[wstr75]

I've lurked on this site for a while and decided tonight to register and seek help for a personal problem. My wife's 2002 RL is a sweet car with only 54K miles and we'd like to keep it for two or three more years, but when I drive it for more than 15 minutes my back kills me. The lumbar support is almost non-existent. I can drive my 2002 Yukon for hours (or until it runs out of gas) with no back pain, but it has a gargantuan lumbar balloon that has lots of adjustment and that does a great job pushing against the small of my back.

Question: Have any of you taken your RL to an upholstery shop and had the seat contours changed? Can the lumbar bladder be modified? Are there after market seats or modification pieces for RL seats? Any help on this painfull subject is appreciated.

 

[jno2968326]

first let me say welcome and to solve your back problem do this:take a tube of ben-gay and smear it all over the seat making sure to rub it into the leather really well, then remove your jacket and shirt and sit down making sure you wiggle your way into a compy position.there you have it now you should be able to drive until the cows come home.LOL.

 

[LegendGS]

I too have a bad back problem. When I reupholstered the seats in my '94 Legend, I added 1" of foam on all of the front surfaces and 2" on the back/lumbar area. They're now the most comfortable seats I have.

 

[wstr75]

LegendGS, thanks for telling us what you did. It is exactly what I'm planning to do. I'd like to also modify the seat's lumbar adjustment mechanism. Anyone know if the RL driver's seat has a lumbar bladder or is it some kind of cammed lever that rotates into the lumbar area?

 

[wstr75]

LegendGS, I'm thinking the original leather won't stretch enough to cover the additional padding and will need to have an additional leather panel stitched in or maybe a whole new leather covering overall. When you re-upholstered your seat, did you re-use the same seat covering or did the upholsterer use a larger covering to accomodate the increased padding?

 

[LegendGS]

I reupholstered it using a kit that I bought from www.leatherseats.com through a group buy. Depending on the condition of your existing seat foam, the newer leather MIGHT be a little less snug, but not by much. My leather kit was no different from any other. The foam will compress to almost nothing, so while it'll be a little bit more work, I expect that it should be able to fit without modification to the leather.

 

[hotlavaflow]

http://www.sparcousa.com/pseats_acc.asp?id=205

I have racing seats in my Leg and use these. Sparco universal lumbar support.

 

[wstr75]

Hotlava,
Thanks for the suggestion and link! I ordered one today and am looking forward to fast AND comfortable cruising in our RL.
wstr

 

[hotlavaflow]

No problem, glad to help.

 

[wstr75]

Lumbar Cushion is the Ticket!

Hotlava,
The lumber cushion arrived yesterday from the link you posted. It is the ticket! No more butt/back pain! Also like the way it velcros to the seat. Am going to order another for the passenger seat.
Thanks,
wstr

 

[hotlavaflow]

Hotlava,
The lumber cushion arrived yesterday from the link you posted. It is the ticket! No more butt/back pain! Also like the way it velcros to the seat. Am going to order another for the passenger seat.
Thanks,
wstr

That's good to hear. I'm glad it worked out.

 

[jno2968326]

now all you have to do is spread the ben-gay on the lumbar cushion and you will be in hog heaven.LOL

 

[92drls]

Pain Killers!!!!