Lowering the drivers seat

by Brunothedog Sat Aug 17, 2019 10:03 pm

well - we sat in a Nuevo today and decided that yes it is definitely for us....bar one thing alone.
My husband is 6 foot 4 and seems to have a long body - not just long legs. Our Autocruise vista drivers seat is high as well but the Nuevo one seemed higher (or the windscreen lower). His eye level was right at the very very top of the windscreen and whilst he could see the road - that was about it.

Has anyone else experienced this and actually had the whole seat lowered and is this even possible? I guess anything is - I’ll be ringing up the place where we saw the Nuevo next week as they were busy today. The driver seat seemed higher than the passenger side. It’s fine for me and we share the driving but it has put him off and we need to try and find a way to resolve it. There didn’t appear to be any way of doing it - it seemed to be fixed at that height. Not bothered about losing any underseat storage of course but just a few inches lower for the whole seat would do the trick. Other than that very very happy with Nuevo and we would definitely have the transverse bed and not as 2 singles.

Would appreciate any thoughts on this or if anyone has done this.

by RogerThat Sat Aug 17, 2019 10:12 pm

Does the drivers seat swivel?

If so, does it need to?

Removing a swivel base will drop the natural seat height by about an inch up!

by Brunothedog Sat Aug 17, 2019 10:57 pm

Hi - thank you - yes on both counts. I’ve been searching a bit more and found that you can buy lower seat boxes - then you buy a swivel as well (unless you just use the same swivel - who knows) but they aren’t cheap. Definitely not diy’ers in this house so we’d have to get someone to do it. I am hoping someone else has done it and can share their experience and cost etc. Definitely needs doing according to my husband - he’d be craning his neck even more than our current motorhome to look at traffic lights etc (not to mention seeing any scenery). Seems odd they come up so high.

RogerThat wrote:Does the drivers seat swivel?

If so, does it need to?

Removing a swivel base will drop the natural seat height by about an inch

by steamdrivenandy Sun Aug 18, 2019 7:48 am

It's not really 'odd. If you think about it, Peugeot set the seat at the optimum level for the average driver. It's a van, so they're unlikely to incur the costs involved in fitting adjustable height seats. Then converters, like Auto-Sleeper, come along and want to swivel the seat. The only way that can be done is by adding a mechanism between seat and seat base. Such a mechanism has to swivel (obvs) but also has to be strong enough to pass safety impact tests etc. Such a mechanism adds a minimum of about an inch to seat height. Most standard vans are perfectly fine for people of 5ft 10ins or so and those of 6ft 2ins are sort of OK, but add another inch of seat height and even 6ft 2ins tall folk find the windscreen isn't really tall enough.

by Mike187 Sun Aug 18, 2019 10:01 am

Did you have the seat at it's lowest position? On ours there are two levers on the the right side of the seat one adjusts the front of the seat and the other the back. The seat seems spring loaded so you have to press down quite hard on the seat.

Mike

by rogerblack Sun Aug 18, 2019 10:28 am

Same as Mike187, our driver's seat (which has no swivel as there's a bulkhead for the rear facing seat behind it) has the two levers so you can adjust the height independently of the front and back, and hence the rake. Presumably this was fitted to the base vehicle by Peugeot. As Mike said, the mechanism is quite stiff so needs firm pushing down or pulling up. But maybe all models don't have these?

We did buy a lower seat base for the passenger seat, which does have a swivel, for similar reasons to Brunothedog as I am six feet and found the passenger seat a bit high for vision. However having fitted the base I found the lower position more uncomfortable on the knees and as Mrs B does the lion's share of the driving, I swapped it back for the original so the lower base is now languishing in our garage back home.

PS In answer to your other question, yes the original swivel did re-fit on the lower seat base which has mounting holes pre-drilled in various places for different seat & base fixing configurations.

by Gromit Sun Aug 18, 2019 2:24 pm

I'm also 6' 4" . . . well, I may have shrivelled a bit with age! snigger

Firstly, don't let this put you off the Nuevo. Anything is possible, and you don't have to spend a fortune, since a lowered seat base is less than £150. Not much to perfect the van you really like.

Before parting with cash however, try the solution that works for me. I removed the cover from the top rail of the concertina windscreeen blinds on the driver's side, and that gives a bit more than an inch of extra screen height. Not much, but it's enough.

