Air seats

[Veloc]

Holy cow I don't see how the pros live in those things. I've been gone the last week helping my daughter move. We drove halfway across the country in a Freightliner moving truck with a driver side air seat. Neat at first, and I was thinking about how much I'd like one on my future bus, but on bad roads hooooly cow! I don't usually get carsick, particularly when I'm driving, but I was bouncing around so much on some of those roads that I was getting ready to spew. Hitting contruction zones in Illinois was absolutely horrible too. I was using the steering wheel to keep me in place as much as I was using it to keep the truck in its lane. I've never been so worn out driving a large truck before as I was in that air seat having truck. My daughter, sitting in the non-air passenger seat, seemed to have a better time of it.

If you're planning to convert to an air seat and have no experience with one, I strongly suggest renting a truck that has it first, then go down some horrible roads in it for a day or two to make sure it's something you can live with. I drove that truck both loaded and empty, and it made no difference - never again. If my eventual bus comes with an air seat, I'll be replacing it with a regular seat. I'd rather take the pounding with the steering wheel staying in place relative to me.

[fo4imtippin]

I assumed if I don't like the air aspect, I could just crank up the psi to prevent it from moving. Was that not the case?

[ewo1]

Originally Posted by Veloc

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If my eventual bus comes with an air seat, I'll be replacing it with a regular seat. I'd rather take the pounding with the steering wheel staying in place relative to me.

You must be quite young and strong. I will tell you this, lots, I mean lots of truckers in the early years end up with bad backs due to the hard jarring of the spine from seats that are not air ride, both in trucking and in construction equipment.

If your on bad roads and bouncing around then your driving your bus too hard.

Like fo4imtippin said, just crank up the air pressure and the seat will not bounce….

Look at the future and not just at the moment, your spine will thank you in your later years!

[Veloc]

Originally Posted by fo4imtippin

I assumed if I don't like the air aspect, I could just crank up the psi to prevent it from moving. Was that not the case?

Cranking up the pressure didn't do much to stop the bouncing, but it did put me a foot or more closer to the ceiling. That didn't feel safe because the steering wheel was down around my knees at that point. I'm long legged so reaching the pedals wasn't an issue, but I didn't like how far down the wheel was.

Originally Posted by ewo1

You must be quite young and strong. I will tell you this, lots, I mean lots of truckers in the early years end up with bad backs due to the hard jarring of the spine from seats that are not air ride, both in trucking and in construction equipment.

If your on bad roads and bouncing around then your driving your bus too hard.

Like fo4imtippin said, just crank up the air pressure and the seat will not bounce….

Look at the future and not just at the moment, your spine will thank you in your later years!

Mid 50s, and have a bad back from a motorcycle wreck. The truck could not be driven too hard, with a 70MPH governor. The roads were freakin' horrible in some sections though, and that's where I was being bounced around the cab. When the roads were smooth, the seat wasn't an issue. If the seat didn't have a foot of travel when bouncing it wouldn't have been quite the issue it was.

[fo4imtippin]

I remember watching my bus driver look like he was on a trampoline! That would annoy me. I could imagine trying to gas and brake while bouncing erratically.

[alpine44]

Air seats -like air suspensions- need dampers aka shocks. If your seat acts like a trampoline, the damper is either worn or missing.

[Veloc]

Originally Posted by alpine44

Air seats -like air suspensions- need dampers aka shocks. If your seat acts like a trampoline, the damper is either worn or missing.

Did not know that, and may have been the issue. All I know is every time the roads were rough I felt like someone stuck me into a big box and pushed me down the stairs.

OK then, make sure to test drive a NEWISH truck with an air seat. Means I'll need to go try again, I guess.

[magnakansas]

Sounds like to me the damper system was not working at all.

William

[ewo1]

Originally Posted by alpine44

Air seats -like air suspensions- need dampers aka shocks. If your seat acts like a trampoline, the damper is either worn or missing.

That makes a lot of sense!
Mine is not worn so maybe that why I don’ t bounce around in my bus?

But then again, south Florida roads are nothing like driving on I-10 !

[Rwnielsen]

I have an air ride seat and I'm having a little trouble getting used to it. Hit a dip in the road and the floor and steering wheel move but I don't. I'm sure it just takes time but is a weird sensation.