We are going to replace rather than recover the flexsteel pilot and copilot seats in our 94 Unihome. Anyone know where to get a "slightly and gently" used pair? They are light beige, 6 way.
Try http://www.en.visonerv.com (http://www.en.visonerv.com) they are located in KY and specialize in used late model RV parts and equipment. Basicly they are a junk yard for motorhomes.
Norm
Correction on that web site should be visonerv.com
Call David Flanigan at FOT. He frequently has replacement furniture up in his attic.
Sara,
I would urge you to think twice before replacing the seats. The Flexsteel seats are covered with a faux leather that while looking good for a few years, does not stand up to the test of time. The armrests are first to go. Ours had never been lived in and was low mileage.
After the Quartzsite get together, we drove down to Puerto Penasco, got advise from long term residents and worked out a deal with a local upholstery shop. The vinyl matched the color exactly and was much better quality. I had the seats done exactly as the OEM so took a lot more work but the total was $550 for both with R&R in the RV park. You can see the stitching/workmanship was excellent. Heading back for the sofa in January. Just have to find a dog proof fabric.
So, here are a couple of photos of the seats after they were done along with the nachos and restaurant next to our beach RV park.
Pierce
is leather available? Could Our 88 be leather, held up great? Sure acted like it, came back from drycrack with saddle soap when we git it in 03 ::)
Anyone have real leather? Love the flexsteel seats ^.^d
I believe Flexsteel uses leather where you touch. Faux everywhere else.
Twig, so seat and arm rest, not back?
Our '93 was 100% faux leather. Easy way to tell is to look at the backside of the exposed material down on the sides. If the material has any other name before the word leather, it's a vinyl. It has to say real, genuine or echtes leder before the word leather.
Many cars use real leather on the seating surfaces with vinyl on the sides and door panels. Nothing wrong with that as modern vinyls last longer and actually look better. You can always tell as even a small amount of leather with give the vehicle interior the distinctive "leather" smell.
For customers that wanted the "leather" smell in their new Mercedes 300SD models, we would buy a few square feet of real leather and carefully stuff it under the seats. Then everyone was happy.
Every publication I have seen for Foretravels indicates they use Ultraleather, a vinyl product of Ultrafabrics. See at: Ultrafabrics - The highest quality polyurethane fabrics on the market (https://www.ultrafabricsllc.com/Site/SubCollection/1/)
Pierce
Yes. On mine was leather seat cushion and back and armrests. The leather got fairly raggedy, so I had it redone with naugahyde in Mexico. They will also do leather.
Twig,
It was not a Foretravel fault as Flexsteel chose to use Ultraleather vinyl on their seats. There have been many other problems with the failure of Flexsteel to replace the supplier as seen in these RV forums: ultra leather problems - Google Search (https://www.google.com/search?q=ultra+leather+problems&rlz=1C5CHFA_enUS504US504&oq=ultra&aqs=chrome.0.69i59j69i57j69i65j0l3.2624j0j7&sourceid=chrome&es_sm=91&ie=UTF-8#q=ultra+leather+problems+flex+steel+seats)
Yes, I have had several complete leather jobs done in Mexico. A 635 BMW was the last one. I buy the leather here and take it down as Mexico does not produce any preforated leather that is usually found in the middle seating areas of many cars.
For sofas, Jo-Ann Fabrics is a great source for fabrics. We would find the right material and then take it to Mexicali or Tijuana and have it recovered. Would usually take it down in the belly of the Buffalo Bus. That is where we will find our U300 sofa material for the next trip.
Perhaps Flexsteel replaced part of your seat covering as ours was 100% vinyl including the seating area.
Pierce
Recovering is a possibility. Do they replace the foam and springs and such?
If you were going to replace the seats in your coach (of any vintage) what would you use? I have seen new coaches with Knoedler drivers seats. What about the passenger seat?
Roger
We replaced outs with the Phenix passenger seat and the air seat. I saw a friend who did the new nimbus style seats and that looked very nice too.
The seats in my 1996 295 are leather. They are doing fine so far. If I were to change them out, think I would go with the ultra leather (nice vinyl?) that Pierce mentioned. I have seen this stuff and like it. I think you would be pleased with the new upholstry. The only reason I would consider replacing my seats if if they were structurally unsound. FWIW. Best
Howdy Roger, We replaced our pilot/co-pilot chairs three years ago with Nimbus style chairs at David F recommendation. These are very nice chairs.
Good Luck, Dave A
Roger,
You must take an active participation in all phases of re-covering. Negotiation on price should cover exactly what you want done like foam, springs, improvements, etc. So, you have to remember what you didn't like about your seat(s) like weak springs, sags on one side, worn out foam, etc. I like to stop by the shop to inspect every day. You can catch any mistake and let them know you won't accept anything but the best job. Keeps them on their toes and both are happy when the job is done. Especially important where communication between languages is an issue. An excellent job should take one person 2 to 3 days to finish.
Pierce