Custom driver seat?

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adic27

Senior Member
Joined
May 15, 2017
Posts
573
Location
Houston TX
Was wondering what people did as far as the drivers seat. Found an electric rv chair on amazon but was hoping to see some images of what other people have done. Gonna do some googleing as amazon is kinda limited in that regard i think

Please share!
 
I used forklift seats in my short busses.
My TC1000 has an air seat but I have my eye on a nice seat from a cabover Kenworth...

Sent from my E6883 using Tapatalk
 
I'm heading to my local PullAPart and find something out of a Cadillac CTS or something for $75. Then I'm going to mount 4 nice late model bucket seats from a car on pedestals in the "living room"
 
I scored a few Recaro air seats off classifieds. Might grab 2 more for pax.

Check with truck dismantlers-

How are you going to control those cadillac CTS seats? I'd like to go that route, but getting them to function.

2009-05-14_214953_seats1.gif
 
BennysTire said:
Just need a few DPDT toggles
Click to expand...

Then what? I count 8, and that is without lumbar controls. Do those motors all have built-in limit switches? I had to rewire the recaro seats to bypass the computer that controls them, and they were 1/4 as complex.

I did find this:

I did it and I know somebody else did the same. I got mine off of ebay for pretty cheap. Moving the fronts to the rear when the kids get bigger. The fronts are awesome after putting in the CTS. I bought another set of the air bag frames to put them down on. Since the drivers seat is controlled by the car's ecu it takes a bit of wiring to get the motion parts to work. I think I used 10 3 prong relays. The tough part is just finding all of the wires and where they come from. I took out everything that was not needed and with a spare battery (fused) you can test each circuit and make sure that you have each one labeled prior to putting in the relay. Here are the wiring diagrams that I got from the Cadillac website.
As far as the heater and air blower for the seats, I have not spent anymore time on them yet. I put in the controls for the heater in the dash and ran the wires down to the seats but didn't get any further. I think I'll send it over to my favorite shop to finish it out and get the details done.
I'm not sure that the switches I got will work with the heater system and will have to take out the heater pads and get the ones that match the switches. With the air, I got the fans to go, but I think you need a potentiometer (maybe) or somebody that is a little brighter in that electrical department to figure it out. I'd like to know if it's a simple work around. Hope this helps, good luck. Andy
 
Rusty said:
I scored a few Recaro air seats off classifieds. Might grab 2 more for pax.

Check with truck dismantlers-

How are you going to control those cadillac CTS seats? I'd like to go that route, but getting them to function.

View attachment 19043
Click to expand...

Pedestal with a big steel plate to mount the electric base. Most seats mount with 4 bolts, so just need a plate to locate the bolts.
If the electrics are an issue,
i'll pull the seat from it's base and mount it to an easier electric seat base.Hey, i have a grinder, sawmill, and a welder. I can do anything.
 
Last edited:
I've made custom controls for nearly every power seat I've owned. I just wire a DPDT to each motor just like a window regulator. When the seat stops going forward, let go of the switch. That's always been my limit switch [emoji6]

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adic27 said:
Was wondering what people did as far as the drivers seat. Found an electric rv chair on amazon but was hoping to see some images of what other people have done. Gonna do some googleing as amazon is kinda limited in that regard i think

Please share!
Click to expand...

Go for an air ride seat out of a semi or bus.
Rides SO nice.

p4401-Z-BOS-0525(590x850).jpg
 
EastCoastCB said:
Go for an air ride seat out of a semi or bus.
Rides SO nice.

p4401-Z-BOS-0525(590x850).jpg
Click to expand...

Since my trips are going to be 400-900+ miles I want a real comfy seat. The late model CTS seats run about $4K, doubt I'd find any at PullAPart.Now what I did find was lots and lots of 00-04 DeVille and SeVille seats for $35 for leather bucket with power rack. I'm going out tomorrow to see what I can come home with.
I can mount it to an air ride base.
 
o1marc said:
Since my trips are going to be 400-900+ miles I want a real comfy seat. The late model CTS seats run about $4K, doubt I'd find any at PullAPart.Now what I did find was lots and lots of 00-04 DeVille and SeVille seats for $35 for leather bucket with power rack. I'm going out tomorrow to see what I can come home with.
I can mount it to an air ride base.
Click to expand...
Two words:
Lincoln Continental

There's a movie theater here that uses them, soooo nice.

