Seat cushion- OEM, Durafoam or eBay special?

[Geotrash]

Did you ever post up your results and assessment of this cover? I wanna say you did but I can't remember.

I don’t remember if I did. I installed it about a year ago now, and have been thrilled with it. It’s excellent quality - soft and supple, and has been holding up very well so far.

 

[iamdub]

I don’t remember if I did. I installed it about a year ago now, and have been thrilled with it. It’s excellent quality - soft and supple, and has been holding up very well so far.

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Excellent! I have an ebony one in my cart. How's that Seat Shop (Durofoam?) cushion? Most reviews said it was too firm. But, I'd guess that'd be the popular impression since the original is being replaced because it's worn out/too soft.

 

[Geotrash]

Excellent! I have an ebony one in my cart. How's that Seat Shop (Durofoam?) cushion? Most reviews said it was too firm. But, I'd guess that'd be the popular impression since the original is being replaced because it's worn out/too soft.

It’s slightly taller than the OEM cushion, and to my calibrated butt (calibrated by the OEM cushion in my ‘12), it feels less firm, actually. It’s super comfortable.

 

[iamdub]

It’s slightly taller than the OEM cushion, and to my calibrated butt (calibrated by the OEM cushion in my ‘12), it feels less firm, actually.

Interesting. I can't bring myself to trust the ones that are half the price and the next step up are in the low $100s. So I may as well get what seems to be the best at $139. I see no reason to cheap out on something as critical as driving comfort that should last longer than I'll have this thing. In your case, I'm wondering if the '12 is more firm due to the cooling ducts. IIRC, this wasn't an option until '09, right?

 

[Fless]

Not necessarily apples and oranges for this discussion, but maybe McIntosh vs Granny Smith: the Durofoam in my '04 is pleasantly firmer than the OE foam was. The old foam wasn't torn or ripped up, but when I sat in it it would compress a lot. I do like the firmness of the Durofoam, and it's not rock hard.

 

[iamdub]

Not necessarily apples and oranges for this discussion, but maybe MaIntosh vs Granny Smith: the Durofoam in my '04 is pleasantly firmer than the OE foam was. The old foam wasn't torn or ripped up, but when I sat in it it would compress a lot. I do like the firmness of the Durofoam, and it's not rock hard.

My work van, which I drive 60K+ a year, has firm seats and I have no problem with them. My office chair is made from the driver seat from an '09 Avenger that was wrecked in '10 and had really low mileage. It's somewhat firm and super comfy for me. Sure, the overall ergonomics of the bottom and back together play a huge role. I think I'll be okay if the Durofoam is firm. It'd be better than a cheap cushion being too soft, which would defeat the purpose of replacing it.

Really, mine is still in pretty good shape. I just thought its support felt lacking on that trip to central Florida last year. It's obviously not enough of an issue that I bothered to do anything about over the course of a year. I'm planning another Florida trip and kinda wanna try out a new cushion.

Thanks for your input.

 

[91RS]

More firm is better for longer trips. I never realized it until owning both but the foam in my 08 seats are much more firm than the foam in my 13 and I find the 08 much more comfortable, so much so I thought about trying to find a set of used early design front seats for the 13 but I’m not sure if the frames have the provision for the side airbags. Both have heated and ventilated seats, the 08 has the early design with the air flow made into the cushion and the blower fan heats and cools the air and the 13 has the later design with the seat heater element that is made into the air flow pad and is separate from the cushion and the fan does not cool the air. I think the changeover happened in 2010 when the side airbags were added into the seats.

 

[iamdub]

More firm is better for longer trips. I never realized it until owning both but the foam in my 08 seats are much more firm than the foam in my 13 and I find the 08 much more comfortable, so much so I thought about trying to find a set of used early design front seats for the 13 but I’m not sure if the frames have the provision for the side airbags. Both have heated and ventilated seats, the 08 has the early design with the air flow made into the cushion and the blower fan heats and cools the air and the 13 has the later design with the seat heater element that is made into the air flow pad and is separate from the cushion and the fan does not cool the air. I think the changeover happened in 2010 when the side airbags were added into the seats.

Great point. This makes sense now that I've thought about it. Most of my trips aren't very long so I don't ever notice a problem. Only on the longer drives do I feel like the support is inadequate. It's gotta be a gradual compressing of the cushion. The Tahoe sits for days or a week or more between drives, so the foam probably decompresses some, and the cycle repeats.

 

[BADRIDES]

Good thread cause i just inherited an 08 Regular Cab Silverado that is gonna need a d/s seat bottom cushion. I also could use some new seat covers. Who do you trust to get the covers from? I work at a Chevy dealership so I can get parts at cost so might check on OEM Monday.

 

[j1req]

Let's revive the old thread!

After researching my options (mainly here) I've bought The Seat Shop durafoam cushion. It was a PITA getting it to Europe since somehow WW shipping was unavailable and literally none of the forwarders wanted to deal with such a big parcel. After spending almost twice the price in shipping costs I've finally received and installed it in the end of September and got some mileage on it (around 3k mi exactly).

It's horrendously stiff. I could easily go 500-600 mi a day with a completely destroyed original cushion that provided zero to none padding at all — I was literally struggling going more than 200 mi with TSS durafoam one without having rest for some hours. Yeah, durafoam provides better shock absorption, but that's what the suspension is for and I'm not riding gravel or mountain ridges.

A trip to a nearby lake in the start of November was the last straw: I've got some nerve pinched and couldn't turn my neck right for a couple of weeks. After recovering I've teared the seats apart once more, went to a local furniture hardware supply store and purchased a metric shit ton of padding materials and did my best to patch up the original cushion. Then I've swapped driver's side and passenger's side cushions and called it a day. The OEM cushion feels way, way better and gives you a better grip on vehicle's handling.

TSS cushion (and by extension any durafoam cushion) will be ok if you weigh 250+ lbs and have zero spine/lower back issues. Vertebral hernia/hemorrhoids/scoliosis/spinal protrusion — durafoam is a no-go, stay away or you'll literally end up in hospital. On a positive side, it's way sturdier and will probably last longer than the truck itself.

Now I need to find myself a pair of new original cushions and it's better be less than half of the truck's cost.