Sagging seats

[FredF]

After years of sitting on an extra foam cushion due to sagging springs in my '83 Sud SC I decided to pull the seats out and see what could be done about it.

My first attempt was very simple - I stuck two sticks of Aluminum I-beam under the springs held in by the metal flange around the edges. While this solved the problem of the sag it cause the seats to be VERY hard - like sitting on a rock. Plus, I was much higher in the seat and my tall Dutch friends would be hitting the ceiling of the car!







Plan B was to use rubber straps under the springs to provide some support to the seats while making them a bit softer.
I used two layers of strapping and pulled them fairly tight.

[alfadave]

Replace the 14 coil springs with new/stronger ones?
They look like they've lost their tension.

[alfadave]

........So, Hooke's Law no longer is applicable.

[FredF]

Spring replacement was another option but finding the correct length springs with the right tension seemed to be a difficult task. Perhaps one day I'll give it a go as plan C. For now, this works very well.

[Harry_p]

I watched a program where they were restoring an old chair and pinched together the long wavy springs to increase the tension again.

On mine the holes holding the front coil springs through the seat base had pulled out so they were just left hanging so I drilled some new ones to reattach them.