El
Cajon, California - Tucked
away in the foothills of San Diego's suburbs is the headquarters and
manufacturing plant of the world famous, Mastercraft Race Products.
Located
in the mecca of the off-road industry and only a couple hundred yards
from Fox Shocks, Robbie Pierce has built on the tradition of
Mastercrarft Race Seats and is now the leader of off-road racing seat
technology. Superior than any other race seat on the market, Mastercraft
Race Seats are the choice of the winning desert racers everywhere.
ORC
staffers had the opportunity recently to visit the Mastercraft Race
Seats facility as Robbie and his crew performed a rare installation into
the ORC Dodge Ram Desert Tank.
With
over 175,000 miles on the ORC Desert Tank, it was about time for an
upgrade to a real seat. It didn't take long before we were convinced
that Mastercraft Race Seats was the only way to go.
With
the likes of Ivan "Ironman" Stewart placing all his SCORE
Pro-Truck drivers into Mastercraft Race Seats and Ivan himself using
Mastercraft Race Products, we knew we were in the right hands with
Robbie Pierce and Mastercraft Race Products.
Off-road
racing legend, Walker Evans, now a professional competition rock
crawler, uses only the best in seat technology with Mastercraft Race
Seats in all his off-road competition machines.
Recently,
Evans had a new rock crawler built by Campbell Enterprises of Arizona
and he once again chose Mastercraft Race Seats as his race seat of
choice.
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Mastercraft
Race Seats provide a huge line of different seats for many
different applications. In the photograph below, seats are set
outside for a glue drying process.
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After
a tour of the facility they boys from Mastercraft Race
Products jumped right in the Desert Tank to remove the OEM
seats. After 175,000 miles they were beyond worn!
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Mastercraft
was able to add to the OEM Chrysler seat mount slightly, which
enabled them to merely bolt the new Mastercraft Rubicon race
seats directly to the factory mount. This made for a very
clean installation.
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Fabricated
onto the OEM mounts were the Mastercraft sliders, which were
tested on the mounts for proper alignment. Once fitted
correctly, they were mounted to the race seats prior to
installation.
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With
the extensive travel the ORC live event crew does regularly, we met with
Mastercraft Race Seat owner - Robbie Pierce to discuss the best seats
for our purpose.
Granted,
most of our miles are freeway miles, but as chronicled here on Off-Road.com,
we do hammer down in the dirt more than most of the off-roading public,
so we were looking for some seats that would serve both purposes.
Introducing
the Mastercraft - Rubicon race seat. This seat is a full-suspension seat
that hands down provides stability, comfort and most importantly
outstanding lumbar support.
All
Mastercraft seats are built with a suspension liner that is made of a
nylon-coated textile mesh which provides extreme strength and
durability. The porous mesh will breathe and allow moisture to pass
through. Mastercraft's rugged seat frames are constructed with
mandrel-bent and Mig-welded 3/4" mild-steel tubing (.065"
wall, HREW 1010) Mastercraft Race Seats lead in advanced seat technology
and provide off-roaders exactly what they require. There are many
imitators on the market and none of them compare to the quality and
technology included in Mastercraft Race Seats.
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ORC
staffers found about $12 dollars in Mexican Pesos located in
the nooks and crannies beneath both seats. That was about
enough to pay for lunch, but Robbie would have no part of
that!
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We
arrived to the Mastercraft Race Seat facility for the installation we
were provided an up close and personal tour of this facility. Every
Mastercraft Race Seat available to race teams or the general public is
manufactured at this facility. Whether you want a custom Mastercraft 3G
or the Mastercraft Original they're all built from the ground up right
here.
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Mastercraft
Race Seat installation went very smooth.
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By
early afternoon the installation was being wrapped up. The installation
of Mastercraft Restraints in the Desert Tank were a bit tricky, but it
all came together nicely.
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The
Mastercraft Restraints simply bolt into the mounting bracket
on the Desert Tank. Mastercraft's 3"Seat Belt is 3"
wide x 50" long and includes a pull down adjustment w/
Velcro latch guard cover. The harness has 3" wide
individual, pull down adjustment that allow the driver or
passenger to snugly secure themselves into the seat. The
shoulder harnesses were installed after a tube framed
restraint bar was fabricated into the Desert Tank. Now with a
5-point harness restraint system in the Desert Tank, we can
rage throughout the desert in safety.
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The
interior of a Mastercraft Race Seat
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1.
Mastercraft seats are made from high-quality Rogue Naugahyde
with a center insert of close-weave nylon fabric and slots for a
5-point harness system. Optional gromments in the cover provide
a bellows action to keep you cool. Many colors are available to
complement or contrast any racing color scheme.
2. Polyurethane foam of differing thickness and density is glued
to the liner and built up to achieve desired shape. Mastercraft
will custom-fit any seat to assure correct body contour and
driving position!
3. All stress points are double-lapped and grommeted for max
stength. Liner is attached to frame and tied with nylon
parachute cord.
4. Your Mastercraft seat may be ordered with optional lumbar
support. Fitted to seat frame, it offers up to 3" of
adjustable lumbar support, and adjustment knob may be attached
to right or left side.
5. Suspension liner is made of a nylon-coated textile mesh that
provides extreme strength and durability. The porous mesh will
breathe and allow moisture to pass through.
6. Mastercraft's rugged seat frames are constructed with
mandrel-bent and Mig-welded 3/4" mild-steel tubing
(.065" wall, HREW 1010)
*Thanks
to Mastercraft Race Seats for the use of the above picture
cut-away diagram.
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FabTech
sponsored - Scott Steinberger uses only the best in his 800
horsepower Trophy Truck - Mastercraft 3G Race Seats!
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Mastercraft
Race Seats have withstood over 15,000 miles in only 90 days in
the ORC Desert Tank. And we can tell you that Mastercraft Race
Seats are the only way to travel! Whether you're on the
freeway or in the dirt, utilize the best seat technology
available in the industry, Mastercraft Race Products. Visit
them at www.Mastercraftseats.com
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Mastercraft
Race Seats rock at Off-Road.com
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