Thinking of changing out Captains chairs

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LspTpr

LspTpr

Active member
Joined
Apr 30, 2009
Posts
40
Location
Marrero, La.
DW and I went to RV show this weekend just to look and see.  Sat in a couple of RV's and realized I don't like the seats in my 2003 Winne UA as much as I thought.  My seats are very wide which I don't care much for but can handle.  But sitting in the new ones just had so much more comfort and DW really wants a legrest on hers.  I am assuming that I can buy the seat and just change out on the pedestal.  Is this correct or will I need to buy a new 6-way as well?  Also, living in Lower La., any recommendations on companies would be appreciated.
 
Here's a blog entry of us getting our chairs replaced in Elkhart, IN at Bradd and Hall.  They could reuse our 6-way bases, and I also wanted an electric leg rest for the copilot chair.

The lumbar support in our original seats were not positioned correctly and we finally got tired enough of them we spent quite a few bucks on new ones.

I recommend you find an RV furniture dealer somewhere and actually sit in various models - they all feel a little different.  Bradd and Hall had to order the chairs (Flexsteel), but we got to choose our fabric (we didn't want Ultraleather.)  Check out the Flexsteel and Villa websites for dealers close to you.
 
Larry

I will be interested in knowing what you find out, and will check out John's blog pics.  I have no complaints about the driver chair, but the DW has pretty much quit sitting in the co-pilot chair. Her first compaint was no pop-up foot rest (and her feet won't reach the floor even with the step cover out!!). Then she said she wanted a wider chair after seeing one in another coach, so the dog that was always in her lap would have room to lie beside her.  My OEM seats are Villa. I tried to contact them via email but never got a response.  Then we got a second dog to compete for lap space. Now she just rides on the couch and the dogs have plenty of room beside her.
 
Bradd and Hall was recommended to me by a friend and am reviewing their site.  My fear is i liked all the seats better than what I have, both Flexstel and Villa.  I could find the brand name on seats but couldn't find a model and the salesman had no idea on models either.  I am fearful of ordering the wrong seat model and haven't seen any dealers in the New Orleans area where i can go sit and say "that's it, lets put it in".  Don't have any long trips planned for awhile so will keep looking around cause don't know what I would do with the old ones ( I'm not proficient with the EBAY thing).  Thanks for info.  AFCHAP, my DW has same complaint on feet not reaching floor and I have complaint of her feet up on the edge of the dash, lol
 
I would be extremely leery about buying those chairs without first trying them out.  We probably sat in a dozen different ones and they were all quite a bit different from each other. 

The guy at Bradd and Hall said there is little if any value in the old chairs.  Talked to an Elkhart RV salvage store and the only way they would want them was if they were in perfect condition. 

Our old ones wound up in the dumpster.
 
When I was looking for new seats I went to a dealer and a RV show and sat in lots of seats, I then picked up the skirts of the ones I liked and wrote down the model and mfg. info found on the tags attached to the seat ( do not remove under penalty of death). The model number will most likely be made for the coach mfg. or at least they get their own number for the seat, so you have to call the coach builder and get a price for the part number you got from the seat. I called Coachman and they contacted the mfg and gave me a price, wow it was high. I guess this is the price of having a happy hinny! :D
 
Over here in the Great NW near seattle I brought my chair into Stitch Rich (who is a custom fabric and designs custom MX seats).I will be putting in the Gel, and adding more flange on the outside of the seat. Pretty cool to see him cut up the foam and reupholster. All said in done WAY CHEAPER then a new seat...Just a thought..Find a shop that can work on car seats...they can trim it down as well...Oh yea..and add heat if you need it!
 
When in the market for Aftermarket Replacement seats for your Class A or Class C motorhome, there are a few things to know going in.

First, in most cases, chairs originally put in your coach are made specifically to the manufacturers specifications.  As such, Winnebago may contact Flexsteel and request custom seats to be made for a specific style of motorhome.  When replacing those seats, Flexsteel offers a select number of "Aftermarket Seats" designed specific to your style of motorhome.

No matter which manufacturer you choose, the pedestal will always remain the same.  The 6-way power mentioned earlier is a detachable part which resides generally below the frame of the chair.  The chair thus sits on a mechanism that moves forward and back - thus part of the 6 way components.  If you have 6 way power already, you just need the chair replacement.  If you don't, you will need electrical to be run to the seating area if it is something you are considering.

Flexsteel's complete Aftermarket line is either Motorhome or Trailer specific.  Each of the catalogs and the Fabric samples are conveniently displayed on the following page: http://www.getyourkicksrv.com/products/furniture/furniture.htm.

More important than your current model number is the Height, Width, and Depth of your current chairs.  Note them before looking at the various options, as the limitations your area has will determine which model will work for you.  If you need help determining how to measure the seat, the following link is a PDF document explaining how: http://www.flexsteel.com/showFile.do?fileId=1181.
 
Route 66 RV said:
No matter which manufacturer you choose, the pedestal will always remain the same
Click to expand...
That's not what Bradd and Hall (Elkhart, IN) told me when we were in their showroom shopping for new captain chairs.  They wanted to look at our 6-way powered base to be certain it would be compatible with the Flexsteel chairs we selected.  I have no idea of the chair nuisances and don't understand what bases would be or would not be compatible, but it certainly was on their checklist before we placed our order.
 
