Date:         Tue, 9 Sep 2003 23:15:45 -0700
Reply-To:     mark drillock <drillock@EARTHLINK.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         mark drillock <drillock@EARTHLINK.NET>
Subject:      Re: seats
Comments: To: Alex Towner <altowner@COMCAST.NET>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

You did not mention what year and model Vanagon seat you have, or how
worn out the padding is. All Vanagon seats did NOT have the same
dimensions even when they were new. I find the GL passenger model seats
from 85 on to be very comfortable if the padding is still in good shape.
I've probably put in excess of 300,000 miles on 86 and newer seats and
another 100,000 plus on 82-84 seats. In my experience Westy front seats
are less comfortable and the padding breaks down faster. The passenger
GL seats have longer and thicker bottom cushions along with arm rests
for more position variety. The early Westy seats seem to be the least
comfortable but much of the padding is gone from them in many cases and
they had no arm rests.

Seat comfort is a matter of personal preference and body dimension.
Seats that are comfortable in one vehicle may not be the same in a
Vanagon. The floor is so much lower in a Vanagon that the seat bottoms
must be less angled to allow your feet to reach the floor unless you
have very long legs.

Mark

Alex Towner wrote:
>
> In my opinion the Vanagon seats, while not the worst in the world, are some of the worst VW has used in the past 20 years. With VW car seats I feel like I'm sitting snugly in them as opposed to on them in a Vanagon. The backrest doesn't cradle the body but instead pushes in all the wrong places. The most significant failing of the Vanagon seats is that the bottoms don't angle up at the front. The result is no under-thigh support for anyone of above average height. This places most of your weight on your rump, right at the base of the spine rather than spreading weight across the legs and giving your back a break. Sitting over the front wheels exacerbates the problem. When sitting in my van I can slide my hand between the middle point of my thighs and the end of the seat with no resistance; the seat is so flat that my legs are barely even touching. I have added spacers to the front of my seat to raise it over an inch, and this mitigates but does not eliminate the problem. As others have mentioned, the lack of a fully reclining backrest like VW cars have prevents a roadside nap. VW cars have a recline mechanism which is infinitely adjustable via a knob; you can get exactly the position you want.
>......