Do Spider Seats Kill Your Back?

[LIQUIDLOUNGE]

I have always thought my Spider seats to be supremely comfortable, but I notice that when ever I've driven the car, especially for extended periods, my lower back pain flares up after I get out. Japanese cars (Hondas) used to do this very thing to me when I was younger. Does this happen to anyone else and have you found a solution?

[4uall]

when I went to get my car re-upolstered the guy had metioned that the right side of the drivers seat often gets worn down due to all the shifting of gears and getting in & out over time. This action wears down the foam.

[RRoller123]

They are pretty bad over long drives, but are certainly worse due to compression and shifting of the foam over decades... I am not a fan of my current seats for the same reason, but when they get redone hopefully this winter, the new foam will offer a lot more lower spinal support. It is nonexistent on my old seats right now.

[burlybryan]

My drivers seat back appear to be slightly twisted (right side further back) and yes, driving for 30 minutes or more is a pain.

Going to re-upholster and replace seat foam this winter.

[socaltino]

A problem with the seats is that the seat pan will crack over time. Also, the stress cracks are where the seat pan bolts to the seat back. The cracks are common because the metal of the pan is not that thick. When readoing the seats make sure to check the pans for cracks and have them reinforced.

[Razooli]

I was wondering if anyone else had this problem. I had a bout of acute lumbar pain this summer and hardly drove the Fiat at all due to the seats offering no support. The problem has eased up over the last couple weeks and I started looking at the driver's seat ... the upholstery is loose on the back and it allowed me to stuff some more foam into the lower back area. Made a big difference in comfort. Going to see an upholstery guy soon to see if he can do something better. My Acura has some kind of inflatable bag offering 4 different levels of lumbar support. I'd love to have something like that in the Spider seat.

[tartan18]

Thankfully the PO had the seats reupholstered so I don't experience any lower back pain while driving. That is important to me as a senior citizen What I do find uncomfortable is the position of the accelerator petal. I have to bend my right leg so much that my right ankle gets sore after even a few minutes of driving. I've got the seat slid back as far as I can and still have enough left leg extension to fully depress the clutch. Unless I can figure out a way to re-engineer the accelerator petal position I'll just live with a sore right ankle. I am 6'1"

[4uall]

http://wwwe.fiatspider.com/f08/viewtopi ... ats#p90393

http://wwwe.fiatspider.com/f08/viewtopi ... ats#p72530

[supplyguy]

New seats in my car and back is okay....angle of right leg sometimes makes my hip fritz out but at 6'4" I am surprised how much leg room I have. I am otherwise ok. Not much I can do.

[redcars]

I am 6' 4" and 64 and my spiders are my most comfortable cars to drive I have. My 82 which I drove 240 miles Sunday with 96,000 mile on it still has the origenal seats. My seats are ready to be redone or replaced I just don't know which I will do.

[Dawgme85]

Another cause of breakage of the right side of the driver's seat back is due to reaching back to pull the top up while seated. If your driver's seat back is twisted backwards in this fashion, that could be the reason. I did have to have the bolt area of the driver's seat bottom reinforced not too long ago, which helped a lot.

In general, I find the Spider seats to be comfortable for a day drive, but daily driving (or an extended tour of 2-3 days) can be bothersome for me (though not causing any actual soreness in my long ago L4-5 herniated disc area). Having said that, I put about 2500 miles on Shelob over the summer and only felt I had spent too much time behind the wheel once or twice.

[georgeramos]

I bought an $11 lumbar support pillow from an auto parts store. Doesn't look too cool but actually makes a big difference especially on longer drives. I love the idea of inflatable support built into the seats but I'm sure it would add a bit to an already high priced upholstery job. Problem is my seats LOOK perfect so I'm on no hurry to have it done.

George

[Razooli]

Think I'm going to give this a try...
http://www.amazon.com/LumbAir-Inflatabl ... ar+support

[georgeramos]

Let us know how it works out Lynn. That seems like a good way to go.

[spidernut]

The seats are fine for my back and I have back problems normally. My wife find the seat backs very uncomfortable. The real issue is the seat bottom becomes EXTREMELY uncomfortable after time. Any drive more than about an hour becomes pretty painful on my behind.

I also agree about the accelerator pedal being uncomfortable. My carb'd car is fine, but the fuel injected one lacks the spring resistance so I find myself holding my ankle up the entire time. I can never rest my foot on the pedal.