Front seat dilemma

Looking for the forum’s wisdom on front seat replacements. Both the driver and passenger front seats on 281 are knackered and I’ve been looking around for what’s available.

Our better regarded upholsterer here in Alice figures that he can redo each seat from the bottoms up for $450 each. He recommended that I just go buy some SAAS seats at Supacheap for $379 delivered. Has anyone ever sat in a SAAS? At 1.98m and 110 kgs, I’m a little leery to go down this route unless folks say they’re any good.

On the other end of the cost and reputation spectrum, the Recaro and Stratos seats are running around $2500 each to get them to the loading dock. While I’m sure they’re wonderful, they’re a little out of our price range.

Does anyone have any original seats available that are serviceable? Or other recommendations?

Thanks,
Sean and Yasmin

I have a pair of original front seats in good condition but as 374 was a RAAF vehicle they are covered in grey vinyl not cloth like normal Oka seats. They only did 70k kms as we took them out when we first got the Oka.
I've replaced them with Scheel seats that I've had for many years, similar to Recaro's.
Also have a pair of rear seats and brackets that were immediately behind the drivers seat in the van body also covered in gray vinyl.

366 has after market seat which I am not fan of smaller peeps recon they are great 210 has seats out of a 2004 holden rodeo they fitted in with very little modifcation

Hi Sean,
I have an original passenger seat which is is quite good condition which you are welcome to if you pay the freight, we are in Brisbane

Noel

Hi Sean,
While I was out and about today I called into a truck place to look at a range of seats and they range from $2000 to $3000, nice seats but too pricey in my mind.
For your info here is some links.
seatsrus.com.au/product/fasp-ducato-630r#
They have a wide selection.
www.stratos.com.au/Page/stratos-seating-home-page
I believe they made the original oka seats and maybe the 3000LTSS or 3000LS but at around $2000 a bit pricey.
On E bay there is a very good selection at very good price.

Ok so I have tried to copy and paste the Ebay link and it wont work so just go to Ebay and search seats in car and truck parts.

Some of those seats in fact all look a bit fancy and may look like a rose growing in a pile of cow dung unless you do up the rest of the OKA... Ha Ha. The best thing you can see what car they come from and then chase cars around town and ask if you can test their seats before buying.
Good luck.
Martyn

Hi Sean
We replaced the original seats (one had failed) with Recaro, must admit they are definitely NOT cheap. They are a very neat fit, they only just fit between the door frame and engine cover in an XT. An LT would have a bit more space.
Downside (apart from price) is that Recaro don't allow home installation - the seats need a custom engineered base which has to meet standards. The base uses the original Oka drop-in frame with a fabricated adapter. On the other hand you do get a certificate that they comply with the ADRs and are legal, so no compliance / roadworthy problems.
Upside: we have also had the same design seats in a Landcruiser for literally hundreds of thousands of km and they have been great. And, they have eliminated the aches & pains (brought on by a back condition) while travelling. For that alone they were worth the price!
Cheers, John

Thanks for the info on the seats you went with and the offer, Peter. I’ll let you know if we decide to take you up on the RAAF seats. I’ve got some more hemming and hawing on all the options available.

210greg, unfortunately there’s not a lot in the Alice wreckers that looks usable currently. I was looking for Falcon seats as that was mentioned as a possibility in an old forum post, so I’ll keep peeking in to see if a Rodeo shows up. Thanks.

Noel, thanks for the offer. I’d like to figure out both seats but if I run into issues I’ll be sure to ring you up.

Whoa whoa whoa Mort!!! Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Which leads me to two thoughts: first, a rose on a pile is definitely making that pile a little nicer than it was and second, it’ll be easier for me to look at 281 after a long road trip if I’m not thinking about our aching asses!

In all seriousness though, these seats are the first things we are addressing in the interior and we’ve got some other nice things planned. Cheers!

John, I get a strained/spasmodic back from time to time and thank heavens it’s not a more serious condition. The big picture for us is that we need a seat with some support. Driving the 3k back from Taree to Alice was actually not too bad even with the worn out seat, hence my thinking that we don’t need to go down the Recaro/Stratos route.
I’d like to put that seat money against some other more needful improvements at this time. Thanks

Hi Sean I replaced 390 ‘s seats with Falcon Seats from a 2016 The are very good easy to fit and you would pay around $300 a pair.

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Landseer,

Those certainly do look pretty good and comfy. I'll keep my eye out for something similar at the wreckers... There's just not a lot of good options here in Alice.

We were thinking about making the run to Adelaide over Easter holiday, if the Corobola-19 doesn't stop us. It may turn into a week of Dad looking for OKA stuff while the family are off enjoying themselves.

PS. Love the centre console.

Sean

After the discussion here and a few phone calls, I decided to have our local guy have a go at the seats. I am very pleased with the outcome. It ended up being $1500 total but he completely replaced the foam, new seat suspension and reconditioned all the hardware. While I would have preferred to keep the original seat covers, they were just too far gone. Well here are some pics of the seats.

Every backside is different but I have always found the Std OKA seats very comfortable on long halls, and refurbed them like you Sean. I added rear and bolster seat warmers which make them even more snug in the cold.
If kept in good working order, reckon the OKAs KISS seat mecanism is one of OKAs better design featues.

Looking good Sean better than new.
Martyn

Thanks Martyn. I think I’ll give the brackets a lick of black paint and call them done.