'll find our toll-free phone number at the top of every page on this website. We always have someone here between 8:00 AM and 7:00 PM EST, and often later than that. It is our priviledge to take your phone call!