Seat base bolster support bars...when did they go bye-bye?

[mwalsh]

In the Focus up to at least the '02 model year, there were metal support bars for the seat bolsters welded to the seat pan. These apparently have a habit of breaking at the weld and poking a hole in your seat cover!

By '05 these bars were gone, and a solid foam pad was fitted to the seats instead of one scooped out to allow for this bar. Does anyone know when these bars disappeared?

Reason I ask is that I don't feel them in my '03 seats, but they could be there, buried in the foam too deeply, and I don't really want to have to pull my seat apart just to check.

[Sponsor]

[Stervzx3]

I have no idea but I have never had a problem with my 01 seats.

[ah1f39]

Just bought a new set of seats to replace the set in my 02. The rod broke in my drivers seat about 1 1/2yrs after I bought the car in 05.

The side bolster bites me in the ass every time I get out of the car.

[scrammer]

i know the SVT seats have a bar in the side bolsters. i bent mine more towards my ass for a more tighter feel. i like it tight. when its tight, it makes me feel better

[mwalsh]

Well, I was able to find out on my '03 by looking under the seats and comparing where the weld point is on the '02 seat pan. Fortunately, they don't look to be there.

So I guess the answer would be '03 except for SVT (at least in Scrammer's case)?

[slipster17]

to my knowledge they only really changed the design of the seats with the 08+ models. All the other seats are interchangeable and I would think use most of the same part numbers for the internals.

[Kauai Guy]

Originally Posted by mwalsh

Well, I was able to find out on my '03 by looking under the seats and comparing where the weld point is on the '02 seat pan. Fortunately, they don't look to be there.

So I guess the answer would be '03 except for SVT (at least in Scrammer's case)?

Is your 03 seats from a sedan, zx3, or zx5? All of them have different front seats.

Sedans are flat like a pancake

zx3's have bigger side and leg bolster

zx5 has more side bolster but the leg bolster facing the door is flatter than the one facing the console. At least mine is, I have a zx5 seat on my driver's side.

[DerekGrugan]

^^^ hmm i never knew that, that exaplains alot why the other day when i was sitting in a zx5 the side bolsters did feel bigger but i thought it was just cuz it was a newer seat

[mwalsh]

^^^ Interesting. Doesn't Ford know they can save money if they use all the same parts in these cars?

[pistolgripbmx]

yeah my 07 zx3 seats have larger lower and upper side bolsters than my girlfriends 07 sedan, i guess it's for more of a sporty feel and support. don't really have any experience with the older models.

now if only my right upper side bolster would stop getting messed up I'd be happy.