I'm a
big guy. I am hard on my Jeep's seats and have replaced 2 entire
sets of stock factory Jeep seats that could not hold up to the
stress and strain of hard off road use. This time I went looking
for something better. My criteria were pretty
simple:
-
I needed a tough seat that would stand
up to serious off-road use.
- It needed to be comfortable while providing excellent
support and control when bouncing around on the trail.
- It should help keep my size 3X butt in it's place and
prevent it from sliding all over the place in off-camber situations
where the pucker factor needle has pegged the gauge.
- Last but not least, it needed to be water resistant,
because my Jeep gets wet inside - often.
I like the look and support offered by some of the high end
sports seats like Recaro and the like. But these seats are quite
expensive, and I did not think that fine fabric or leather trim
would hold up too well after being soaked in the rain over night
when I forget to put up the top. Some of the serious racing buckets
are well designed and not too expensive, but for a normal size
human rear they can be less than comfortable on longer
trails.
I was able to find what may be the best of
both worlds with Steel Horse's Super Seats. These seats are built
for off-road jeeps, with a welded tube steel frame. They are
covered with the same tough fabric that Steel Horse uses in it's
Jeep tops so they are also highly water resistant. They're
comfortable, even with an extra large adult male in the bucket, and
their large bolsters provide excellent support and control that
keeps me firmly positioned in the seat. The adjustable headrest is
actually usable and can be moved to fit almost anybody.
While I would
not have minded doing a little fabrication work to get a good seat
into my Jeep absolutely none was necessary with the Super Seats,
which bolt right onto the factory Jeep seat rails. The entire
installation process only takes about 20 - 30 minutes for each seat
and only requires common hand tools. The biggest problem
encountered during the installation was freeing up a mounting bolt
that had rusted into one of my old seat's mounts (I told you they
get wet).
Installed, they look quite good and will
match most Jeep's interiors well. They do sit a bit higher than the
stock seats and when they are slid all the way back on the rail, it
is a tight squeeze with the roll bar. The seats recline, but not
with the ratchet and lever that you may be used to with most
reclining seats. These seats have what Steel Horse calls "infinite
recline" which uses a large knob which you rotate to adjust the
angle of the seat back. It takes a bit longer, but you can
get the exact seating position that you want.
After several months
of use, I am pleased with the Steel Horse Super Seats and their
matching fold and tumble rear seat. They have met all of my
requirements at a quite reasonable price and have proven that they
can stand up to the torture that I put my seats through.
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