Seat Repair or Replace

"Captain of the Enterprise" (justanotherdayinparadise)
02/13/2015 at 13:57 • Filed to: Advice

I drive a lot and after recently injuring my back I've found that my seats make my back hurt.

For reference I drive a 2005 Crown Victoria Lx (not police) with tan cloth seats. The driver seat is worn out and uncomfortable. It seems to have collapsed on the left side because It forces me to sit at an angle the entire time which hurts my back. The seat is also strangely padded because the seat pushes your shoulders forward preventing the seat from possibly supporting my lower back also causing pain.

What I'm wondering at this point it should I be repairing the seat or replacing it and if anyone here has any experience. I would like it to look stock but my health is more important to me than appearance so I'm open to all suggestions.

DISCUSSION (14)

KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs > Captain of the Enterprise
02/13/2015 at 14:06

Did you like the seats before they collapsed and your back was injured? My neighbor has a Grand Marquis, and I am not a fan of the seats.

If you do like them, I think you could get them re-upholstered and re-built to support your back.

Otherwise, you might want to start looking at aftermarket seats. As long as you don't have seat mounted airbags, then it's not the hardest thing in the world to do.

Ryanator122 > Captain of the Enterprise
02/13/2015 at 14:09

This is also kind of where I'm at with the seat in my 6.

As I recall, we once mounted the seat from a friend's Mustang into a Ranger, which looked completely stupid but leads me to believe that the seats are all roughly the same brackets.

I'd go for new, but try to find one meant for an MKZ/Town Car

jariten1781 > Captain of the Enterprise
02/13/2015 at 14:11

Any good upholstery shop can repair your seat and build up the cushions with whatever support you need in there. It'd still look pretty stock. Not especially cheap though and you'll need to pull the seat and leave it with them for a week or so.

Captain of the Enterprise > KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs
02/13/2015 at 14:13

I always hated them, I just seem to be more sensitive to them now. The padding seems to have compressed permanently.

Captain of the Enterprise > KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs
02/13/2015 at 14:15

On the plus side (or negative depending on how you look at it) I don't have side impact airbags in them, so that would make the swap easier.

Spasoje > Captain of the Enterprise
02/13/2015 at 14:20

Perhaps Town Car seats are the way to go? They swap right in and would definitely be an upgrade - though I guess you'd want to try them out first...

Captain of the Enterprise > Spasoje
02/13/2015 at 14:23

are they actually better or are they the same with leather?

 V8 Rustler > Captain of the Enterprise
02/13/2015 at 14:26

The seats on my Mustang were awful, so I replaced them with Recaros out of a Focus ST. The comfort and support is awesome. Also it is not that difficult to retrofit seats.

Kinja'd!!!

Captain of the Enterprise > V8 Rustler
02/13/2015 at 14:28

What gen focus did those come out of and how much were they?

KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs > Captain of the Enterprise
02/13/2015 at 14:41

I'd swap to an aftermarket seat. You can still get power movement, etc, from aftermarket seats, so you may have to do some wiring, but it shouldn't be bad.

So you can take a look at aftermarket Recaros:
https://www.recaro-automotive.com/us/product-are…

or Sparcos or Corbeaus.

Spasoje > Captain of the Enterprise
02/13/2015 at 18:02

The entire seat is less flat, geared more for comfort, and it's physically separate from the center seat (i.e. it's 40/20/40 vs. the 50/50 you have now). All that means you're supported better than with the stock seats.

Now that I think about it, Marauder seats (with their more pronounced bolstering) probably have the best support out of all the stock variants, though I'd imagine they are somewhat firmer than those in the TC.

 V8 Rustler > Captain of the Enterprise
02/13/2015 at 19:51

From an euro 2010 Focus ST. They were a bargain at $350 USD, complete with the rear seats. They were brand new as the car only had like 2,000 miles.

 > Captain of the Enterprise
02/13/2015 at 20:11

Crown Vic seats suck ass. The police ones are a bit more comfortable but not by much. I'd swap for something else.

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > Captain of the Enterprise
02/13/2015 at 23:38

Might be worthwhile to get a different car with more comfortable seats.