1 Lucky Texan Posted October 8, 2005 Share Posted October 8, 2005 Um - I've never heard of Orbus forme - is it of some notoriety? got a link? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HX-20S Posted October 8, 2005 Share Posted October 8, 2005 Um - I've never heard of Orbus forme - is it of some notoriety? got a link? Sure: http://www.obusforme.com Here's the seat pad: http://www.obusforme.com/product_nav.asp?ID=24 There seem to be special prices here: http://www.comforthouse.com/obbacsup.html Google is your friend - search for reviews too; e.g.: http://www.canadiandriver.com/articles/pw/obus.htm Note that it is Obus, not Orbus. I believe it is pronounced like Aw-bus, not Oh-bus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dande Posted October 8, 2005 Author Share Posted October 8, 2005 Well, I went out today in the pooring rain to a salvage yard to pick up some LSi seats I had called on. $75 bucks a pop, driver's side with adjustable height. I was really bummed to find out they were the same basic seat I had only with a height adjuster. No extra lumbar support, no extra padding, nothing. They also happened to be aqua, not dark grey as I was told. The last straw was that they were sitting in a car outside that had no doors or windows. Did I mention it was pooring... Needless to say, I came home empty handed. Perhaps I was expecting a little bit much from a salvage yard. Well my plan at this point is to raise the seats on my own with blocks. I think I will also look at switching out the cushions from the passenger's side with the driver's. We'll see how hard that looks once I get the old seats out. I'm also going to check out the Obus seat stuff. It actually looks pretty good. Expensive stuff, but I believe you get what you pay for from them... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dande Posted October 11, 2005 Author Share Posted October 11, 2005 Alright, just throwing this up to complete the story for anyone in the furture who is experiencing seat issues. On Saturday I finally removed the seats from the car. What I discovered when I had the seats out on my familyroom floor sitting side by side was that my driver's seat was shot. It wasn't so much a poor design as a well abused seat. It still looked great (mint) but was a marshmallow compared to the passenger seat. The seat bottom and the lumbar support were shot, totally! My first plan was to switch the seat hardware around just reverse the seats. Bad plan. What initially looked like identical seats with hardware just screwed/bolted on opposite sides, actually was different seat frames (both top backrest and bottom). Bummer. I then stripped the upholstery about 80% off the seats (not as easy as everyone makes it out since the creases in the upholstery are held in place with bars and metal clips. I was able to pull it back enough to examine the foam cushion and come up with a second plan: re-cushion the seats. I thought I would leave the molded foam in place and just add some high-density foam to the weak spots, building them back up. Sunday, after church, I ran out to the fabric store and bought some 1 and 2 inch high-density foam (50% off). I also bought some spray adhesive thinking I might need it. Returning home I started with the seat bottom and tried using different combinations of thinkness and shape in order to rebuild the bottom foam, while retaining its shape. I settled on two 1" think peices of foam of different dimentions to shape the bottom. I was able to reattach the upholstery of the seat bottom seat with the help of my wife. With her pushing down on the upholstery I was able to reattach the metal bars with wire and pull it tight. I was surprised by how good it looked. A touch poofy, but otherwise, stock. I was excited to sit in it, but soon discovered my utter failure! It made no difference! I sank right down through the seat again! I spent the last part of Sunday coping with my failure and trying to come up with plan C. Upon further inspection noticed the springs on the lumbar section of the seat back (yet untouched) looked bent out of shape (but I had nothing compare it with since I hadn't disected the passenger seat yet, it still felt like new). I decided to sleep on the issue and come back in the morning (Monday was a holiday). Monday morning I woke up with plan C: add firmness support to the springs. I decided that the seat bottom must also have shot springs (even though they looked fine) and all I needed was 1/2 inch particle board cut to the right shape and slid between the spring mechanism and original foam cushion. (This could be easily accomplished by unclipping two springs and sliding it in.) The Lumbar region I would tackle with a variety of sized pieces of 1/4 press board slid between the bottom two springs of the seatback and the foam cushion, again very easily done. I ended up with three pieces of