replacing nasty drivers seat

[Chrise]

Hey Skoolie folks:

I have a 07 Thomas Safetyliner which is in really nice condition except for the seat. It's a Bostrom. The suspension works great, tracks and all, but the actual seat is gross. I would just cover it but I would like to find a seat with lumbar support and better foam. Any ideas folks? Perhaps you have done this. I hope also to find a "shotgun" seat to mount on a air suspension over the wheel hump opposite the drivers position. I got a guy who can make me a gnarly mounting plate to attach to the seat rail and floor. Anyway it would be nice if the seats matched. Thanks for your help!

Chris

[musigenesis]

I drive a year-old Thomas C2 for work and the seat has air-activated lumbar support built in. It's extremely nice to have and if I planned to drive my own skoolie a lot I would probably look into getting one of these.

[jimmythomas]

I put a front seat from a Saab 9-5 Aero in my bus --6 way power seat and it's heated too!
It's nice enough that I don't even use the air suspension.
A quick stroll through the local pic-a-part will find something nice.

[ChurchBuz]

It is not a “bolt in” by any means, but I plan on using the seat bottom and back out of a Herman Miller Aeron chair. They are expensive, even used, but they are lumbar and headrest adaptable, and are extremely comfortable.

I plan on blowing heat and AC through mine when I do it.

I’m waiting for a deal on the chairs. Not in a big hurry yet.

Mounting them will not be easy. But think outside the box, like the SAAB seats mentioned. The more handy you are, the more options you have

[Tejon7]

If you're not in a rush, watch Facebook marketplace, Craigslist, etc. for semi take-out seats. The newer ones have all kinds of adjustments. A matched pair in decent shape might be too much of an ask, though.

[Jolly Roger bus 223]

my wife went with our son to a junkyard or 2 to find the seat she wants for her bus and it is nice and had to keep the existing seat base because there is a fuse box under the seat.
the seat is very nice but it is 4"s thicker than the old one and puts the top of my legs about an inch from the bottom of the steering wheel and with her in the seat the slides dont move far enough forward for her to really push the pedals all the way down except maybe tippy toe which is a no go.
my options are to shorten the base which i dont like because of fuse box access without pulling the seat and extending the top of the base to be able to move the slides forward or build my own base which would be more angle iron than the curved formed factory look and change the entire steering column to a tilt column with all the extra buttons for cruise and stuff that the base van body isnt set up for.
just food for thought when looking for a seat?
and and pay attention to the seat belt locations because they grabbed a passenger seat and not the drivers seat cause it was gone but it wasnt built into the seat so i was able to use my old set up with the old base and keep armrest and cup holder on the new seat.

[Ross]

Check Bostrom for repair foam cushions and covering. I bought 2 Bostrom air rides for my conversion, and I sorta remember there being stuff like that on their website.

[Myriah]

Where in the NW do you live? I have an air seat we removed from our 2007 International and replaced with a pair of matching seats. It's not in too bad of shape and BO takes it off of our hands.

[Johnthebusboy]

I am using a captains chair from a van sitting on an air base from a semi. The chair to base adapter is made from two 1/4" aluminium plates. It is comfortable enough for to drive as long as I want.

[Ranchorossa]

AAA Bus Sales has all the seats you will need. Lumbar support, adjustable, etc. Many to choose from.

[LargeMargeInBaja]

Our go-to for truck parts:
Anderson Brothers Heavy-truck dismantling,
Highway 99 at Beltloop,
Eugene, Oregon
.
They constantly churn through dismantling all forms of heavy-truck parts.
.
My hobby is walking wrecking-yards.
I was cruising Anderson Brothers as the tow-truck dropped a wrecked semi-tractor.
I snagged a top-of-the-line heated/cooled tilter for about a quarter of new.
.
.
An aside:
Similar to most truck components, seats are built by outside suppliers, then installed into the build on the assembly-line.
Thus, a Peterbilt seat bolts to a Western Star/Freightliner/Mercedes-Benz/and-all-the-rest base.
.
For new or for a test-your-tuchus, visit any heavy-truck dealer.
The place behind the steering-wheel is the office of a rig for as many as ten hours daily, so it needs to fit.
.
An aside:
Speaking of office...
After installing my newish seat, I quickly experimented and discovered the angle of arm-rests to steering-wheel is perfect for zero-stress use of my ancient Windows 7 laptop.
Perfect... as in 'refuse to use it anyplace else'.