Flex Steel Seating

Ours aren't falling apart yet (2002 with 15,000 miles) but they're the most uncomfortable seats in any vehicle we've ever owned, including my 1938 Austin Seven.

There's no vertical adjustment, so DW's feet don't reach the floor. She can't drive the rig because she can't reach the pedals. The seat cushions are about 3" too long from back to front, even for me at 5' 10".

I drove transit for a couple of years after retirement from an engineering job. The Gillig coaches we had were equipped with a very comfortable Recaro seat. It had vertical, fore-aft, recline and tilt adjustments and was on an air suspension base. Combined with a steering column that had two universal joints and a telescopic upper section, it would adjust to anyone. I was able to drive an 8-hour shift without a problem. In our RV, anything over 2 hours is purgatory.

I had the same issue with my seats in my 07 Gulfstream Tourmaster. After shopping around for new seats, I found a small company that refinishes custom auto interiors and had my seats recovered in leather. Cost was $480 per seat and they came and removed the seats, reinstalled them including all of the electrical wiring. They did an excellent job and they look better than the original seat covering when new.

I have the exact same problem with a 2007 Georgie Boy with Flexsteel seats. Both front seats started flaking badly at about 4 years. Flexsteel customer service says that they have never heard of such a problem.

Our recliner, a no name brand the same age as the Flexsteel, is holding up perfectly even though it get a lot more use.

I will never own Flexsteel furniture again. Their product was lousy and their customer service is worse.

I, too had my seats suddenly start deteriorating. I've recovered them with new skins I ordered from Thor. It cost $500 for both front seats. Call Thor or any Thor dealer to order. I think it was worth the money to not have the eyesore and constant irritation of looking at the old ones.

I considered using discountvantruck.com but chose not to. The cost would have been three times as much, I would have to dispose of the old seats and other than the skin, my seats were just fine.

FWIW, the Flexsteel rep was quoted as saying "Just a side note, if your motor home is a Damon/Four Winds/ Monaco/Fleetwood/Tiffin…..they all had problems with the fabric they selected." So there were several manufacturers who had this problem. I believe all these manufacturers were sold an inferior product without their knowing it was junk. Hopefully the vendor, whoever it was, is now out of business!

I was going to say, "let me guess - Thor or Damon?"! There is Ultraleather™ and then there is "knock off" Ultraleather. You should read the following thread: http://www.irv2.com/forums/f254/ultra-leather-faux-leather-delaminating-124054.html, and pay particular attention to post #10, 12, and 13. There in lays your answer. It is what happens when a company specs something less than, just to save a few bucks.

As to blaming Flexsteel, I don't know that we can blame them. Many of the Motorhome manufacturers have their own upholstry shops. It is possible that the manufacturer purchased the basic seat frame from Flexsteel, and farmed them out to someone else to upholster them, or did them themselves. As someone pointed out on the thread I offered the link to, there was a tag on their seats that said Williamsburg Furniture.

Mine are not from Thor or Damon, but they are 19+ years old and have been misused and abused, and the previous owner used the wrong cleaning products on them too! It makes them delaminate, melt, and get sticky. They are not leather!!! At least mine have a excuse. And I too have seat covers from Camping World on them. Someday I will find new seats or better seat covers.

Have I got your attention yet? If so, read the following post!

Do not waste your money on ULTRALEATHER anything, new or old. It does not hold up unless you use conditioner and moisturizer on it constantly. Both driver and passenger seats are horrible, even our sofa but with that I started religiously cleaning and conditioning, still looks like******up close.


This is what I'll be installing real soon.
http://suburbanseats.com/P-Sears%20Elite%2080%20Black%20Cloth%20Dual%20Arms%20.aspx?catid=17

fbanko..There's been a ton of talk about this in the past. During a span of time that included '07 & '08 (not sure of other years) Thor and some other RV mfr. used an inferior product. If I remember it correctly, Thor furnished the product to be used. I guess trying to save money. Why Flexsteel allowed their name to be put on this crappy product is beyond me, so they bear some of the blame if you ask me. There are a lot of us with the same problem you're having. From what I understand, Thor and others stopped using this product once the problems surfaced, but that doesn't help those of us with******on our chairs. Our sofa and other chair are fine.

For now, we have captain chair covers from CW. It's not worth the trouble or expense to us to have them replaced. Maybe some day.

http://www.discountvantruck.com/

Does Discount Van and RV have a web page? Where are they located? You would think they would wear better then that. I always thought Flex Steel made a good product but I guess times change.