pressboard, 2 measuring 12" x 6" and one measuring 8" x 6". I placed the 8 inch piece farthest away from the springs and closest to the foam. This seemed good, but I needed to wait until I had the seat all back together to tell. I then cut and slipped the bottom piece of wood under the seat and it too, felt more firrm. I rebuilt the seat and reattached the hardware and was ready for installation. I decided to raise the driver's seat while I was at it and settled on using 1/2 inch wood spacers (from preasure treated scraps in my basement). With the new firmer seat, 1 1/2 inches left my head rubbing the headliner and even 3/4 seemed too high. I bought new bolts (an adventure in and of itself) and I was off. I reinstalled everything and sat down...... WOW!! It was awesome. I was so comfortable and the seat was forgiving yet very firm. the Lumbar support seems perfect! I was so pumped I had to go for my first test drive. It felt woderful and overall, I am very pleased. When I took my first turn, I found the only drawback to the whole thing. I left my foam in the seat bottom and I think it is a little too much. As I rounded that first corner I felt my butt rocking away from the turn and rolling a little off seat center. The bucket feeling is lost. I think if I had removed the foam I added and just went with the wood, I would have been better off. However, it is hard to tell now and WAY better than it has ever been since we owned that car. If it continues to bother me, I will take it apart again and remove the foam (maybe just one piece, maybe both) and see how it is. Anyway, after three days, I need my car back and I will take some trips and see how it is. Maybe the new foam will settle and everything will be alright anyway... we'll see. Thanks for all your help and discussion, Happy and comfy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zephyr Posted October 11, 2005 Share Posted October 11, 2005 Dande- I am impressed with your determination to get this situation solved. Also very cool of you to write a review about the situation so that others may be able take advantage of what you have learned. I have a concern about my seat that I'm wondering maybe you can help shed some light on. I realize we are talking about different cars and different pains, but maybe you learned something that I could use. My 05 LW, after 3k miles, is starting to cause my right foot some cramping. It seems that I have to keep my knee cocked in just a sort of way to keep my foot in position for driving- however my knee and foot is not at rest. I must always be straining my foot to keep it on the pedal. Like now, if you are sitting at your desk, raise your right toes 3 inches but keep your heel on the ground. That is similar to how I must drive. I feel like maybe if I can move the seat back another inch it would be ok. But I just don't know. Nor do I know if it is even possible to move the seat back further. Thanks again if you have any thoughts. This is the first time I have tried to explain my predicament so please excuse me if I'm not making much sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookie Posted October 11, 2005 Share Posted October 11, 2005 When I have reupholstered car seats in the past the foam tended to pack down a bit after a while. It does sound as though you may have a bit much in there though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dande Posted October 11, 2005 Author Share Posted October 11, 2005 My 05 LW, after 3k miles, is starting to cause my right foot some cramping. It seems that I have to keep my knee cocked in just a sort of way to keep my foot in position for driving- however my knee and foot is not at rest. I must always be straining my foot to keep it on the pedal. Like now, if you are sitting at your desk, raise your right toes 3 inches but keep your heel on the ground. That is similar to how I must drive. I feel like maybe if I can move the seat back another inch it would be ok. But I just don't know. Nor do I know if it is even possible to move the seat back further. Zephyr, I can sympathize. I have had the exact same situation, but for the life of me I can't remember which car it was with. It doesn't happen all the time, so I can't recall if it was my car (Sub) or my wife's (Honda), but I know the feeling of trying to keep your toes up and your heel planted. I don't know if raising the seat a touch would help some or maybe moving it back. Sounds like trial and error to me and since I had so much error on my attempt, I am afriad to tell you where to begin. Does the seat have much adjustment on its own. The problem with the 95 Legacy L was that the seat did nothing but slide forward and back. No way to raise the seat at all. Sorry I'm not much help, maybe someone else can chime in... