Question for guys that have reskinned their seats.

[joe c]

I am in the process of replacing the skins on my seats. I removed the driver and passenger skins along with the foam. I'm not sure if any of you noticed something different about the seat bases. The parts that the foam and skinned are stapled to are two different parts(or at least mine are) the driver seat is a flat 1/4 " piece of the plastic with a hole so the foam will reach the springs and supports. The pass has the same hole but has a horseshoe type shaped part that surrounds the hole and the foam stops there. There was no foam reaching the springs and supports. What I don't understand is why the pass seat is different? I also noticed the pass seat sat 1" higher than the drivers. I filled the space on the pass seat with foam to match the other side. I also cut off 3/4" of the plastic from the lip that drops down in the front so the base fits just like the drivers. I also saw I only have 2 of the metal L brackets that hold the front of the assembly to the fiberglass base. I added 2 two of them. Now I'm waiting for my skins to be done (this weekend) and will attempt to install them. I have some pics of the bases. Anyone seen this before?
First pic driver 2nd is the pass. You can see the horseshoe part on the 4th pic

[Marc Marcantonio]

I am going to make a guess here based upon your year model. I have a 2008 Ranger Z20, and ordered new skins for my boat about 6 years ago. Ranger parts sent me something that didn't match my existing seats. When I called and spoke with them I found out they switched methods of making seats at some point in the middle of that year class; so in other words there were two different seat styles made that year (for at least the Z20). Maybe the same thing happened with your model?

[joe c]

That's what I was thinking either they changed the part or did not have anymore of the original part and replaced it when they built the boat. No worries I modified it to match the drivers. After cleaning them up today I found a few cracks in the base. Worst one was right where the back meets the butt part it was a 1/4 gap. Cleaned and repaired. I also noticed that the big plastic washers that hold the fuel tanks in place 4 of them are broken in half. I should replace them correct? The tanks look like they have shifted and moved around. Do you think ranger sells them?

[Marc Marcantonio]

I would expect Ranger would still sell these, and yes, I would try to replace them.

[mikesxpress]

Joe I had an upholstery shop install Ranger supplied skins on my 2009 Z21 Intracoastal in 2017. The shops ability to cut/plastic bag the foam was the deciding factor in me taking it to them. Even the upholstery guy commented on how well they were made, but he wasn't much of a fan of the material used. 14 months later they started separating at the seams on the seat bases. Once I get time I'll have the shop recover them with Sunbrella material.

The SRS spring system is another PIA that I dealt with when doing the seat bases.

http://www.bbcboards.net/showthread....highlight=Seat

[mikesxpress]

Another seat repair for the rear plastic placard that is broken on most all boats that have them.

http://www.bbcboards.net/showthread....t=Seat+placard

[Finlander]

Not taking away from Ranger but, assuming your original skins are good enough to use as a template, you could have new custom made vinyls for about the same price and less headache.

[Ranger391v]

^ ditto.
The seats in my 391v were done this way. Only seats in a Ranger I've ever seen get multiple years of hard usage and not rip at the seam somewhere.

It won't be too many more years on my '09 Z520 and this is exactly what I plan to do. ........... and 'pirate' Mike's Placard Idea!!!!

[joe c]

So you had them put plastic on the foam? I have used some shrink wrap I have and it seemed to work well. I looked at the springs and they are in good shape. So a good idea is placing some type of bearer in between the springs and foam correct? I tried to find the colors that's in it now. No one could match the Mica color of the seat outer and nothing even close to seat inner. So I went to ranger and they don't have the inner seat color anymore. I had them make the skins and found a color (here in town)that was lighter. The upholstery guy is taking apart the new skins and putting in the material I took him. I did not even imagine what a pain in the butt this has turned out to be. I'm just trying to keep enough $ to get new carpet. I have neglected the boat for to long.

[mikesxpress]

The upholstery shops have the correct type of wrap for the seat foam. It has to be able to stand repetitive flexing from sitting on it and keep the water from getting to the foam. You'll want to R&R the T nuts too. They didn't use stainless ones in the original build.

Yes a rubber sheet between the springs and the foam allows the cadmium plated steel to shed water vs stay in contact with wet foam. The SRS is a very comfortable seat all around and especially in rough water but the design itself lacks attributes for longevity.

[joe c]

I had to replace the four bolts and tee nuts with a different type because the main part of the seat mount where you put the nut and washer on where broken off the base. I glued them back on and found some stainless bolts with larger flat heads and barbs and got some larger tee nuts for the backside. They should work. I believe the reason they broke is they only had two L brackets on the outside holding the front of the seat base down. I found some rubber material to put over the springs. All I need now are my skins.
Thanks for the tips. I’ll post a pic when they are done.

[joe c]

I got them done. Came out better than I thought. Spent more time repairing the mounting parts. Cracks, broken parts, changing hardware etc..
Not to bad for someone who has never done upholstery. The back insert shows the color the center and headrests used to be. Also lowered my center console down 1" it makes it easier to step up on.
IMG_1266.JPGIMG_1251.JPGIMG_1260.JPGIMG_1250.JPG

[Ranger391v]

Looks Good!

[dean c]

Nice job

[crank68]

Nice job!! We rebuild all types of boat upholstery all the time back to the factory look. A lot of work goes into what you’ve done.