Air ride seat (split from Re: Play in Steering)

July 04, 2016, 06:39:03 pm

Tim,give us a evaluation of the new seat,how it compares to the original etc,enquirering minds want to know.

Re: Air ride seat (split from Re: Play in Steering)

Reply #1 – July 05, 2016, 08:43:23 am

Knoedler Power Chief Seat replacement-

Did not come with instructions, did not print off and study prior to departure. seat has electric controls, but required the addition of an airline feed at installation

long haul truckers, move on, "this is not the review you are looking for", as Obi Wan said to the storm troopers - you guys have been on air ride seats for ages

OK, you "air up" the seat prior to sitting on it - like your airbag chassis, you you are sitting on a foam based seat, but that is "floating" on an airbag or similar - there is a regulator that can be adjusted to change ride dynamics to fit different weights on install or when not moving if the driver is extra large or extra small

First bumps were eye opening - seat moves up and down on its own and "absorbs" the shock that is normally transferred to the seat - make no mistake, the villa road well, but all on this seat there just isn't any bump - you feel it in the wheel, you hear it in the tires hitting the pothole etc., but the seat just silently moves up and down and absorbs whatever gets past the airbag suspension into the coach frame. Different, and very nice.

The seat itself is narrower (they make 19 and 23" versions) than the villa it replaces. It has more adjustments (many) and mine has a built in massage (which I used on the 15 hour drive back from NAC) that is operated by a connected controller that lives on a shelf beneath the seat in the vicinity of your left thigh. I liked the massage part - when you get tired of sitting for 4-5 hours, it is a welcome distraction. My seat also has cooling and heating capability, which I did not experiment with on this trip.

OK - if you have any sort of back problems and can afford one of these - very much worth the investment. The old seat was like driving your car from the couch - it was a nice lounging chair, doubling as a decent drivers seat. The Power Chief is a serious comfortable, adjustable, velvet riding drivers seat, that can double as a very nice reading or lounging chair. Subtle but significant difference.

As previously noted, there is only a lap belt, not a shoulder harness. Didn't make a study of this, but did not look as though it can be added. When putting on the seat belt on mine, you need to pull the belt all the way out as far as needed to snap in the receiver, if you stop short, it will not extend any further, and belt needs to go back and start over.

Cost - I paid $1500 for the chair used from Previous owner, $1,000 for the recover at FOT (and I had 30% of the material in one color - had to buy 3 yards of ultra leather to complete). And the labor charge was 3 hours at FOT, about $300. It took them longer, but they said it shouldn't have so they stopped the charges at 3 hours - very fair. All in with taxes, shop fees, etc, about $3,000. If you bought new and had them cover (I am told they chair goes from factory to Villa if custom upholstery to match coach is needed) think about twice that or $6K.

If you have back problems, or want the best ride out there - go for it - I was lucky, there are very few "take outs" since owners love them - very undersized people struggle (125 lbs and down) because air can't be set low enough for seat to function correctly).

One other not. I lot FOT remodel (David Flanagan, hooky, Mike, Ricky, Allen and the crew). The FOT upholstery shop seems good enough on rectangles (couches, dinette cousins etc. The upholstery does not have it on seats that have curves and different patterns. They did an OK job on my Villa and the power chief, but the contour lines on the seat foam on the power chief are not matched by the upholstery 100%. Good enough, but not what you expect from FOT. If I did it again, I would give Infinity a shot at covering the chair. Not an issue if you get a new one via Villa, they nail it - probably because they have done a bunch in the past.

PM me with any questions if you would like

First few bumps were really noticeable

Re: Air ride seat (split from Re: Play in Steering)

Reply #2 – July 05, 2016, 08:56:17 am

I have that Knoedler sitting in my shop as a spare if my Bostrom fails on my crane. Air seat is the only way I can drive California Freeways in my crane. The Knoedler might make it to my Foretravel if the Bostrom can make it a few more years. It will have to be re-upholstered as it is brown vinyl.

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