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improving comfort off road.

colbystephens

colbystephens

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I don't want to change my suspension, because I like it. However, my wife is beginning to dislike off road trail rides because she's miserably uncomfortable with all the jostling. You can't go wheeling in NV without it being terribly bumpy, because even our backcountry service roads are much like dry river beds.

So I'm thinking about getting some nice suspension seats, like from PRP. Do you think that the improved comfort of a well baffled seat with adjustable lombar support significantly improves rode quality? I want to stick with a reclining seat, and would probably go for the seat warmer, at least for her seat. I want her to continue to enjoy trail rides, but I think she's beginning to only see wheeling as a means to an end (going somewhere cool).

What brands would you look at?
 
rampage said:
Have you looked at seats with built-in shock absorbers? Don't know if any of these would fit but just tossing out an idea.

http://www.wiseseats.com/suspensions1.html
http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/236841440/Factory_supply_adjustable_shock_absorber
http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/317960687/S802_2_driver_seat_yacht_seat.html_truck.html
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Thats a little overkill. They make seats called suspension seats where the ass is made of parachute cord draped over the frame. Suppose to be super comfy.
 
good seats make huge diffrence.

but also i have found greasable spring bolts and bushings help the suspension flex/work better over rubber bushings.

and some good quality shocks like the bilstiens can help a lot.
 
Good tips on the greasable bushings. I'll look into that. I've got Bilstein 5100s. Looks like seats are in the nearer future for my truck. Any particular seat recommendations? We've got a Summit Racing store near by, I ought to have her try sitting in some there. Are 4x4 specific seats important, perhaps being built for the kind of loading seen by a 4x4 seat rather than a race car?
 
check kirt out @ diy4x he sells seats now in vendor section.

and when i swaped to all greasable bushings for whole truck i noticed a better ride for sure .
 
Maybe a cheaper alternative, is junkyard seats from a luxury car. BMW, Mercedes Benz, Porsche, ect that Im sure ends up in yalls salvage yards. Which Im sure can be easily found with heaters, air actuated lumbar and seat firmness and yada yada.
 
colbystephens said:
Good tips on the greasable bushings. I'll look into that. I've got Bilstein 5100s. Looks like seats are in the nearer future for my truck. Any particular seat recommendations? We've got a Summit Racing store near by, I ought to have her try sitting in some there. Are 4x4 specific seats important, perhaps being built for the kind of loading seen by a 4x4 seat rather than a race car?
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More important than style of seat is style of occupant. I am a man of some ... stature, as we say, both in the hips and shoulders. I therefore wanted a fairly wide-bottomed seat, no skinny ricer race seats for me.

I'm gonna suspect your wife is skinnier than me, but as we know women are built differently from men, so absolutely, she must try the seats and find one she likes (my emphasis above).

Kert has the PRP seats; see my build thread for links & details. They have decent dimensional drawings on their web page, so you could perhaps find something from their line that matches one your wife liked even if it's not the same brand.

-- A
 
Can you even achieve a smooth ride on those kinds of trails with a Blazer???

I love mine but right now it rides like a log wagon....and that's on the street...
 
As soon as you hit the dirt air down your tires. If you don't have a way to air up right before you hit pavement get something. Running on dirt roads fully aired up sucks big time.
 
chevysmithz71 said:
Suspension seats make a huge difference. Definetly do it. Sucks you right in and holds tight:waytogo:
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Absolutely. Any of the offroad type seats for the most part are suspension. If you get seats get the. The difference is redonkulous. We had corbeaus and loved them. If you get a set of summits or junk yard seats, while they're nice, and probably better than now, suspension seats are worth the coin. Plus you can get slider adapters to work with the factory sliders.
 
suspension seats will make a large difference.

Not only do they hold you snugger so the smaller jostles don't even really happen but they do cushion the ride somewhat.

Most of the name brands out there are good quality. PRP, Corbue, Mastercraft, etc.

I would try to find some to sit in. I doubt you guys will need the wider version but I do know some skinny people who have gotten it for a bit more wiggle room.

A seat out of a luxury car from a wrecking yard will do no good whatsover.

Those suspension seats mentioned above don't really work on those kinds of trails. Not enough damping in them and they go up and down, they really don't work at all off road.

I really wish Vision Research was still around. I got a chance to ride in a Jeep equipped with their seats and it was truly amazing. But they were insanely expensive. A product before their time maybe.