The rail is revealed of course, but after a very short time your husband will no longer notice it, and neither will you when living in the van. If it annoys you, take both sides off, then you really won't notice. Easy to put back if/when you sell the van.

A possible problem if you get a lowered seat base - the seat will no longer be level with the side bench, assuming it's an EK model you fancy. This may not bother you, but it's worth pointing out.

Hope this helps

Dave

by steamdrivenandy Sun Aug 18, 2019 2:39 pm

Bring back windscreen curtains I say. Less rattling, no clip issues, more screenspace and a warmer, comfier van interior.

by Brunothedog Sun Aug 18, 2019 3:46 pm

This is all good - I knew would get help here! I don’t think Mr Simpson has considered the impact of a lower seat on his long legs. I think the seat might well have been on its lowest setting but now I think about it - it was definitely higher than the passenger seat so maybe not. It definitely didn’t move much but we didn’t want to break anything so assumed it was as low as it would go. The passenger seat was also a bit high - my legs were dangling. I won’t let it put him off the Nuevo - my mind is made up - just need to find the right workable thing. I like the idea of the blind rail thing and I think we need to consider whether it’s an issue for the seat to be a bit lower than the bench - I really don’t think that’s a problem. If we had it as a single bed then a cushion would work. I need to go back now and just focus on this aspect as I am satisfied that storage won’t be a problem and whilst I loved the Broadway when I sat in it - it was a bit too long for me to be comfortable driving. I have a strong feeling that a Nuevo will be with us sooner rather than later though I can’t yet bear to part with Esther the Vista.

by rose49f Sun Aug 18, 2019 4:22 pm

My Nuevo has a lever to lower the seat as well.

by Casagodfrey Sun Aug 25, 2019 5:45 pm

I have a similar problem. I am not over 6 ft but I have very short legs and a long body. So much so that friends find it hilarious to make me stand then sit next to ‘normal’ tall people. I am shortest when standing but tallest when sitting. Makes it very hard to get in cars though.
On motorhomes, the addition of internal concerts blinds seems to reduce the top edge visibility but I find even with these fitted, my Autosleeper Broadway is much better than my Autocruise Starfire was. I suspect that the seat is lower in the Broadway. The fact that I can now just about reach the hand brake without fitting an extender as previously used on the Starfire seems to back this up. I looked at the lower seat box option with the Starfire but believed that having that resulting height difference would have screwed up longitudinal sleeping without a packing cushion. I think that the Nuevo has a similar layout.....?

by Caraman Tue Aug 27, 2019 10:33 pm

When I drove my Nuevo away from the dealer for the first time I hadn't mastered the seat adjustment which was set too high for me - I am approaching 6' 3". Once I worked out how to force the front and the back of the seat base down all was fine. When making up the single beds the seats ideally should be in the high position but it doesn't matter too much if they aren't as its only where your feet go. I find the driving position comfortable with good visibility.

by Greyhound Mon Nov 30, 2020 9:14 am

Digging up an old thread but thought I'd mention I've just fitted one of the Sportscraft lower seat bases.

Bit pricey, but to be honest just sitting in the van after fitting it's made a really appreciable difference that hopefully will make long drives much more comfortable.

I find seeing out of the cab when approaching an uphill section needs me to crouch down to see ahead enough, and also I can't get a good comfy foot position as I'm too steep over the pedals. Definitely worth it if you find the same trouble.

One thing I should say though, I found the fittings to be not quite OEM (some other reviews I've seen found this too). The base is really solid, but the handbrake mounting plate didn't fully align and I had to tweak it slightly. Also the base slides on forwards rather than backwards over the rear mounts, so I had to make minor cuts in the floor trim to allow space.

Final issue is with the base lower, the side plastic shrouds no longer fit, so the handbrake mechanism is exposed and no underseat tray or side panels. I'm going to adapt the handbrake shroud so it will fit, and make plywood side panels, but worth knowing about if you wanted to take the plunge.

by Paulmold Mon Nov 30, 2020 9:36 am

Are batteries no longer put under driver seat on the Nuevo.?

by marconi Mon Nov 30, 2020 10:52 am

Paulmold wrote:Are batteries no longer put under driver seat on the Nuevo.?

