Modify or Replace Driver's Seat?

[marinesurveyor]

I have been recently struggling with a bulged disc in my lower back, and I spend a fair amount of time driving - a bad combination. I have the seat as far back as it can go, and as high as I can lift it. I still feel too bent. If I could go back further, or lift the seat higher, I think it would help extend my legs more.

 

Has anyone modified their seat? Put in spacers to lift it? Or can it be adjusted further back? Or replaced the seat entirely with an aftermarket seat? If so, which brand did you use?

 

Thank you for your help.

[jrm223]

Replacing the seat will be nearly impossible because of the airbag in the seat (assuming you have a 2014+ Gen 2, anyway. I don't know if Gen 1 had airbag seats). I have back problems also and used to keep my seat reclined at a fairly ridiculous angle - I always got comments like "Wow! You drive like that?! I'd be sleeping." haha. Just before I finally started going to a chiropractor, I decided to try putting my seat damn near vertical, it's only a couple notches away from the fully-up/forward position on the recline part, and it's been helping me some. Right after I bought the van, I had to add a foam pad under me because of the uncomfortableness. My own situation is even more unique with a bad right knee and limited motion in my right ankle after a car accident, so I have to sit closer to the steering wheel than most guys my height would, and I have a small foam stick-on pad on the shifter hump that I can rest my knee against.

 

Since you were talking about raising the seat up, you must have an XLT or something? My '15 XL only slides forward/back and reclines, no up/down, no lumbar, etc. If yours has adjustable lumbar, have you tried messing with it? Just might get better support at the bulged disc and not need to go higher up or anything. I've also thought about trying those add-on massager/lumbar seat covers, but haven't gotten around to it. 

[davidparker]

On 1/9/2019 at 11:36 AM, PWFX said:

This was a "down & dirty" seat riser mod I quickly banged out in my shop.  2" square stock with 1/4" wall.  Replaced the stock seat bolt with something 2" longer.  Each of the 4 seat corners got one of these.  More commanding view out the window is exactly what I wanted and didn't really want to use a seat cushion to get it.

Seat riser.jpg.pdf

 

Check the picture in the pdf.  It might give you some ideas.

[PWFX]

That was my mod.  Was exactly what I wanted... to just raise the seat 2".   I tried cushions and such by they really didn't work for me.  I would be possible to mount the seat further back but not exactly using the method I used.  The method I used simply places a 2" riser under each seat corner and the bolt that originally bolted the seat down has to be swapped for something 2" longer than the original.   If you wanted to mount the seat further back you'd have to mount the riser bracket to the floor with one bolt, and mount the seat to the riser bracket with another bolt.  Very doable... just different than the picture...

[KevinRollin]

On 7/30/2019 at 3:58 PM, PWFX said:

That was my mod.  Was exactly what I wanted... to just raise the seat 2".   I tried cushions and such by they really didn't work for me.  I would be possible to mount the seat further back but not exactly using the method I used.  The method I used simply places a 2" riser under each seat corner and the bolt that originally bolted the seat down has to be swapped for something 2" longer than the original.   If you wanted to mount the seat further back you'd have to mount the riser bracket to the floor with one bolt, and mount the seat to the riser bracket with another bolt.  Very doable... just different than the picture...

Very cool mod!  Is that raised disc to the right of the new longer bolt the back side of an indexing pin?   Guessing you just drilled a hole for it?  Are the other three mounting points the same?  

[Fifty150]

Just to help someone out who is ready to go out, buy some steel stock, and follow in your footsteps.  What bolt should they buy?  What is the size, length,  and thread pitch?  

[KevinRollin]

On 8/4/2019 at 1:46 AM, Fifty150 said:

Just to help someone out who is ready to go out, buy some steel stock, and follow in your footsteps.  What bolt should they buy?  What is the size, length,  and thread pitch?  

That would great, thanks.  

 

The PWFX mod is very cool, but before seeing that I was considering using some of these blocks I saw for a Jeep.  Depending on the spacing between the bolt holes and the pin, I may need to drill/rout a notch in the side.  

 

Marinesurveyor, these may work for you too if it’s easier than getting square tubing cut/drilled.  

[marinesurveyor]

To all that have replied, thank you so much.

[KevinRollin]

On 8/4/2019 at 1:46 AM, Fifty150 said:

Just to help someone out who is ready to go out, buy some steel stock, and follow in your footsteps.  What bolt should they buy?  What is the size, length,  and thread pitch?  

Torx M10, so T50 driver bit, which I need to go buy.  Once I pull one out I’ll get the length.  

Edited October 13, 2019 by KevinRollin

[Aerohead]

Anyone know if the 2019 passenger Connect power drivers seat has more padding  than the 2019 Connect van? I read somewhere that Ford put more fluff in the front seats of the 2019-2020 because of a mass hemorrhoid outbreak among commercial drivers. Doubt that that’s true (the hemorrhoid part, not the added padding) but the seats are fairly firm for long distance and wondered if the passenger van version had more padding and could maybe bolt in.
Thanks, Al

[davidparker]

You can always go to a dealer for "test drive" of the power seat?  It would answer your question, but might have some consequences. 

