# German Van seats uncomfortable to sit on night



## byjingo

Hi,

I have a 2003 Dethleffs Globetrotter Advantage which is a fantastic van however the dinette and bench seats are each very flat and upright and sitting in them through the night can be quite uncomfortable. The flat cushions do convert to make a vey comfortable bed for the kids but sitting in them can be quiet uncomforable compared to modern british built vans that my friends have and my wife is fed up of them now.

Has anyone re-upholstered for similar reasons and had any success to report? Has anyone come up with a conversion to make the upright seating position more suitable for lounging on? Can anyone reccomend a more pliant foam that is comfortable to sit on but makes a good bed too as the current ones are quite firm and unyielding as seats but acceptable as beds.

Thanks in advance for your advice and if possible photo's

Steve


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## GEMMY

We sit in the reversed driver and passenger seats that are reclinable. The bench seats are for the dog, two cats, and our feet. No animal has complained so far. :wink: 

tony


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## aldra

WE always found the same in caravans

Now we use the reversed front seats as there is only two of us

but that doesn't help with your query

Do you think memory foam would help??

Aldra


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## 747

I modified one side of the double dinette to make 2 individual reclining seats for when we watch TV.

Details here.

http://www.motorhomefacts.com/ftoptitle-119641-high-density-foam-which-is-best.html


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## 113016

Maybe, they are not as cottagey, but, usually, they don't fall apart and have water ingress problems  
Very functional vehicles


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## 747

Grath said:


> Maybe, they are not as cottagey, but, usually, they don't fall apart and have water ingress problems
> Very functional vehicles


Shush Grath. :roll:

I have a small water ingress problem on my Burstner (in the garage). :?


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## 113016

747 said:


> Grath said:
> 
> 
> 
> Maybe, they are not as cottagey, but, usually, they don't fall apart and have water ingress problems
> Very functional vehicles
> 
> 
> 
> Shush Grath. :roll:
> 
> I have a small water ingress problem on my Burstner (in the garage). :?
Click to expand...

Drill a hole in the bottom to let it out


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## 747

Good thinking Batman. :roll:


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## 113016

I wonder, if my reply could be classed as a stupid reply :?: :lol:


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## aldra

Well I certainly think so Grath

Go to the back of the class :lol: :lol: 

Aldra


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## bigtwin

Hopefully not a stupid response but how does a problem with a particular brand of motorhome indicate a general issue with german vehicles? 8O

One or the reasons we don't have a dinette layout is because they are not suited to relaxing in/on.


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## byjingo

Point taken bigtwin, it's just that the german vans do seem to put function first above form, but I am generalising there. Don't get me wrong, I love mine, I've never seen another with anything approaching the amount of worksurface, room and storage space I have in mine.

It's just that it's not that great to sit in for a long time. That's not a problem for me as I use it to go to sailing events in and am out most of the day. But when it's cold out, my wife sit's in it with the dog most of the day relaxing but can't relax that much as she get's a numb bum. Unfortunately, whilst the forward cab seats do have frames that would allow them to turn, the saloon is higher than the cab so you can't physically do it and therefore have to use the dinette seats.

Converting to singles that can be reclined a bit may be a good idea but doesn't it make the cushions too small to make up the bed?

Steve


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## GEMMY

If the cab is lower than the saloon.................the manufacturers normally have height risers fitted to the front seats to enable turns

tony


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## 747

We don't need to make up the dinette bed and have stored the original cushions in the house. if you have the storage space, it is only a few seconds work to swop them over.

My new seats drop into the frame and have 2 positions, upright and tilted. There are 2 wooden bars on the underside to dictate which position.

By the way, our cab is lower than the habitation floor level due to having the double floor arrangement. Yours sounds the same so it is worth checking something you might have missed.  I had our van for more than a year before I found that the passenger seat has a swivel fitted. I don't know why because you can only turn the seat 90 degrees inward. Since I found out, I sometimes swivel it and sit in the cab doing puzzles while the wife watches her Soaps. Have a look, you might get a nice surprise. :lol:


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## byjingo

Unfortunately the seats can't turn (even if they were height adjustable) because of the dinette and bench seats behind.

Steve


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## Stanner

You have hit head on one of the compromises that motorhome converters/designers have to try and reconcile.

Do you want a comfortable seat for a few (or more) hours a day or do you want to sleep comfortably. I don't think you can have it both ways as a comfortable sculptured seat makes for an uncomfortable sculptured bed.


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## 747

byjingo said:


> Unfortunately the seats can't turn (even if they were height adjustable) because of the dinette and bench seats behind.
> 
> Steve


Have you checked for a swivel? Mine sounds exactly the same Continental layout as yours yet I have one swivel base.


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## sideways

I cant help you with the rake and recline of your seats but i can tell you we had a german van with hard seats, as we like a hard bed we opted to have a 1"topper of reflex foam glued on to all the seats and backrests and new covers made, it was a great success and the difference in comfort was amazing, just make sure the backrests wont be higher than the bottom of your windows with the added height on the base cushions if you try this idea.


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## leseduts

We had our seat bases changed to a softer foam not long after we bought the MH. It was an expense that we could have done without, but the original seats were very hard.
Biggest problem is what to do with the original foam it seems a shame to throw it away.


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## peaky

we too had a burstner van ,our first one and had to sit at the dinette and yes very uncomfortable, sore backs and numb behinds only the driver seat swiveled so we took it in turns !! but it did spoil it got a different van and layout now but the toppers are a good idea i put them on the over cab bed and what a difference as stated.


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## camallison

I think it must be a German thing - even the seats in Audi and Mercedes cars are hard. Maybe they have more "personal" padding.

The thin layer of topper foam is probably the best idea as it tends to mould to the sitters shape and give better support.

Colin


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## wakk44

We use the swivel cab seats which are very comfortable for night time(and day time)use and then the fixed bed for sleeping which is also very comfortable.

In our previous truck the contoured seats were used to make up the double bed which made it a bit lumpy.However we also had some memory foam cut to shape for the double bed and that made a big difference to our sleeping comfort.Downside was that it was rather bulky for storage,we used to put it in the luton area along with all the other items we couldn't find a spot for. :roll:


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## byjingo

Thanks for the replies so far - it seems I am not the only one to find these seats uncomfortable to sit on for any period of time. Is there anyone out there that has changed the foam in the seats with any success and if so what grade of foam was used and where's best to purchase it from? Seem to remember some foam is colour coded according to firmness - which would you suggest?

We changed the overcab bed which is a huge king size bed for a memory foam mattress and that is absolutely fantastic now. Is it possible to get the same sort of foam cut to size for these cushions? If so, details of dealers in the North West (Ceshire) area would be much appreciated.

Cheers

Steve


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## Gretchibald

We also have a German van, it's old and in good nick but you're right , the bench seats are uncomfortable to lounge in, it's not so much that they are hard but mainly because the seat area is not wide enough and the back is too upright.
The problem was partly solved by using a fold up stool ( wife uses it to access the high cupboards ) with a big cushion on it as a footstool.


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