Definitely not in 2019 model. Vehicle Battery is under the floor. Leisure under the bunk.

by gpilky Mon Nov 30, 2020 2:35 pm

I'm 6'3"-ish and have the same problem in my Broadway. The seat is definitely at its lowest position and I can't see uphill very well. Driving through Scotland earlier this year after a storm I hit a dangling branch on a tree - no damage but I just couldn't see it. Also constantly crouching a bit.

Will probably lower the seat next Spring before a long trip.......

by breakaleg Wed Dec 02, 2020 2:09 pm

Hi,
I'm six four and don't have a problem seeing out of the window so it must be dooable however I am hoping to take delivery of a new Nuevo (automatic in March) well, that's the plan.
I did try a 2021 Nuevo in the dealership but found that the seat didn't seem to go back as far as my current van, what do others think.
Pete

by rogerblack Wed Dec 02, 2020 3:02 pm

breakaleg wrote:Hi,
I'm six four and don't have a problem seeing out of the window so it must be dooable however I am hoping to take delivery of a new Nuevo (automatic in March) well, that's the plan.
I did try a 2021 Nuevo in the dealership but found that the seat didn't seem to go back as far as my current van, what do others think.
Pete

ES or EK layout? If the EK, was it the bench seat that was preventing the driver's seat going fully back?
Which presumably wouldn't be the case on the ES?

(I had a similar problem with my Pollensa where the bulkhead behind the driver's seat prevented it going fully back especially when reclined, although I did find a way around it)

by breakaleg Wed Dec 02, 2020 3:24 pm

Ek but still seemed plenty of travel before hitting the seat about 6 to 8 inches as a guess, I wondered as it was brand new it had stuck, I have had three vans with the same layout and it's not been a problem.
I can drive it as it is but we could all do with a couple of extra inches all lovedup

by shipbadger Wed Dec 02, 2020 3:42 pm

When I had a Peugeot Boxer there was no lever to adjust the seat height as such in one go but the front and rear of the seat did have height adjustment so using both in effect allowed adjustment of the seat height. Just wondered if that may apply in this case.

by Greyhound Wed Dec 02, 2020 4:02 pm

shipbadger wrote:When I had a Peugeot Boxer there was no lever to adjust the seat height as such in one go but the front and rear of the seat did have height adjustment so using both in effect allowed adjustment of the seat height. Just wondered if that may apply in this case.

Yes that's how they lower, essentially dropping both the front and back to minimum. Even dropped it's too high for me as the swivel base raises the seat height.

Everyone's different so this is just for those that find they want them lowered further than the adjustment allows, as regardless of overall height, someone could be tall but with long legs, short torso and vice versa smile!

.

by Molly3 Fri Dec 04, 2020 2:11 pm

Brunothedog wrote:Hi - thank you - yes on both counts. I’ve been searching a bit more and found that you can buy lower seat boxes - then you buy a swivel as well (unless you just use the same swivel - who knows) but they aren’t cheap. Definitely not diy’ers in this house so we’d have to get someone to do it. I am hoping someone else has done it and can share their experience and cost etc. Definitely needs doing according to my husband - he’d be craning his neck even more than our current motorhome to look at traffic lights etc (not to mention seeing any scenery). Seems odd they come up so high.

RogerThat wrote:Does the drivers seat swivel?

If so, does it need to?

Removing a swivel base will drop the natural seat height by about an inch not a good idea you will loose single bed option.

by john clemence Sun Dec 27, 2020 9:04 am

Hi,
I needed to lower the seat on our Broadway for a different reason - being only 5'6" I found it easier to drive. I considered removing the swivel base but we do use it occassionaly so I decided against that route. I managed quite well by tilting the seat forward with the adjustment on the seat. That helped me but I guess it wouldn't be any help for those over 6' as the overall height probably wont change.
Happy, healthy New Year,
John.

by Molly3 Tue Dec 29, 2020 4:02 am

Being a short person the problem I had was reaching the hand brake 0l

by shipbadger Tue Dec 29, 2020 8:52 am

At one time there was an accessory widely sold on Ebay which provided an extension to the hand brake lever. Haven't seen it advertised recently but on the other hand haven't looked for it.

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