Project on my workbench at the minute

mean_in_green

>2,000,000m in MB vans
I came across this suspension seat by chance the other day.

It's made by a company called TEK, who are OE suppliers to Scania and Volvo, and is currently fitted to some of their vehicles amongst others.

It's a driver's suspension seat, and was originally fitted to a Sprinter based motorhome. It's only done 12,000 miles apparently.

For some reason I can't explain, this bloke had unstitched the seat squab cover and cut the foam away at the front edge. Why he did this is even more of a mystery given that this is known to be one of the most comfortable of seats available (with the possible exception of the ISRI suspension seat).

I'm not too worried: I've sourced a replacement foam and the whole thing is going away to be covered in leather anyway.

I took it apart today, as I'm sure the upholsterer wouldn't appreciate me dropping the suspension unit in to him - it weighs a tonne.

The suspension mechanism is simplicity itself. You dial in your weight, which is a threaded adjuster acting on a spring balance with hydraulic damping. Brilliantly simple and reliable.

The other thing I'd like to do is source a replacement headrest so it echoes the other seat better. The spacing of the headrest legs are different too, so that means sourcing two of the plastic guides the headrest locates into, and altering the new seat to accept them. No trouble when the seat's coming apart anyway.

If anyone can help with those parts please get in touch. I've found a headrest, but it's a bit on the pricey side.

Should make for the ultimate in comfort once it's done - will let you know how it progresses.

Simon.
 

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tegimr

2003 Pass 140 289000 mile
looks nice - however, it looks like it will interfere with the fuse box under the drives seat.

Tim
 

mean_in_green

>2,000,000m in MB vans
I did wonder about that too Tim. The suspension unit has a flat base though, and the action is only above the level at which it meets the van's seat mounting, so no interference issues. See image.

Found a used headrest for £15 today, and the plastic guides I needed are only a few pounds new from the dealer so they're on order. Although the TEK seat shape isn't identical to the factory ISRI seat, it's very similar.

Visually, the main difference between the ISRI and the TEK are their headrests. I'm hoping that adapting the TEK seat to accept the factory headrest will help it aesthetically in that sense once it's fitted.

The TEK headrest's supports are:

1. Black, not metal
2. Skinnier than factory
3. Differently spaced (narrower)

I think the solution may be to rework the new seat's headrest arrangement with factory bits.

Plus doing it that way means I'll have two complete drivers seats, then if I should sell the van (yeah right...), I could then sell the suspension seat on and replace the factory item if I wanted to.

Simon
 

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mean_in_green

>2,000,000m in MB vans
Fitted the adaptor plates to the suspension unit today, and repainted a couple of scratched parts. Used 12.9 fasteners with threadlock and spring washers.

The suspension unit's base is smaller than the factory seat base, so I may make some covering trims to run along the sides where the factory seat has an angled trim. Will wait to see how it looks once installed.

So far, so good.
 

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mean_in_green

>2,000,000m in MB vans
Picked these up from the dealer this morning.

They're the plastic inserts in the seat back which accept the headrest. Funny looking parts aren't they? I thought they might have metal inserts, but they're all plastic.

The upholsterer is back from his hols this weekend, so all the bits are heading his way Monday morning.

Let you know how it goes...

Simon
 

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sikwan

06 Tin Can
Simon, did you redo the seat or did you reuse your old seat?

It looks different from the very first picture and it matches the passenger seat. :thinking:

EDIT: It looks like the old seat on the new platform.
 

mean_in_green

>2,000,000m in MB vans
It's the TEK seat as shown in the first images, but reworked with Benz headrest and a new leather cover.

I got the cover done to match the previous seat as best as possible, with matching details such as the flutes in same places/spacing etc.

The replacement seat is a different shape though, and the new leather can only disguise that to a point.

I haven't refitted the armrests yet either, which may have misled you Seek.

First impressions of the replacement seat are mixed:

I really like the up and down suspension action, but I wasn't expecting the slight side to side action that comes with it. I didn't expect it would do that, but it seems to be part and parcel of the suspension unit's movement characteristic. You can move the seat about an inch left or right when sitting on it. Initially felt like I'd not tightened the fixings up...!

I've got a little more used it though. Done about 250 miles today.

I'm also concerned that the movement of the seat will rub and cause wear to the bulkhead lining, which I hadn't expected. This seems to be in part because the seat back is thicker than the ISRI seat back.

Of course I've sat on the original one for seven years so it's bound to take a bit of getting used to!

S.
 
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sikwan

06 Tin Can
I really like the up and down suspension action, but I wasn't expecting the slight side to side action that comes with it. I didn't expect it would do that, but it seems to be part and parcel of the suspension unit's movement characteristic. You can move the seat about an inch left or right when sitting on it. Initially felt like I'd not tightened the fixings up...!
Sounds like you need some sway bars. :thinking:
 

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