AliB Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 We are 10 months into owning our first MH. Having spent ages looking at and trying various makes and layouts we overlooked one important feature. The comfort of the rear passenger seats. The construction is basically a wooden bench and vertical backrest with a foam cushion on each. Apart from the lack of shock absorbing and subsequent comfort there is no restriction of side-to-side movement. Sitting in the rear window seat and leaning against the wall to try and anchor oneself is impossible as the window blind frame intrudes. Sitting in the aisle seat is worse as you are bobbed about from side to side. So much so that my son fells sick very quickly when travelling in this position. Furthermore the seat height from the floor is too great to allow adequate purchase of your feet to stabilise and restrict side-to-side movement. Neither my son or wife are short in stature, both being over 5ft 6in., but both dread choosing the rear seat straw. I would be grateful for any suggestions and advise, I am sure this problem is not unique to Swift as it appears to be built to similar designs to other makes. Is it possible to fit an armrest to the rear aisle seats? Fitting an extra cushion to the side of the window seat to cover the blind frame would probably push the occupant too far over toward the centre causing the seatbelt to be in the wrong position. The original Fiat Ducato vans have 3 seats in the front. Is it possible retro-fit these seats. (possible seat belt safety approvals problems). I should be able to raise the floor in the rear seat/dinette which will help. I do all the driving and have no complaints. The vehicle really does exhibit near car-like driving characteristics. However, if the family are uncomfortable then I will be out numbered and the vehicle heading for the classifieds and our trusty frame tent extracted from the loft. Motorhome ownership has not been easy going so far, mainly due to poor PDI from the supplying dealer. However, Swift were very good in backing me when I refused to accept the quality of the “fixes” from the dealer. So please help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 I can't decide whether you're saying the seating is too soft of too hard? If too hard you will 'bobble' about like a pea on a drum, if too soft then it will give no support and again will allow you to 'wallow' from side to side instead. It may help if the person sitting had a large flatish cushion (or old pillow) to sit on to overcome this. As for the floor level, I use a typists foot rest in the front our our motorhome to put my feet on when we're travelling any distance as the seat is just a smidgen too high - they are cheap, light and can be removed quickly when necessary. Just make sure that they can't slip around (if you have a 'vinyl' floor rather than use carpets put some rubber stick-on pads underneath to keep it in place. You'll find that just this one thing should really help with the 'lolling' around on the seat problem and you may then not need to go to the other extreme of fitting an arm rest. I am sure it would be fairly easy to fit an arm of some sort to the inside seat, but without being able to see the van close up though I can't offer an exact solution (the Swift website gives very few pictures) but I've managed to find a couple of adverts so am working from the images on them. Possible solutions: 1) Make a side panel with a padded arm rest on top which will slot into the gap between the base cushion and the bed extension pullout. There seems to be a lip to butt it up to. If you put a similar lip on the side of the back of the seat (only do this is you have the skills to make a good job of it though so it doesn't spoil it) this should hold it nicely in place so it doesn't waggle assuming you make it a nice tight fit. 2) Look around to see if you can adapt something you can buy off the shelf or from another piece of furniture, eg an arm of an old wooden chair? If not, I find that you can usually find something cheaply enough from a car boot sale, or one of the cheaper furniture stores like Ikea. 3) Get the occupant to sit nearest the window and make a large fairly well stuffed bolster cushion to place next to them so that he/she can rest their arm on it and therefore give him/herself support/stability. In all honesty I wouldn't go down the route of putting in a front bench seat, I think you will find it a bigger problem than you currently have as you would then only be able to access the rear by getting out and going in the habitation door ... Just make sure whatever you do isn't 'detrimental' to the van just in case you decide to sell, now or in the future. Ooops, sorry, forgot to say 'Hi' and 'Welcome to the mad house'! :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliB Posted June 4, 2009 Author Share Posted June 4, 2009 Thanks, Mel B, for taking the time to research the layout of the vehicle and post a detailed reply. I've taken the arm off my office chair and will make a temporary fitment this weekend. If it solves the problems the Mark 2 version can be made to a better standard. Sensible advise to make sure any modifications can be removed with little or no trace. If the problems are solved we are heading for the Harz mountains, Germany in Aug. I can't wait! AliB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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