2015 Vista 31KE - Driver Seat issue

Kelm130 · 08-09-2020, 09:23 AM

Hi - I wanted to see if anyone has come up with a mod to where they can spin the drivers seat around all the way not just part of the way. The problem is there is no tilt on these seats and the back won't make it past the steering wheel.

Thanks
Ben

Morich · 08-09-2020, 09:50 AM

Humm! I think we have the same RV and my seat does tilt. WE find it tight but it does get there if we fuss in just the right way. Tilt the wheel up, tilt the seat back forward , with the arms swinging up and down. It also requires sliding the seat on the track.
So is it possible somebody has changed out the seat as we are about to do that due to very poor wear on the fake leather.
Look like this with lever for tilting and two buttons to pull for swivel and sliding.

Kelm130 · 08-10-2020, 10:36 AM

Well dang I went down to the motorhome and I do have the seat tilt lever. For some strange reason I thought it raised and lowered the seat. I was looking at the little picture on the handle wrong. I'll try spinning it around later today. Was on the roof putting on vent covers this morning.

Thanks!

Kelm130 · 08-10-2020, 10:37 AM

Morich - I'd also be interested in what out find for replacement seats. These are pretty worn also. We are just going to throw on some covers for now.

Morich · 08-10-2020, 11:48 AM

We've looked ours over and find it is less likely to be wear as much as just poor material as the places which are showing wear are spots where we really don't touch very often like the side of the seat cushion. It does flex as someone sets on it but that would not normally wear to the point of flaking off, I don't think.
So we have be doing a big search and finding little to replace the whole seats as they seem to come in a standard item which is high and then any "feature" like arms which fold comes extra on top of the high price! Looking at possibly more than a thousand per seat and with some question of exactly how they would work out on the details like turning fully.
At this point we have a local fellow who does furniture but not for RV, but he is tracking down a "friend " who might. Glad it is not a crisis because we are moving pretty slow on the idea.

Kelm130 · 08-10-2020, 06:06 PM

Do think a seat from something
like an old Journey would work? Might be able to find a used one somewhere from a salvage yard. Where have you found new seats so far?

Morich · 08-10-2020, 07:39 PM

We've just done an online search and do not feel we really found what we wanted at either. The idea of $2000 plus and unknown amount for extras is just not what we were looking for if we can get somebody to just redo the current seats. We did not find nearly as many listings as we had expected but did not do much more when we found the type of results which put us off so much.
Perhaps we are not too driven to do it at this point as we have it in kind of a "like to do" but not really required mindset.

Morich · 08-11-2020, 10:56 AM

FYI? We just got a quote from a local guy and going to take a closer look but he is saying $550 for each seat material included ( good Naugahide?), so beginning to sound in the right area. That will at least give us the thought that the basic seat is the same and will fit and function the same.

Kelm130 · 08-12-2020, 04:20 PM

Richard - If you go that route ask them if they would take pics while working on the seat. I've got a place nearby that I may go check with. Are you going to ask for more foam in the seat or arm rests?

Morich · 08-12-2020, 04:43 PM

We made the deal yesterday and will be taking them in for the work in a week or two. He seems to be one of those rare breeds who has tried to stop working but really doesn't feel it. He had a dual bypass a couple years a go and now is just trying not to get too booked up, so we left it open for him to call when he is ready. Looking at his "shop" is kind of an eye opener as he just works from a storage unit and it is not real impressive if one were looking for classy! But when I walked in and saw all the left over parts of RV seats that I knew what to spot, it is obvious he is well experienced and does really nice work. Just an old boy that has a bench and sewing machine over in the corner and a stack of sample fabrics. He is not at a point where he is looking for great fame and fortune but just my kind of guy. He may have the local car, truck and van market sewed up here in town from looking at the parts he had stacked around.
We are not looking at any changes on the seats as they are not really flattened or any signs of breaking down other than the Ultraleather seems to have been a bad fabric from the beginning. It looks more like a super thin layer of some form of plastic which breaks down as the fabric underneath folds.

Kelm130 · 08-13-2020, 06:16 AM

Sounds like you found a gem! Just curious what part of the country are you in? I might have to make a trip there for my seat covers lol. Let me know how it goes.

Morich · 08-13-2020, 10:46 AM

In the Austin , Tx suburbs and right now that is not a drive I recommend. Feels more like a toaster oven than anything else we can think of! The old boy doing the work has to be a tough guy just to stay in his shop but he did tell us he tries to quit before two when the sun hits the building!
Austin has already had 24 days of 100+ this year and lots more to go. Will try to give some updates as we get into things. Just as a help he tells me there are just four bolts to remove to get the seats out but two are up in a hole and he says some have trouble spotting them but it's pretty obvious once I looked and he is certainly in the know on the seat! When he can tell me where the bolts are without looking, I'm thinking he knows the job!

Kelm130 · 08-14-2020, 06:08 AM

Yeah that’s a bit far and hot lol. We’re near Knoxville TN. When I have time I’ll check with my local shop. They have been around for awhile. Well good luck and Send pics when he’s done.

