The following question regarding lumbar support for car seats was received via email and we thought we would share it with you.

Question

I am wondering if you help or at least provide some advice. I purchased a new 2014 F-250 Pickup with leather interior. The seats are leather and had a seam right in the middle of the seat back. I had a local upholstery shop remove the seam, but the seat still does not feel comfortable. It is almost like the seat is too flat and not curved enough. Is it possible to add more curve to the foam in the seat some how?

Answer

Yes, it is possible to add curve to the foam these are called lumbar support adjustments and can be performed by any upholstery shop. The upholstery shop will need to remove the upholstery and add lumbar support in areas where you feel you need support. Look at the seat with your upholsterer while the leather is off so you can see the foam. This will give you a good understanding of what needs to be done. Lumbar support for car seats is very important to the comfort of your vehicle.

Lumbar Support for Car Seats

Making Sure the Upholstery Shop Understands the Problem

The majority of the time it’s better to explain the problem rather than having the upholstery shop fix something what you assume is the causing it. This would have saved you a lot of time and money in the long run. From your explanation, the seam was not the problem.  Seams are only an aesthetic aspect of the Ford design. It is not significant enough that it will throw off the lumbar when you sit.

When you explained the comfort issues to the upholstery shop, modification to the lumbar support should have been an obvious solution for them to assess. If you went in and told them to remove the seam without explaining the issue this would have been easy to miss. They may have assumed that you wanted the aesthetic element changed and did not understand the bigger issue.

To fix the lumbar support issues the upholstery shop will need to add ½ inch foam to the side bolsters, the bottom of the seat or other areas specified by you this will depend on where you felt that more support was needed. This will consist of:

  • Removing the seat and the upholstery
  • Working with you to evaluate custom lumbar requirements
  • Adding appropriate lumbar according to your specifications
  • Reinstalling the upholstery
  • Reinstalling the seat

Image Source