Seat Springs - firming

[kampala]

We have all read about the foam “pool noodles” to firm up the seats - and the noodles do work.

An alternative:
Upon rebuilding the seats on the 280sl - I had read about using zip ties on the “S” springs and wanted to give that a try.

I used Stainless Steel zip ties.  (Got them through Amazon, of course)

I tested the firmness (seat on garage floor) after adding a few zip ties to determine how many is enough and how many is too much.  You can clearly make it too firm if you make them too tight or put too many.  I used about 16 ties per seat bottom.

Between using a piece of carpet as suggested by some and using the stainless zip ties, the seats feel amazingly firm. Was pleasantly surprised at the difference. 

[WRe]

Hi,
I did it with these special rubber bands from upholstery supplies and it worked fine.
...WRe

[Bill]

Question..? How difficult is it to remove the seats? Thanks! Bill

[Lorsar]

Pretty simple, just 4 bolts.  Do the back ones first, then slide the seat back and do the front.  The front ones are in a tight spot, a skinny ratcheting wrench is helpful.

[Bill]

Thanks! Also.., re: seats.  can I use foam cushions as a substitute  for the more expensive fiber pads? Bill (230SL)

[jeblack123]

Kampala,

What length and strength steel zip tie did you buy from Amazon?

Thanks,

James (Eddie) Black

[kampala]

The ties are very long.  I just cut them down after pulling tight. Here’s the link:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09GFT3HJD?ref_=cm_sw_r_cp_ud_dp_TRVESKXWXRHRT8GC2CJ6

[114015]

My interior shop owner did basically the same. He exchanged the Nosag springs (that's the name for the S-like shaped springs) and  combined/stripped  them together with 1 or 2 cross leaf springs.

Result:
Very firm seating....; no problem doing 770 kms one trip without back problems ....



Achim