Morich · 08-14-2020, 08:07 AM

Actually have hopes for a Crossville/Cooksville trip later in the year but on hold while a daughter is going through chemo, so we are locked down solid, even to the point of not sending kids to public school.
Got some cool & green hills & lakes to share, I hope? WE sure miss that part!

Kelm130 · 08-15-2020, 01:12 PM

Well we got seat covers for now they look decent and didn’t cost a lot. However when working on the drivers seat I noticed a cable laying on the floor. It looked like a 2 or 3 prong connector with the cable wrapped in black plastic. Should this be connected somewhere under the seat? Or is it power option for seats with power?

We used to have an RV lot in crossville. Nice area With low cost of living.

Morich · 08-15-2020, 02:02 PM

We also have the loose plug and assume it is an option for power seat of some sort. On looking at areas we might like to try again, we have been North-South through and East -West but never really spent any time as we have always been going "somewhere" on a schedule, the SE corner of TN looks like a place we should look over a lot more carefully-- if and when we do get back out again.
We are pretty much in a bind for travel right now as our son in law is a special ed teacher and that pretty well requires him to do in person teaching and we fully expect him to be infected with the virus and with the daughter on chemo, he will then need to be separated from her as much as possible, so the motorhome may be his house for some time. Just a bad situation all around as that leaves a granddaughter who is trying to start college classes and likely to need transport as well as a grandson in junior high which is undecided as to when and how he is going to school.
So we are just standing ready to fill whatever need as it shows up and we certainly don't expect it to all be over any time soon!
I ran some basic figures and looked at what a "best case" might be IF there was a shot and it did actually produce a long term immunity and the numbers are just out of the world for getting progress soon.
If we could line up and shoot military style and get a million people per day, it still takes more like a year from the time we start shooting! 328 million plus for population!
And that plan really has lots of IF involved with it!

jbrattain · 08-16-2020, 08:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kelm130

Morich - I'd also be interested in what out find for replacement seats. These are pretty worn also. We are just going to throw on some covers for now.

Replaced the seats on my previous motor home. Got them on line from Shop4seats. Excellent materials and workmanship. They will send you fabric and leather samples. Great people to work with. You can literally custom order the style, fabric, color, leather, padding, seat heat, recline, etc. Reasonable prices.

Morich · 09-09-2020, 12:39 PM

We are finally getting down to serious on the redo of our seats and taking them in Monday for the fellow to start, so I thought it might help for other folks to see how little effort it takes to remove these seats on our 2015 Vista. It looks really complex with three adjustments involved but those turn out to be simple!
First a look at why we need to redo as it shows the material is not wearing in the normal fashion where we set on them but simply flaking off in places where it bends when we use the seat. This is the side of the seat, rather than what we sit on but it does fold as we use the seat. The armrests which normally get lots of wear are still good.
We found there are only four reasonably small 7/16 inch bolts holding ti to the mounts on the floor. They were easy to spot for two but the other two are set up into a B"eam and it does take a rather and socket to get up into them. Four bolts, with four holes!!! They are a bit tight but nothing a 3.8 rachet was not up to but being my age/condition, I often use a cheater bar.
The two concerns I had when starting were actually not big items. One was what the adjustment cables might involve and that's just one simple clip to remove and the other was the thought of how to get my old tired body wrapped around to get to those four bolts.

Two big hints? The chair swivels and you can lay in the floor and bring the bolts around to you much easier than warping your body to get around to them.

Also it fits the door better when you recline the seat back!
Go for it, if it fits your needs.

John Locke · 09-09-2020, 10:45 PM

Wow, that material is really poor quality. Seems I heard about that from others for a particular year. Winnebago got a bad batch of material that didn't hold up. That's really too bad that it's flaking away like that. Did you call Winnebago to discuss this? I'm sure they know about it. Seems I heard they recommend a shop that has the seat cover patterns to make new covers out of good material for you to install, minimizing cost. It's worth a call, it might be cheaper.

My 2018 Vista 32YE has 6 bolts holding the seats to the pedestals. The rear bolts are hidden in a hole, as mentioned by the old Austin upholstery guy. My problem was comfort, the seat bottom was too flat, not raised in the front enough to support the legs. My 20yr old Fleetwood Flexsteel seats had a better angle, making them more comfortable for long hauls. So I matched the old Flexsteel seat surface angle by putting 4 thick washers on the front seat bolts in my Vista, and 2 washers on the middle two bolts, while the rear bolt got none. This jacked up the front of the seat to be more comfortable, distributing the body weight more evenly across the seat, instead of all the weight being on the rear of the seat. I'm not sure if all Winnebagos are like that, but I found it interesting how much difference just 1/4" of height on the front of the seat can change the comfort for long hauls so much.

Morich · 09-10-2020, 08:10 AM

We don't find any problems with the seat shape, etc. but we are short people which may make the leg distance fit us better? I get more problems with the mental part of driving long stretches more than the seat. I drive for a while, she drives some but while she drives, I'm always looking for a good excuse to stop!