John,
I would assume that after they investigated the matter, the pedestal you had was fine. 

When we first got into the Flexsteel Furniture business, it was a concern for my company as well, but we have been assured by Flexsteel that there has been a concerted effort made on the part of manufacturers to streamline the bolt holes for all pedestals.  As a result, Flexsteel, Villa, and other manufacturers can more easily accommodate a wider range of customers, without losing sales on account of a signature design.

The only exception to this would be if you wanted to somehow alter the placement of the chair to accommodate a bigger seat (i.e., if the depth of the chair you want is deeper than the original seat, and by using the current pedestal's placement, your new chair would infringe your ability to steer the RV). In this case, the pedestal could be moved back a few inches to accommodate the new size, but the bolts would be removed from below the subfloor, new holes would be drilled, and the bolts would be re-attached to the same pedestal.  Ultimately, the same original pedestal could be removed and replaced.

As a precaution, sure it's a good idea to run through such a checklist, but a new pedestal is generally a good up-sell for the retailer and seldom necessary.

 
Route 66 RV said:
I would assume that after they investigated the matter, but the pedestal you had was fine. 
Click to expand...

Yup - we were good with the old bases.  Every time I sit in our new (as of a couple of years ago) chairs - it's a w-o-w experience.
 
thanks for the info.  I was going to look at having the seats redone but what i dont like the most is the width.  The seats are to wide for my body frame and i have to stick my elbows way out to use the armrests.  Going to be finding myself some seats that aren't as wide.
 
I was reading this thread and it has some good information in it with links.

What I was wondering is this:

We LIKE our captain's seats but it's a 1998 MH and the DW REALLY wants to have leather seats, instead of the cloth that we currently have. We were looking at several online companies and noticed a BIG difference in prices and I've been around enough to know that if it looks too good....

My question to everyone who had changed their chairs is this:

1. Do you do it yourself or did you have your dealer install them? If you DID it yourself could you describe the process as easy, hard or I'll never do THAT again.

2. Has anyone ever taken their cloth seats to a local shop to have it changed/redone in leather?

3. Finally if anyone has a, 'don't buy from XXXX' story.....it's just nice not to have to reinvent the wheel.

Thanks
 
Hi,

We happened to be in Indiana and wanted to change out seating (rockers, not the front seating) and toured several of the resellers. They had a great selection of new captains chairs (overruns or??), usually in pairs, and you could try them out to your hearts content. The kicker is that they were less than Half the cost of the same seats at the retail outlets.

We wound up buying two and setting them on rocker/swivel bases ($25 each as I recall) and we use them for recliners in place of the original love seat. The total for both chairs, bases and hardware was right at $1,100.

You might plan a trip to Indiana  ;D


Edit by John: fixed the grin emoticon

Ernie
 
Holy thread revival Batman!  ;)

TheLuckys said:
1. Do you do it yourself or did you have your dealer install them? If you DID it yourself could you describe the process as easy, hard or I'll never do THAT again.
Click to expand...

Bradd & Hall in Elkhart installed our new chairs - money well spent.  I recently had to remove the copilot chair when we installed a new fridge and that boy was heavy and difficult to handle since we had to remove the base/chair combo.  If you can keep the base, then the weight would be significantly less, but still a handful.

2. Has anyone ever taken their cloth seats to a local shop to have it changed/redone in leather?
Click to expand...

You are looking at some big bucks - upholstery labor is expensive and leather will add $$$ to the bill (I have a good buddy that was in the business for several years).  Call a couple of shops and ask them.

3. Finally if anyone has a, 'don't buy from XXXX' story
Click to expand...

On an opposite tack, I can without reservation recommend Bradd & Hall.

Regarding Ernie's surplus shop idea - I looked at all of the Elkhart surplus dealers (and I mean all) three or four years ago and didn't see any chairs that we wanted.  Their inventory is always changing so it appears Ernie got lucky.

 
We too bought replacement captain's chairs from Bradd & Hall and installed them with the help of a friend.  The driver's seat has a powered pedestal and the passenger's is not.  Neither was difficult, just pay attention to how the control cables connect.  We did have to cut out for the power controls, but that was not difficult either.
 
John Canfield said:
Holy thread revival Batman!  ;)

Bradd & Hall in Elkhart installed our new chairs - money well spent.  I recently had to remove the copilot chair when we installed a new fridge and that boy was heavy and difficult to handle since we had to remove the base/chair combo.  If you can keep the base, then the weight would be significantly less, but still a handful.
Click to expand...

Don't they say good things don't die they just go away for awhile?  :D

Thanks for the tips about Bradd & Hall.
 
I also appreciate the info. The fabric on our captain's chairs is falling apart and I thought of getting them reupholstered. Wondering which would be cheaper, replace of recover?

Wendy
 
Wendy,

It depends if the chairs are comfortable or not.  We replaced ours because they weren't comfortable, if they had been I might have recovered them myself.
 
They are comfortable. I'd recover them myself if I had the slightest idea how. Where are going to be in October/November ?  :)

Wendy
 
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