I have found that the reclining ones aren't as comfortable to me as the ones with a fixed back. Seems like there is less "suspension" in them than in the fixed back seats.

To qualify those statements I have owned some low back Baja SS seats ( old and pretty worn) and some of the mastercraft reclining seats. I have mounted and wheeled in several different brands for friends though.
 
Chief Brody said:
Can you even achieve a smooth ride on those kinds of trails with a Blazer???

I love mine but right now it rides like a log wagon....and that's on the street...
Click to expand...

I'm not imagining that it'll ride like a Cadillac, and I/we am/are generally happy with the ride quality. But, NV backcountry roads are SO rough/harsh, I want to lessen the impact. This wasn't an issue in Oregon, but the terrain isn't as forgiving here. ;) I'll look into those PRP seats thru diy4x.

rdn2blazer said:
As soon as you hit the dirt air down your tires. If you don't have a way to air up right before you hit pavement get something. Running on dirt roads fully aired up sucks big time.
Click to expand...

I do air down, and it helps big time. I don't have a way to air up right now, but I'm working on it. I've got a York system that I'm slowly piecing together.

blazinzuk said:
I have found that the reclining ones aren't as comfortable to me as the ones with a fixed back. Seems like there is less "suspension" in them than in the fixed back seats.
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That's good info. Thanks! I do want a reclining seat tho. I'll have to try several.
 
Dodge raider seats = so cool. Like 5 different adjustments and suspension. Mr.Clean had them in his old raider, they were pretty sweet.
 
blazinzuk said:
A seat out of a luxury car from a wrecking yard will do no good whatsover.

Those suspension seats mentioned above don't really work on those kinds of trails. Not enough damping in them and they go up and down, they really don't work at all off road.
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Truth.

I'm not sure what it is with the German philosophy, but in Porsche and Mercedes (and some BMWs I've been in) the seats are quite firm. Their idea of comfort is quite different from the American "squishy like a couch" type designs. A hard German seat in a bouncy K5 would be torturously bad.

High-end suspension seats would be the way to go IMHO. :waytogo:


-G
 
I would suggest fabbing some sort of handle / grab bar for her. We forget the passenger doesn't really have anything to hold on to. All while we have a nice comfy steering wheel in our hands. That has helped a bunch in my rig. Didn't figure this out until I let my wife drive. Lol
 
Have her sit in as many suspension seats as possible, buy the one she fits in the best and likes. PRP makes a good middle price point seat. I would also suggest getting some 5 point harnesses, the tighter you are sucked into the seat the less harsh bumps are.

You think a road is bumpy by how much you try to fight the vehicle, if you suck yourself really tight into the seat and relax the same really bumpy road feels smooth. 5 Points help get you into the seat tight.

I have to concentrate for a little while each time I get into the race car in the passenger seat to relax, tighten the belts, and just go along for the ride. We have a grab handle but I find it's more uncomfortable to use than just hanging onto the seat belts or just letting my hands sit in my lap.

Bottom line is that it's different riding in the passenger seat and it can get uncomfortable really fast without the right stuff. What works for one might not for another as well.
 
x2 on the five points. You get tight into that seat and it makes a difference. Not sure why or how maybe you can't move at all to counteract the bumps, you don't try so it seems like its smoother.

Colby another thing to try is air bumps or timbrens or daystar stingers.

Some of the larger bumps come from hard hits on the suspension, doesn't always have to hit the bumpstops either. I have had leaf springs that seemed to really really not like going past a certain point. Putting some sort of progressive bump on them helped a bit on the bigger bumps
 
blazinzuk said:
x2 on the five points. You get tight into that seat and it makes a difference. Not sure why or how maybe you can't move at all to counteract the bumps, you don't try so it seems like its smoother.

Colby another thing to try is air bumps or timbrens or daystar stingers.

Some of the larger bumps come from hard hits on the suspension, doesn't always have to hit the bumpstops either. I have had leaf springs that seemed to really really not like going past a certain point. Putting some sort of progressive bump on them helped a bit on the bigger bumps
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I agree on the bumpstops I also think that there are massive gains in his suspension but he said that it was what he wanted, I also know that Colby is in college and not on a huge budget so I do get it.

I think that working the interior comfort angle for now is good and if he still wants better ride some good springs and another level or two up in shocks and things will be good.
 
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