Discount van & truck topic again

[Paladin]

I'm looking at Discount van & truck ( http://www.discountvantruck.com/ ) captains chairs again because I cannot afford Flexsteels and can't find any good used ones for decent prices and especially anywhere near me.
I know this has come up over the years, for those who have them, what model does everyone have, how long have you had them now and how have they held up? Would you recommend them still? I can't decide which would give best support without being overly hard or soft and especially years down the road.

-Dave

[bruceknee]

I have the Venture model, nice seats, 4 years old now and still like new

[Tenor]

I pulled mine from a super clean Chevy Astro Van.  I had to make adapter plates to line the chairs with the standard RV swivel bases.  I like them because the fit us short people very well.  They are one of the few vans it seems to still have had arm rests on both sides.  FWIW...

Good luck!

Glenn

[Ed Hackenbruch]

I have an old set of Flexsteel seats that i replaced in my bus that are in good shape, just worn some. Not leather but the price is right.....free!  When we get to Yuma in a few weeks i can take a photo and send it to you. I think that we will probably  go thru SLC on our way to WA. next spring or maybe we can find someone headed that way sooner if you want them.

[happycamperbrat]

Personally I think you are better off without leather because it is hot and dries out without a lot of care, especially in the desert. I got seats out of my Ford Jamboree that I retired. If on a tight budget you can get seats out of trailers and motorhomes that have been in wrecks at the junk yard or for sale in the paper for very inexpensively. Reupholster them and fatten them up if need be so they fit in with your decor.

[Ed Hackenbruch]

Our replacement seats are ultraleather and are a lot better than real leather.

[happycamperbrat]

Good goin Ed!! And you cant beat the price!!

[Paladin]

I have an old set of Flexsteel seats that i replaced in my bus that are in good shape, just worn some. Not leather but the price is right.....free!  When we get to Yuma in a few weeks i can take a photo and send it to you. I think that we will probably  go thru SLC on our way to WA. next spring or maybe we can find someone headed that way sooner if you want them.

I could be very interested in that deal. I doubt I'd be ordering anything any sooner than 3 weeks or possibly spring time though I don't really want to wait quite that long though in reality probably will do it anyway. Maybe if nobody it transiting through here I could drive there or meet at least part way sometime.  I could recover them in ultraleather or cloth so if the frames are good then I'm probably good to go.

I don't really want leather, my Navigator leather seats are wearing out and irritating me, ultraleather or cloth if the way I plan to go.

-Dave

[Sam 4106]

I laugh when you talk about saving money by getting some worn out chairs and reupholstering them. Have you priced upholstery material lately? We had the the two chairs and sofa from our bus done last spring and the upholstery material started at $30/yard and went up from there to over $200/yard. My wife had found some material at Gamblers RV Surplus in Quartzsite, AZ for $3/yard last winter. The upholstery lady was willing to use it but charged $150 extra to offset the profit she didn't make on selling us material. My wife had bought 25 yards of material and there were only a few scraps left. She estimated it took 5 yards per chair and 15 yards for the sofa. It may take less material with a solid color fabric than with the patterned fabric we had. The labor was $200/chair and $500 for the sofa. Those were the cheapest prices we could find in our area. The highest cost place was $2500 labor for the three pieces and he wouldn't use our material. So please do the research before getting chairs that need reupholstering.
Good luck, Sam MC8

[Paladin]

I laugh when you talk about saving money by getting some worn out chairs and reupholstering them.

Well I have to chuckle at your attitude as well although it's overtly hostile and unwlecome from the beginning.
Has it occurred to you that maybe I might happen to have a little ultraleather of one or two colors and some decent cloth already should we choose that route? Have you thought that possibly my father in law spent his entire career owning and operating a custom boat building and upholstery shop and has everything that I need for making the covers? All I personally own for such stuff are hog ring pliers and fabric pullers though he has it all. I also to have a buddy who works at a shop and can get the foam for cost or maybe cost + 1 or 2 points.
Now I ask you, look at the stated price of used frames assuming usable condition. Factor in the material that I have, the access to the foam and the cost of some materials that I don't have and given the access to the tools and labor. Would that not be likely to be much cheaper than new and fun that we did it ourselves?

Perhaps it's best if before you jump in with both feet and speak that you make positive that you know all of the facts or ask first. I would love to have a nice new pair of ultraleather seats and that option is still open but I guess I just don't have the budget that you do though I may have some different connections and don't mind the work, that's why I'm doing this to begin with though granted, time is money or rather time off the road.

Another thought, I thought that the entire points for our creating these buses as we are were because we could do them our own ways with individuality and\or also because we cannot afford or want a Marathon or maybe even a new $200k plus class A S&S.

[Kenny]

Back to the subject matter - Anyone have any feedback on the chairs / sofas from Discount Van Truck. I too have been looking at them for quit awhile. They don't have anything close to me to touch and feel so feedback from others is the only thing we can go on. Kenny

[luvrbus]

It is good stuff I have installed it for people I like it as good as anything on the market but I am not a fan of Flexsteel I used Villa in my conversion and I think it was overpriced ,delivery was the only problem I had with Discount Van it was about 10 days late.
I have a Villa 6'3" hide a bed coach with under neath storage needs upholstering  you can have but it is pickup only I won't ship


good luck

[rv_safetyman]

We bought a nice fold out sofa from them in Jan 2008. The description was:  

"280178671773  Frontier Sofa Bed RV, VAN and Motorhome Furniture 1  US $599.00"  It has what I think it has ultraleather upholstery.

It was listed on Ebay and we picked it up at their factory.  I had assumed at that cost, they imported it from Mexico.  It turns out that their factory makes both the metal frames and then does the upholstery at a plant in the LA area.  They can make most any type of chair/sofa at their plant.

I picked it up at their factory:

7601 Ramish Ave.
Bell Gardens, CA 90201

What an experience that was.  You definitely would not go down there at night!!!

They were very accommodating.  They had a couple of guys disassemble the sofa and then loaded it in the bus and reassembled it.

I have problems sleeping at night, so I sometimes go out to the sofa to read and listen to my music.  Have spent many nights on that couch and it still looks great.  I don't fold it out, so don't know how good of a bed it would make.

Can't speak to the comfort of their chairs.

Assuming their business practices are still the same, I would give them a good recommendation.

Jim

[artvonne]

  Please dont compare the garbage leather in a Navigator and other domestic cars and trucks to good quality leather found in top end automobiles. The leather used in low end vehicles is painted instead of dyed, you could rub oil on it for 100 years and the leather will just continue to dry and crinkle up underneath. Thats what you see flaking off them, its paint! Vat dyed leather is soft and supple. No, leather is not as cool or warm as cloth, but thats why God made Sheep.

  I'm not all that impressed with flexsteel either. The few ive had got very uncomfortable after a few hours on the road. They seem to look a lot better than they feel on your back side. Odd no one ever puts Recaros or some other type of ergonomic seat in something made to travel long distances. Style and decor seem to often to take precedence to being able to stand up straight and walk at the end of the day.

[Mex-Busnut]

I laugh when you talk about saving money by getting some worn out chairs and reupholstering them.

Well I have to chuckle at your attitude as well although it's overtly hostile and unwlecome from the beginning.

Dave:

I don't think Sam was hostile at all, but YOU sure are in your reply. I think Sam was just trying to make sure you had your bases covered, which apparently you do, but of course, you had said nothing about it in the beginning. if you want to get opinions from others, there is really no need on your part to bite people's heads off. I think most of us just want to be helpful.

If you want to vent your anger, that is what mother-in-laws are for. 

My two pesos' worth.