MasterCraft, a division of Arc Manufacturing Inc. is a privately held corporation located in Santee, CA. While core products are seat and restraint systems; MasterCraft products also include window netting, limit straps, storage bags, sports handles and tie down systems for off road racing vehicles as well as the US military.


Arc Manufacturing Inc. was started in 1981 and quickly built a name in the Aerospace Industry with companies such as Raytheon, AlliedSignal, Sunstrand Turbo Mach and L3 Communications. Specializing in precision welding, Robert Pierce President and CEO of Arc Manufacturing Inc., invented a small-scale low cost chamber for welding titanium in an argon rich environment increasing the production volume of certain aerospace components from dozens a day to hundreds a day.


MasterCraft had been in business since 1970; producing seats for the off road racing industry when it was acquired and became a division of Arc Manufacturing Inc. in 1999. The success of MasterCraft seats goes back to when the founder, Jack Miller, reupholstered a helicopter seat. Admiring the built-in suspension of the seat, he concluded that off road racers could benefit from the same kind of seat in terms of safety and comfort, and the MasterCraft Racing Seat was born!


The MasterCraft family of military vehicle seats stem from their racing suspension seats. There is some confusion about what a racing suspension seat is; while some in the military define a suspension seat as a seat not mounted to the floor but ‘suspended’ from the vehicle roof or sides, the off road industry defines a suspension seat as one that suspends the body within the seat frame.

One of the features that set MasterCraft Seats apart in the military market from other vehicle seats is the Hip Containment; a standard feature for MasterCraft Seats. During a crash or blast event it is extremely important to keep the occupant in the seat. Most seats will allow you to slide to the side forcing you to rely solely on the restraint; the Containment features on a MasterCraft seat helps to hold the occupant in place.

All products offered by MasterCraft for military use are Commercial off the Shelf (COTS) items that were initially developed for the off road racing industry. Existing commercial designs go a long way in reducing the costs to the customer. While occasionally, there is a need to change some mounting details it is no more than what is offered to commercial customers. “MasterCraft has been supplying the military for some time, with great results and feedback,” says Pierce.

MasterCraft seats were first introduced to the US military in the Desert Patrol/Light Strike Vehicle for the NAVY SEALS. MasterCraft was later asked to supply prototype seats for some of the FMTV’s (Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles) and eventually MasterCraft seats were put into all of the US Army’s Low Signature Armored Cab (LSAC) and other cabs produced for the FMTV such as LSAC-HIMARS.

With the products combat proven in both Iraq and Afghanistan several thousand MasterCraft seats and restraint systems have been supplied to the US military. While currently used primarily in the FMTV, MasterCraft has a seat that will mount in just about any type of military vehicle.


MasterCraft has collected over 30 years of empirical data from off road racing worldwide that says MasterCraft has a superior product; in addition to that MasterCraft seats have been tested in actual blast events with excellent results. In order to determine how well they do, MasterCraft is currently engaged in its own large scale testing.

MasterCraft is pleased to know that companies supplying seats and restraints to the US military are asking for MasterCraft products by name due their wide range success, “We know that we are doing our job right when we hear that our seats have helped save the lives of the soldiers using them.”



Contact Information:
11433 Woodside Ave.
Santee, CA 92071
1-800-565-4042
mastercraftmil.com