DRIVER'S SEAT UNCOMFORTABLE

[MrBean]

Hi!
I previously had a 405 estate for 8 years and found the seating very comfortable.
However, my 406 estate (2001 2.0 HDI GLX) driver's seat is uncomfortable in comparison, giving me leg pains on longer distances. It seems a bit too deep from front to rear, and too hard. It seems designed for a larger person than me. I'm 5'6".
Owned it now for 3 years, love the car except for the seat! Any suggestions?

[steve_earwig]

They do surgery to make your legs longer in Russia The usual comment is how comfy the seats are so sorry yours aren't. Maybe you could get one of those lumbar cushions to push you a bit more forward in the seat. Or try dropping it, or tipping it forward..?

[Welly]

I can understand in a way - the seat squab is quite long front to back and if you're sat too close to the wheel then the back of your clutch operating leg will keep squashing down on the squab.

I'm 5' 9" and find the best position is having the seat base height on lowest, the steering wheel quite well out on its extension and downwards a bit towards your lap. Try moving the seat back away from the dash too, even if it appears to feel a bit too far away, the clutch bites high on the 406 so you almost need to be further away from the pedals (hence bring the steering wheel with you).

One huge comfort bonus is leather seats though as these allow your clothing to slide rather than get grabbed by the velour material. Maybe you could consider changing to leather? a whole set with door cards should be no more than £250.00? on ebay maybe less!

Welly

[mjb]

I'd suggest playing with the seat base tilt to relieve pressure on the part that's causing you grief.

[MrBean]

Hi, many thanks for your replies.
It only affects my left leg, and I do notice the back of my leg pushing on the seat squab.
The velour seat is still in very good condition, however the squab angle does appear to be too tilted back.
I have the adjuster in the maximum position to lower the front, but the squab is still quite tilted back. Moving the adjuster the other way, the squab points upwards at quite an unusable angle!
One idea I have, is to introduce spacers on the rear bolts to help correct the angle, and probably have to use longer bolts. I'd prefer to do this than try sitting on a cushion that falls out when getting out of the car. Very uncool!

[steve_earwig]

Just you wait 'til you get to my age young man, comfort is everything, other people's opinions pfft

Just a thought, by adjuster I presume you mean the bar at the front for adjusting the slope of the seat, what about the lever on the side? (You see where I'm going here? Maybe one end of the seat is jammed. No? Tough )

[MrBean]

Hi,
The adusters are electric and seem to be working fully.
Logically, I just thought that if the seat base could tilt back at such an angle, then when tilted the other way (down) it would be about horizontal, and not still sloping back.
At the risk of losing your comfortable seat positions, could you try putting your seat base to slope forward to maximum, and see whether it is near horizontal or like mine, still sloping back.
Really appreciate your help.

[Welly]

I'm too good to you lot........


Here's my seat right down as low at the front as possible, in fact any tilting up is ridiculous and undriveable imo..


Notice the front of the squab has a raised bit.

[mjb]

Your paintwork is WAY too clean!

Has anyone got leather seats that aren't split at the top of the controls?

[MrBean]

406 seat 2.jpg

Here's my seat, fully tilted forward.

[DaiRees]

Has anyone got leather seats that aren't split at the top of the controls?

Mine's OK



(Sorry I didn't check if it was all the way down before taking the photo )

[steve_earwig]

It's a bit hard to tell 'cos it's not taken at the same angle as Weltons but I think it's the same. What's the passenger seat feel like?

Here's my seat right down as low at the front as possible, in fact any tilting up is ridiculous and undriveable imo..

That's funny, mine are (both) tilted back as far as they go (32" inside leg ) I tried tilting it forward, then I had to push the steering wheel all the way in. I think I could drive it like that... It's still sloping upwards, about the same as the passenger seat.

[MrBean]

Hi,
Thanks for all your help.
When my driver's seat is fully tilted forward, it matches the angle of the front passenger seat, so I can't imagine why you would need to tilt it back. However, I would like to tilt it further down than the adjuster allows. If you have a look at my photo (I don't know why it's not visable without opening the file) you can see the grey velour seat is still sloping back quite a lot even though it's in full tilt down.
I think if I can tilt it down a bit more it could take the pressure off the back of my left leg, just behind my knee.
Has anyone tried raising the back of the seat by fitting spacers on the rear bolts?

[steve_earwig]

Not that I know of, last time I saw anything like that it was on a Reliant Robin... Not sure how that fits in with Constructions & Use... I suppose you'd do best to fit longer bolts if necessary. Did you try the passenger seat to see if it felt the same?

[DaiRees]

I wouldn't worry about construction & use for that as long as it's secure. The number of people on the 4X4 forums that are swapping seats and bodging together mounting points and subframes is huge, and no-one's ever reported any law or MOT problems.