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o1marc said:
Since my trips are going to be 400-900+ miles I want a real comfy seat. The late model CTS seats run about $4K, doubt I'd find any at PullAPart.Now what I did find was lots and lots of 00-04 DeVille and SeVille seats for $35 for leather bucket with power rack. I'm going out tomorrow to see what I can come home with.
I can mount it to an air ride base.
Click to expand...

Truck seats are made to go a million miles, and a good one is REALLY comfy. but do as you wish. Roll your own.
 
EastCoastCB said:
Truck seats are made to go a million miles, and a good one is REALLY comfy. but do as you wish. Roll your own.
Click to expand...

And I'm sure from a truck place they'll be pricey. I certainly am not planning on putting a million miles on what ever seat I choose. What ever I choose will certainly last at least 100k miles. My Dakota truck seats have 260k on them and they are still nice. All I need is something comfy, 100 way electric adjustable, leather on an air base. If I wear it out, I'll buy another $35 seat
 
o1marc said:
And I'm sure from a truck place they'll be pricey. I certainly am not planning on putting a million miles on what ever seat I choose. What ever I choose will certainly last at least 100k miles. My Dakota truck seats have 260k on them and they are still nice. All I need is something comfy, 100 way electric adjustable, leather on an air base. If I wear it out, I'll buy another $35 seat
Click to expand...

It's not the million miles that is the main factor. It's the comfort over 500-1000 miles. Better seats cost more, but they are simply better built and more comfortable. A comfortable journey is a safer one.

The seat in mine was comfortable for the 500-mile ride home. My right leg suffered a bit, but cruise control will take care of that.
 
There are some nice ones out there these days. Those guys sit in the saddle a long time. Top quality truck seats have multiple air bladders in the cushion that periodically inflate and deflate to stimulate blood flow. Weird, at first, but nice. Programmable.

I have one I was going to put in my semi, but since I sold that truck...Maybe it'll go in the 5-ton Cargo truck. It would have gone in the bus if I had matching copilot seat.

10-best-truck-seats

 
I found a Semi/Dump/Bus junkyard about 1 hour from here. I got a pretty nice air ride seat for 200 bucks. I had a buddy of mine who owns a carpet cleaning company clean it for me and it looked brand new. I removed the old base from the stock seat because it was too tall. I cut the old base down and re-bent it so it was about 2.5 inches tall instead of 6 inches tall. Once that was bolted back to the floor, I drilled new holes for the new seat, bolted it down, connected it to air, and it works perfectly. Finding a good seat with both arm rests is not easy but I got lucky. It's actually really comfortable too.
 
evathedefiler said:
https://m.ebay.com/itm/USSC-Air-Rid...565042?txnId=1775221133008#vi__app-cvip-panel

We found this listing for a locally available seat. Haven’t picked it up yet but we’ll get it in the bus somehow. Hubs was not a fan of the original 1987 seat on the 150 mile drive home. Lol.
Click to expand...

fabrini said:
I found a Semi/Dump/Bus junkyard about 1 hour from here. I got a pretty nice air ride seat for 200 bucks. I had a buddy of mine who owns a carpet cleaning company clean it for me and it looked brand new. I removed the old base from the stock seat because it was too tall. I cut the old base down and re-bent it so it was about 2.5 inches tall instead of 6 inches tall. Once that was bolted back to the floor, I drilled new holes for the new seat, bolted it down, connected it to air, and it works perfectly. Finding a good seat with both arm rests is not easy but I got lucky. It's actually really comfortable too.
Click to expand...

I got a brand new bostrom with tags on it at a yard sale for $100!
Threw it in with a bus I sold.
 
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