[jrm223]

First I've heard about the hemorrhoids part, but I wonder if people are actually comparing different trim packages and not even knowing or understanding that. As in, it's not "van vs wagon", it's more like "XL vs XLT vs Titanium". Fleet vehicles are typically XL's with minimal, if any, options/upgrades and would have the seats that slide forward/back, recline up/down & have an armrest, that's it (known as 2-way adjustable, same as my personal cargo XL, lol). I would think that XLT's probably have seats that add power to those movements, plus probably have adjustable lumbar support, then Titanium's would likely have "leather" (ha!) and probably some more power movements, like adjustable incline of the seat base, etc. Seats available, as far as I recall, are 2-way adjustable, 4-way, 6-way & 8-way adjustable, depending on trim level and options. 

 

I have just a foam pad that I've had for many years, probably from Walmart or something like that. Perfect size to fit on the seat bottom and gives me some extra cushion, lol. Used to not use a cushion, but after my first 1000 mile drive (2K round-trip) in the van, I looked through my bins of stuff after returning home to find it and it's been in there ever since! 

[sKiZo]

Ida know ... I kinda like the firm fit of the standard seat on my 2011 ...

 

Soft isn't always the best way to go - found that out driving bikes. Used to get the big plush comfy seat and 100 miles down the road my butt would start to cramp up. Got me a Corbin saddle (which has about as much give as a concrete block) but it's all about the fit - I could drive all day on that with no problems.

 

Play around with angles and adjust the position till it works for ya.

 

PS - best truck seats are probably the same, but with the air suspension to soak up the hard knocks.

Edited January 16, 2020 by sKiZo

[KevinRollin]

I’ve been looking for more ways to raise my seat(s).  Cutting metal tubing is out of my wheelhouse at the moment.  

 

Saw these at Home Depot a few weeks ago.  Plastic spacers for building decks.  Very dense plastic. 

 

2.5” diameter, just shy of 5/8” thick, hole diameter just more than 5/8”.  Back side has cutouts that might fit the locator pins.  I need to measure the thread engagement on the stock OEM seat bolts to see if these would work without new hardware.  

[KevinRollin]

So I showed the above 5/8” deck blocks to a friend who’s into Jeeps.  He told me that they looked similar to the “body lift” blocks used to raise a Jeep tub above the frame to allow bigger tires.  Some googling and eBay searching and I found a guy selling custom Delrin blocks, and also mass-produced molded ones.  These things are designed to hold a lot of weight (commercial ones advertised at 60,000lbs!) so shouldn’t crush under a car seat even under crash load.  

 

ZoneOffroad.com

 

Anyone try something similar?  

[KevinRollin]

Ok, I did it. Ordered the spacer pucks above and these bolts:  

[Fifty150]

Those bolts are the correct thread?  Did you order the 2" or 3" diameter?  Kind of interesting. A Jeep body lift on your driver seat.

[KevinRollin]

9 hours ago, Fifty150 said:

Those bolts are the correct thread?  Did you order the 2" or 3" diameter?  Kind of interesting. A Jeep body lift on your driver seat.

I believe they are the right thread pitch.  We’ll find out later this week!  
 

I ordered two each, 2” and 3”.  I wanted as much surface area contact as possible, but I don’t think the 3” would fit under the rear “legs”.   Depending on how they fit I’ll order some combination of 2” & 3” for the other seat.  

[sKiZo]

Liking those body lift blocks. Have to keep those in mind.

 

Only complaint I have about the seat on the 2011 is really not the seat's fault though. That fat steering wheel tends to block out half the speedo so I end up having to adjust the wheel height to be able to see around it.

 

I get my choice of lowering the wheel for city driving OR raising it for highway ... mutter mumble. Have to try a seat pad and see if the blocks would help.

[Double Nickels]

Then there's the problem of your knees hitting the steering wheel.

[G B L]

On 2/11/2020 at 3:12 PM, sKiZo said:

That fat steering wheel tends to block out half the speedo so I end up having to adjust the wheel height to be able to see around it.

If you mount a GPS in the right place the speedo problem will be eliminated and as an added bonus the tire size will no longer be an issue.

Edited February 12, 2020 by G B L

[Fifty150]

I don't use the speedometer.  Just follow and maintain the flow of traffic.  Don't pass any cops.  Stay in your lane.

[jrm223]

On my G2, I have a ScanGuage II in the little cubby hole above the radio, the wire just goes up over the steering column and then I coiled up the excess and put it in the cubby with the SG2. I know some members have their little OEM backup/radio display there, though. Could velcro it to the top of that hump over the instrument panel, instead?

[sKiZo]

I've seen those ScanGauge IIs and often wondered how it would work with the TC. I expect it just plugs into the OBDC test port?

[jrm223]

Mine is ancient - purchased Mar, 2009 (I only delete garbage emails, lol) and it works great in the TC. I did have problems with it not reading certain parameters right in my 2003 F350 6.0L, but that was related to the firmware version on my SG2 and I never did get it updated. But it's reading everything fine on the TC & 2.5L - I ought to test it on my e-99 7.3L, just for curiosity sake. 

Yea, it plugs into the OBD port and then you can select 4 different parameters to show on the screen (mine is showing MPH, RPM, Coolant temp & voltage), or even tether a second unit to the first for an additional 4 more parameters. I've only seen that done once, though. Most people will just change the displayed parameters on the fly, repeatedly click the button next to the one you want to change until it shows what you want. The screen color is programmable, also; I set mine to the closest match to the dash when I put it in, but it's changed now since mine is old and the LED's are slowwwly dying. Not a big enough deal to drop another $150-160 on a new one, yet.