I am tossing around the idea of some new front seats for my Econoline van, looking for something a bit more supportive than the factory stuff.
Armrests are a must-have. Center consoles are not an option due to the 4x4 shifter and the overall goofiness of a console in a full size van.
I have driven full size trucks with no armrests/center consoles and they are horrid.
A few options I have found:
- Recaro Specialist have optional armrests but the armrests look stupid
- Bride Streams Cruz (also available in heated, which is nice)
- Bride Euroster Cruz (also heated)
- Sheel-Mann will build you anything you want.
Any others I am missing? Any OEM seats with armrests to be on the lookout for? If they are OEM, they gotta not have logos on them unless they are Ford logos.
Minivan seats. All will have folding inboard arm rest built into the seat. If you want dual folding armrest then 2nd row minivan seats.
For front row version I will point you to Dodge Grand Caravan as a pretty comfortable seat. Lots of power options too and the power switches are integrated into the seat base (not mounted on the door.) Some previous GRM chatter about minvan seats
Not a race derived seat. But, I have to ask, "do you really want a race inspired seat?" High side bolstering will make egress into an Econoline rather awkward.
If you want real ergo type stuff at a price less than new, look for a drivers seats from wrecked commercial bus. Many have high dollar ergo seats.
Semi truck seats are comfortable but they are also typically air-ride. This makes them both big and cumbersome but also then the hindrance of needing onboard air. Sometimes the passenger semi seats do not have air but they are then the type of seat where they expect them to be only "temporary seating" and as such are really only comfortable for temporary seating. I'm not sure if the busses will be air ride or not.
I second a trip to the junkyard.
Some Astros came with dual armrests. Very nice for long drives.
Early gmt400 suburban had dual armrests and supportive buckets.
Also, most hinge points on race buckets are held in with two bolts to the seat frame. Maybe some 1/8 plate to make a bracket held by those bolts to an arm rest at appropriate height for you to be comfortable?
Alright, these aren't a racing seat, but I can confirm they fit an Econoline chassis.
2008-2020 Dodge Grand Caravan (and Chrysler Town & Country) second-row Stow N Go seats. Dual armrests, and the seat belt receptacle is built in to the seat base which is convenient for a swap. Once you throw away the big folding mechanism from the bottom, they have nice flat sliders.
Now, I find these comfortable, but they are not plush. They are very firm.
You can see in the pics that mounting in an Econoline was very simple - I just ran two pieces of angle across the stock seat bases and then bolted down the new seat sliders.
Toyota Sienna seats are really comfy and well made. I've driven them with way over 200K and they were not beat down....the fabric or leather eeally wears well too
j_tso
Dork
11/27/23 1:27 a.m.
I'm digging the Bride Streams Cruz.
Problem is you'll want to start doing other mods and want to race against Dajiban.
Thanks for all the responses so far. Looked at few takeout minivan seats and have ruled most of them out for a few reasons:
- Don't want integrated seatbelts. The Econolines have seatbelts on the B pillar and I want to keep them there.
- The stow-and-go's are awful. Glad they work for you but the 30 minutes I spent in them were 29.99 minutes too many.
- Sienna seats are nice. The good examples cost as much as a set of new ones unless you get super lucky. The mounts are also not conducive to front row in an Econoline.
- Don't need dual armrests, would prefer single armrest to the inboard side.
I probably should have given a bit more details. I have a 2006 Econoline "Chateau" which has a powered drivers seat I would like to keep the base of (tilt/height/forward and back). The passenger seat is on a swivel so same story - I would like to keep it. I want the seats to match because I want it to look professional.
You guys are correct that I am really after "ergo" seats and not so much carbon shelled, one piece race seats. I just didnt know the correct term.
I tried out a few semi truck seats at the I-80 truck stop and would consider those. I do have onboard air so adding an air ride seat would not be the end of the world, but with my King suspension and 37s the van floats pretty good anyway so its not a super high priority to get air ride.
Shifting gears a bit, if I do decide to go with a set of Brides, who do you buy them from?