uncomfortable captain seats

Peter Brown wrote:We never needed it but some people use the pipe insulation foam with a longitudinal slit over the bottom of the cassette that holds the side window blinds.

That sound a good idea, I think I might give that a try.

This is my work in progress. Not very refined yet, but works (please don't laugh). I found a spare bag with drawstring, which enables it to hang out of the way when not in use.

My next project is to fabricate something which slots into the door pull recess in the moulded armrest, but it will have to extend further back from this point. Any modifications I carry out always need to leave no trace when removed, thus eliminating the possibility of devaluing the van.

I imagine the reason the Sprinter does not have a second folding armrest on the seats, is that the cab is too narrow and there is not sufficient space to fit them.

grahamsb wrote:This is my work in progress. Not very refined yet, but works (please don't laugh). I found a spare bag with drawstring, which enables it to hang out of the way when not in use.

My next project is to fabricate something which slots into the door pull recess in the moulded armrest, but it will have to extend further back from this point. Any modifications I carry out always need to leave no trace when removed, thus eliminating the possibility of devaluing the van.

I imagine the reason the Sprinter does not have a second folding armrest on the seats, is that the cab is too narrow and there is not sufficient space to fit them.

Hi, I would like to share my effort at solving this problem. but how do you upload photos.

Know different vehicle but done on my Boxer Warwick Duo
Armrest came from pax seat where it was never used. So, FOC
Pics say it all. After the last pic, the foamboard (white) was used to mark out 5mm aluminium sheet, then cut,, then sprayed satin black
Recline still worked hence slot, lumbar had to be set as the knob thread was used to support armrest. All fasteners already on seat were replaced with identical but 10mm longer. All worked fine.....

You can see my effort and design under the heading ARM REST.

I have just checked the measurements and as I suspected, the space between the front seats and the doors is too narrow for matching hinged armrests to be fitted.

Do Autosleeper use the standard  Sprinter seats? I ask the question, because if you Google armrests for 2018 > Sprinters, there are kits listed.

For later Sprinters with the higher, level door card rest these might suit?

https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/B092288FTC/?coliid=I3UTUK9CTRW1JM&colid=9YN84HWPV43N&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

Thanks for the suggestion. Others may find it acceptable, but I decided it wasn't high enough and was too wide at the base to fit neatly on the door.

I looked at everything I could find, but then decided to try to make my own, hence my lump of memory foam!

We've had two Burfords, one factory setup front seats and one Merc setup front seats.

One of the reasons for changing was the front seat position, we both found the height too high.  For me that meant the front edge causes pins & needles and I was looking out of the very top of the windscreen (apparently I have a long body), as for my 5' wife, her legs didn't even reach the floor so she had to have a booster cushion on the floor of the old van.

I'm referring to 2012 an 2016 spec Sprinters.

The factory setup takes the standard non-swivel base vehicle and adds a swivel mechanism between the base and chair which jacks the seat up a good few centimetres.
The Merc swivel setup starts off with a lower base and adds a similar swivel mechanism but the net seat height gain between fixed and swivel seats is zero.
My logic was Merc will have invested my hours coming up with the ideal seat height so lifting it was wrong.

On the downside, AS normally install the leisure battery under the passenger set but using the lower seat base from Merc prevented this so we have lost a batteries worth of storage in the locker behind the passenger seat; in our view a very small price to pay.
On the plus side the door armrests work well with the lower seating position, so no modifications required, and my forward visibility is much improved.