Thinking well ahead so I can keep an eye out, where would I look for old captains chairs? What boneyards can anyone recommend, especially around the western states of the country?
Is that where I could find some decent leather chairs?
What is the market price for them? I don't think I can afford brand new Flexsteels right now.
-Dave
Dave;
get ahold of songman he had a new one he wanted to get rid of.
Dave, take a look at www.discountrvfurniture.com
Auto wrecking yards, 1990 +- a few years, Chrysler New Yorker seats. Usually around $60 per pair, fully self contained electric, leather in 5-6 colors, and by far the most comfortable seats I've ever ridden in. I have two in my Crown and two in my Bluebird, recommended originally by Fred Hobe. Best deal going for amazing seats and you won't regret it. Far more comfy than any captains chair I've driven in...
Dave, I got a pair from a conversion van. But I did not want leather. The set I found was a good color for me, 40.00 each. Just another idea. Tom Y
Like Tom, I got mine from a junk yard. I found that if I called them 'captains chairs', nobody knew what I was talking about. If I called them 'those nice seats from a custom van', they knew exactly what I wanted. I got a decent pair, with the pedestals, removed from the van and loaded into my truck for $100. I got the rear-most pair, as they were the least worn.
David
Hey Dave,
Here are the ones I have that Don mentioned. They have never been installed, even though they are about 4-5 years old. Unfortunately I only have the one seat and the J-lounge. I just can't put white leather in my bus. I'll have kids and cats on the road with me.
Not sure if it is something you'd be interested in, but there they are.
Dale
Some great ideas here. I remembered seeing something about the New Yorker seats but forgot all about it.
I've seen some of those Discount RV furniture seats. I seem to recall someone on Ebay having some of the Knight chairs available but I was wondering if the quality was any good. Does anyone have any of the stuff they sell?
Message sent to Songman.
-Dave
You can find some great deals on seats at salvage yards, if you choose to get a set from a conversion van, get them from the center part of the van, the ones in the front only slide back and forth, the ones in the center get less use and swivel, most of them recline also.
I bought a pair of Chrysler MPV seats off eBay; as well as all the usual movements that such seats do you can also fold the backs down onto the squab to make a table - while I don't want to use them as tables, I realised that using this feature enabled me to swivel the driver's seat around without it hitting the steering wheel - so when I am parked up the drivers seat can face backwards and be used as part of the motorhome seating - I don't think I have seen this done before, although I know that many coaches have the drivers seat on a lower level than the rest of the floor so it wouldn't be practical anyway
Jeremy
Oops! I did forget the link, didn't I? Good thing you guys are smarter than I am.
http://rts-bus.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=17
I'll respond to your messages in a bit.
Thanks.
Used luxury automotive electric seats ARE the way to go. Yeah, go to your local friendly wrecking yard and tell them you brought $money$ and you want some fancy seats.
Another way to go would be to go to your local, friendly, heavy truck wrecking yard, state the same statement and ask to see all the take out excellent or new condition....
....heavy over-the-road truckers seats that also adjust all sorts of ways, plus also usually but not always need air pressure to hook them up properly, but may be $CHEAP$ also.
I myself am looking at used sofas at the used furniture store as I am on a budget and the sofas can be slept upon as well as sat upon doing thus double duty.
Only problem is, that like a lot of others, I find it uncomfortable to try to sit sideways inside a bus or coach while running down the road. I get car sick. Oh well.
The problem with luxury automotive seats, at least for me, is the lack of armrests. Some people may not care about that but I plan to spend a lot of time in that driver's seat one of these days so I want a place to rest my arms.
I found that driving our Eagle with "Armstrong steering" I have to keep both hands on the wheel. Also the fact I have a four speed crash box makes the armrest on the right a problem.
Now if I had power steering and and Allison I might think differently! ;D ;D
Paul
Good observation, Paul. I had never thought about how it would be with a manual transmission.
I have two used captain chairs. Dark blue cloth in very good shape with arm rests. larrydbaker@aim.com In Michigan Larry 4106
Armrests are an important feature for me as well - those cars that have seats without armrests invariably have something else that is designed for you to rest your arms on instead - usually the door trim / handle on one side, and a centre cubby box of some description on the other side. There is unlikely to be anything equivalent in a bus, so having a seat without armrests would be unthinkable for me. The armrests invariably fold up to be out of the way when not required, or if they were found to be in the way when frequent gear changes are required.
Jeremy