Seat Foam Replacement

[sergechronos]

Wondering if anyone on here has replaced the foam cushioning in their seats themselves, or have most people sent it out to an interior shop to redo it?

Looking at fixing up the interior a bit, and where the side bolster is at it is of course torn up. Figure since I'll have to add cushioning there, perhaps I may get blocks of a quality foam (or a memory foam) and carve new cushions out of it to replace it before putting new skins on it.

[green-lantern]

I know some people add foam when they replace the covers but I'm not sure I've ever seen/heard anybody replacing all of it.

Edit: I'm in the same boat though, I need to do something with mine.

[CoreyB]

I added some foam to my bolster, but thats about it. Here is a little write up I did on changing out the covers. http://www.3sgto.org/f20/diy-seat-skins-9329.html

[sergechronos]

I know some people add foam when they replace the covers but I'm not sure I've ever seen/heard anybody replacing all of it.

Edit: I'm in the same boat though, I need to do something with mine.

You can buy blocks of foam, generally like 24"x82" or 36"x82" with differing thickness. Probably would run a couple hundred for the blocks, (Figure a 36"x82"x4" is my estimate per seat. Haven't been able to pick my car up yet to measure.)
I'll try calling some local interior shops and asking them what it would cost for them to do new foam, or what it would cost to buy foam direct from them.

I think that were someone to come up with the dimensions and buy a massive bulk order of foam and cut it could probably turn a decent profit on it. I'll see what I can find out some prices from local shops. If I don't pick the car up this weekend, I may swing by the shop and just pick up the passenger seat to try to get some measurements and estimates.

[green-lantern]

It might not be worth doing all new foam. After seat covers and foam you might be able to buy some slick new seats. I’d be interested in how much it would cost. I’d say it could be a big PITA to cut it all to fit also. If somebody was offering new foam I’m sure it would sell though.

[sergechronos]

For most folks their passenger seat is usually fine and it's the driver seat that is shot. And most seat covers do come with 1/4-1/2 inch of foam on the inside do they not? So it'd probably be around 100ish for just the foam for a driver seat. I do agree thought that after covers (300-400) and new foam (as said roughly 100 bucks) you could buy another set of front seats used, but they would be subject to the same problems later.

The other side of it too though is that foam breaks down over time. Foam in my seats is almost as old as I am, have to imagine getting a nice new cushion of foam would make a huge difference. If nothing else, you could probably get away with a thinner bit of fresh foam on top and glue it onto the lower layer, and carve it to fit that bolster that always gets torn up for probably 40-50 bucks.

Based on measurements from a Corbeau A4 wide (should be fairly close in size to the factory seats) Bottom is 20wx22l, not sure on depth. Top is 36x22.5, again not sure on depth. I think it can't be more than a few inches. But even at 6" thickness for the foam (again, pretty sure this is total overkill), you can get 82x24 for 85 bucks. That'd be sufficient to basically do 1 and a half seats. (2 bottoms, 1 top.) At a more probably 3" thickness that'd be $45 and give you for sure a seat with around 20 inches of left over material if some areas are thicket than 3". So you could get the foam for both seats for 90 bucks if you're willing to do it yourself. Again though, this is based off of a Corbeau A4 Wide and not our seats. If somebody could measure the width at the widest part for the top and the bottom, the length of the top and the bottom and the thickness we could get a much more definite answer.

[green-lantern]

The other side of it too though is that foam breaks down over time. Foam in my seats is almost as old as I am, have to imagine getting a nice new cushion of foam would make a huge difference. If nothing else, you could probably get away with a thinner bit of fresh foam on top and glue it onto the lower layer, and carve it to fit that bolster that always gets torn up for probably 40-50 bucks.



I'm thinking that's the best route but if you got a lot of time it would be nice to have all of it new.

[IPD]

i'm down for the idea. i wouldn't use generic foam though. i'd want something with a high degree of resilience--even with temperature extremes. i'd also like it cushier than stock.

...it has crossed my mind that it might be "cool" (literally) to do an aeron version of our seats, where you are sitting on tensile nylon webbing, no cushioning. i've always found office chairs like that to be fairly comfortable.

[sergechronos]

Generally cushier means less dense foam, denser foam will usually mean it's going to kind of hug you (if that makes sense.) Best of both worlds is a memory foam option, although that will be about double the cost per sq ft I think. One thing to remember is that seat foam will wear out and compress over time naturally, even just by you sitting in it. So the older your seats are, the more of an improvement just about new foam will provide you with. You could probably do a high density foam for the first couple inches as a base layer, then put a 1-2" layer of memory foam on top and achieve similar results. I mean really, it's probably easier than doing the actual leather replacement since you just make basic templates from your old foam then cut with a carving knife and probably use some adhesive glue to secure some stuff. Without an extra seat here for me to tear apart and look into though, I can't say for sure. Also would be a good opportunity for anyone looking to add seat heaters, or maybe cut some kind of duct work for fans for their butt and back (depending on where in the country you live.

After some looking into it: Cost of approximately 22x80x2 of memory foam is about 180 bucks. So literally more than double the cost of a standard high density foam. Layering memory foam on top of the high density would seem to be the most cost effective way to achieve the feel.