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookie Posted October 11, 2005 Share Posted October 11, 2005 I bent the pedals where I wanted them. I think the only one I had to move was the gas on this car. In SF with a car with no hill holder it is much easier if the pedals are aligned to where you can heel and toe the gas and brake with one foot. I also got the angle better for more comfotable driving. If you bend it make sure after that you still get full throttle. On my BMW I raised the seat a bit with spacers to get what I wanted, but the Forester has a seat position that works for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zephyr Posted October 12, 2005 Share Posted October 12, 2005 Thanks for the suggestions! Since it is my day to drive the new car, I really paid attention to what my actual problem is. I believe the problem is the fact that my thigh is not supported by the front half of the seat, leaving my entire leg to support my heal in just the right position for driving. The seat itself has a height adjustment, but that seems to pivot on the front portion and only raise and lower the back end. It is set to the low stop now, and when I raise the back of the seat it simply creates more distance between my thigh and seat. I'm going to shove a towel under my leg for support and see if that makes an improvement. If it does, I will look into raising the front of the seat some how- I think I may need an inch or more. I'm inmaging some sort of structural safety concerns by attempting this- if anyone has suggestions I believe I am going to need it. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LosDiosDeVerde86 Posted October 12, 2005 Share Posted October 12, 2005 the seats in my 96 legacy LS have adjustable lumbar support. you could look into that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 Lucky Texan Posted October 12, 2005 Share Posted October 12, 2005 My wife's OBW has electric thigh support - indepenndent from height (kinda like tilt. Try moving the seat rearward, to extend your legs more - then make sure the seat BACK is not tilted backwards, putting your arms too far away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zephyr Posted October 12, 2005 Share Posted October 12, 2005 My wife's OBW has electric thigh support - indepenndent from height (kinda like tilt. Try moving the seat rearward, to extend your legs more - then make sure the seat BACK is not tilted backwards, putting your arms too far away. aha! This is exactly what I am talking about! I agree with moving the seat back, however I am already at the last stop. If I could just get another two inches into the back seat, I think it would fix the problem well. I'm going to take a look under the seat soon and see if there is anything I can change mechanically to get it back any farther. Maybe Subaru built it so 6 footers can get in there with a wrench and adjust things to make "new" stop settings? Wishful thinking I'm sure.... Makes me wonder if the maximum leg room is not enough for my 6 foot frame, who is the min. leg room setting built for? And I realize the car is designed in Asia, however my civic is a much smaller vehicle yet it had ample room for a 6 footer (sorry for the back seat person though!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted October 12, 2005 Share Posted October 12, 2005 AHA! i got it! Go to an automotive upholstery shop. The seat is only held in with four bolts. The are used to fabricating brackets for this situation, its more commmon then you think. nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bfg9k Posted October 13, 2005 Share Posted October 13, 2005 Have you ever mounted Volvo seats in a a Subaru? That's one of the things I keep thinking I might try. The seats are my only complaint about my '99 OBW and I've got a Volvo 240 parts car in the yard. Volvo truly does make the best seats, no exception. The seats in a Saab 9-5 Aero or 9-3 Viggen are at least as good Something about those Swedes and comfy seats... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zephyr Posted October 13, 2005 Share Posted October 13, 2005 AHA!i got it! Go to an automotive upholstery shop. The seat is only held in with four bolts. The are used to fabricating brackets for this situation, its more commmon then you think. nipper Awesome, I'm going to call around this weekend! Thanks for the tip! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookie Posted October 13, 2005 Share Posted October 13, 2005 was said to be a bloke who could do for a pence what any bloody fool could do for a pound. If in question just overengineer. I have made seat raising brackets from 1/4 inch thick square tubing. This replaced engineered stamped sheet metal and probably cost five bucks. This would not be cost effective on the production line but works fine for me. Use grade 8 bolts if you can get them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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