Uncomfortable Seats - 2007 Focus Hatchback

pyther · 10-26-2010, 12:23 PM

Hello.

I got a 2007 Ford Focus, 2 door hatchback, a few weeks ago. I love the car, it drives great, but I have ONE problem.

My back starts really bothering me after about 20 minutes of driving. I have tried adjusting the height and tilt of the seat with no success. I had no problems with my 04 chevy cavalier. I think the problem is that the seat "sticks out" at the bottom so there is "a lump" so to speak. The pain is in my lower-to-middle back mainly, at my spine.

I am 6ft and about 190 pounds. I tried one of those cheap seat cushions at walmart (that is all they had) and it didn't help. I also tried a lumbar cushion from amazon, but that pushes me up way too close to the steering wheel. Also, with that said I'm not sure that helped.

I am looking for some suggestions on how to improve my comfort. Is it possible to buy a different style seat for the car? I am willing to pay up to $700 to fix this problem. I'd prefer a cheap solution, but ultimately I want to keep the car and I do about an 1 1/2 of driving 4-5 times a week.

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Sponsor · Advertisement

Darthenstein · 10-26-2010, 12:27 PM

First off,

There should be a crank/handle on the bottom right of the seat...I know some of the Focii had them...it should help. I had that problem with my old Taurus when the lumbar was fully extended.

Good luck!

pyther · 10-26-2010, 12:30 PM

Thank you, for the welcome

Is the crank that you are talking about used to adjust the height of the seat or is it a different crank?

Buickboy · 10-26-2010, 01:18 PM

I dont think the 07's had that lumbar crank- you see it on SVTs and the 08+ cars I believe

After dealing with the side bolster foam ripping on my car I decided to upgrade to some Corbeau LG1's. Im your height and weigh a bit more than you but these hold me very well and are very supportive. The stock seats are shit compared to these! With sliders they will run you 900-1000. The only issue is if you have side airbags and the gel pad in the passenger seat. I havent played with resistors to cheat it into thinking theyre still hooked up. Id go to the corbeau site and find a distributor to you and see what they have on display- see what fits!

pyther · 10-26-2010, 04:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buickboy

I dont think the 07's had that lumbar crank- you see it on SVTs and the 08+ cars I believe

After dealing with the side bolster foam ripping on my car I decided to upgrade to some Corbeau LG1's. Im your height and weigh a bit more than you but these hold me very well and are very supportive. The stock seats are shit compared to these! With sliders they will run you 900-1000. The only issue is if you have side airbags and the gel pad in the passenger seat. I havent played with resistors to cheat it into thinking theyre still hooked up. Id go to the corbeau site and find a distributor to you and see what they have on display- see what fits!

Hmm thanks for the information. If you don't mind I'd like to ask you a few questions.

Bear in mind I'm pretty much a car noob (I know the basics).

<ignore>Are car seats interchangeable? Where would I get the sliders? Do they come with the seat? I don't see anything that mentions what cars the seats are compatible with.</ignore>

Also, are there other dealers that sell car seats? If so, who might they be. The nearest Corbeau dealer is 2 hours away from me, so looking at other dealers/manufacturers would be a plus.

Also, where you able to get all the cables hooked up (I'm naive here). I guess there are cables that hook up to the seat for air bags and what not. Also did you get the regular seats or the wide seats?

Edit: Found this: http://www.corbeau.com/corbeau/seat_brackets/ so I answered my question about the seats being interchangeable and the sliders.

BowerR64 · 10-26-2010, 05:54 PM

I just want to maybe go to a salvage yard and find one from another ford that bolts right in. Like a mustang, or a taurus or somthing else.

The problem is hight. I dont want it to raise me up so my head rubs the roof.

The problem i have is with the bottom cross bar on the bottom of the back of the seat. If you push on the seat down low you can feel a really hard support bar that runs along the bottom of the back. thats the part thats killing me.

I thought if i cant find another seat from a different car soon ide try and cut some foam from another chair and line the whole back part then put a seat cover over everything.

The way the seat is tilted you body wants to slide back into that bar, maybe lifting the back up so it didnt have that tilt would keep you from sliding back into it.

I also notice what i like best about the seat is having it lowered all the way down with that crank, this leaves a big gap between the bench and the back.

As common as a seat is how can they ruin this part of a car? you would think after years and years of building cars they would atleast know how to build a friggin comfortable seat.

Buickboy · 10-26-2010, 06:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pyther

Hmm thanks for the information. If you don't mind I'd like to ask you a few questions.

Bear in mind I'm pretty much a car noob (I know the basics).

<ignore>Are car seats interchangeable? Where would I get the sliders? Do they come with the seat? I don't see anything that mentions what cars the seats are compatible with.</ignore>

Also, are there other dealers that sell car seats? If so, who might they be. The nearest Corbeau dealer is 2 hours away from me, so looking at other dealers/manufacturers would be a plus.

Also, where you able to get all the cables hooked up (I'm naive here). I guess there are cables that hook up to the seat for air bags and what not. Also did you get the regular seats or the wide seats?

Edit: Found this: http://www.corbeau.com/corbeau/seat_brackets/ so I answered my question about the seats being interchangeable and the sliders.

Yup, sliders are separate and seats are universal.

Performance shops around you might be distributors for seats like these. You might want to look into momo, sparco, recaro, etc. as long as it isnt a cheap brand found only on ebay (unless you want that, some people use those with no issues). Another option might be to find a set of 08+ seats or SVT seats which will give you the adjustment you need.

I had to tranfer over the seatbelts and that allowed me to plug in the seatbelt chime wiring but nothing plugged in for airbags or the gel pad on the passenger side. eventually will get some resistors or cheater plugs to plug in and get rid of the light on the dash.

i went with the standard width, i think its good for up to a 38" waist and the wide is 42"

and if youre looking for seats at a junkyard you want to select coupe vs sedan- the sedan seats dont have the level that lets them tilt forward to let passengers in back