Rebuilding OEM Seats for Comfort?

My parents have an '05 Honda Pilot that they love, with the exception of the seats. For whatever reason, it kills my mom's back whenever she has to ride in it for any extended period of time. It's gotten bad enough that they're considering selling it and getting something else, but my dad doesn't want or need anything newer, nicer, or more capable. He'd basically be paying $30,000+ for some (hopefully) more comfortable seats.

He's considering the option of replacing the factory seats (or even just the passenger seat) with something more comfortable. Recaro makes some ergonomic seats, but they're well north of $2k a piece. I doubt that's an option, really.

Considering performance isn't even kind of a concern, what would GRM do? Rebuild, retrofit, or replace? My gut tells me sourcing some seats from a different truck would be a reasonable option.

There was a whole thread on here a couple of weeks ago about What's the best seat?, and the consensus seemed to be that It Depends. I agree that replacing the whole truck seems like overkill, but rebuilding the OE seat that causes your mom's problems doesn't seem very smart either (unless she remembers a time when those specific seats were great.) So that brings us to retrofitting, and here's where your mom is just going to have to test a bunch o'seats and see what she likes. On that other thread, almost everybody seemed to like Volvo seats, particularly the high-end ones, but (as you no doubt already know) backs can be really finicky, so she will have to choose for herself.

But then, even if she decides that the seat in the 20XX Whatever Sport Deluxe is exactly what she wants, you'd then have to locate one that hasn't been abused or been in a wreck (not to mention is in the right colour.)

Personally, I'd be inclined to pick a new Recaro, put the OE seat in the basement, and count on getting most of my money back when I switched them back at resale time and sold the Recaro separately.

Free advice & worth every dime.

I worked for an automotive seating company and the fellow that ran the comfort lab once told me that 80% of the seat comfort was attributed to the cushion, and the remaining 20% to the back. It might be worth trying some simple foam slabs from the fabric store. They'll probably have two different densities she could try.Otherwise, it's find another seat that she likes, or portions of a seat. I couldn't get comfortable in my Miata until I rebuilt the seat cushion with extra steel supports and VW GTI foam pieces.

Obviously I don't know the issue she is having, but I would start with cushions. The lack of lumbar support in the Camry killed me. A $20 lumbar cushion off Amazon solved the problem. I would start there.

Did the Pilot of the same frame offer an upgrade (or downgrade) seat?
Was there variations of the seat over the years for same frame?
If yes, you could source a salvage yard, direct replacement seat that may be better or at the least, different.

In reply to Stealthtercel: I started that thread! I was surprised that many people's favorite were Volvo seats while I drove one and it felt ordinary to me.

But yeah, seat comfort could be very specific. The most practical option for a boring drivers is to trade the Pilot for whichever 05 or 06 vehicle that both of your parents like the seats. Different vehicle, around the same money so they're not wasting money. The grassroots solution is to first, get some extra cushions for the one seat. Next would be to try mom sitting in a big variety of seats and feel which one is the most comfortable. Her perfect seat should feel really good just right off the bat (at least that's how it was for me). It would probably require 20 minute test drives to make sure they feel really good to her. Then, make custom brackets with sliders so they can work just like the factory seat. I would only buy a used Recaro or Corbeau seat to save money since some can get outrageous with price(unless they put that much R&D into them).

In reply to DeadSkunk:What about side bolstering or leg bolstering? My leg bolsters on my seats are part of what makes my seats uncomfortable.

In reply to Stealthtercel: Rebuilding a seat may also not be a good idea if she gained or lost a significant amount of weight in that period of time.

First off: does the seat have bombs in it?

If not...

What I'd do in this situation would be to strip off the upholstery and get to the bare foam. Then start shaping. Add padding where needed (look at Confor foam for the good stuff) and carve away where it isn't. You can end up with a remarkably comfortable seat which is basically custom-made.

Alternately, a simple back support can make a big difference. Janel uses one of these in her Grand Cherokee, which has seats with all the support of a sofa.

Thanks for all the responses, guys. I don't think the seats have airbags, no. I'm pretty sure she's tried cushions, and has used those three-piece lumbar cushions.

I'm going up there to visit this weekend, I'll have a little more in depth conversation with them. I'm thinking that the first step may be to try seats from another vehicle. Acura MDX seats might be an option, that's basically a dressed-up Pilot, so the seats may fit without too much hassle.

Mr_Clutch42 wrote: In reply to DeadSkunk:What about side bolstering or leg bolstering? My leg bolsters on my seats are part of what makes my seats uncomfortable.

I added the thigh support steel bars and foam from the GTI seat to the Miata seat pan. All the foam in the seat cushion is VW now. Part of my discomfort with the stock seat was the lack of thigh bolsters. The seat would let my legs flop over and rest against the door and the console. I left the seat back stock, but did add a pad that's moveable for a lumbar support.

05 Pilot has seat airbags... So proceed with caution... But there is an LX and EX model. Which probably has different seats..

Either find a junkyard seat from an Accord EX or big Acura and adapt it to the rails, or find a used seat from any pre airbag Porsche. They're all Recaros and since so many have been turned into track cars, there are a ton of them available.

Typically (not always) different trim levels just have the same foam shape and firmness, but the trim lines are in slightly different spots to make the seat look different. A change from a cloth seat to leather can occasionally change the effective firmness because of differing stretch characteristics of the seat cover.
Also, a lot of foam parts are poured with two firmnesses of foam, softer in the seat area, firmer along the bolsters. The OP's mother needs to define why she's uncomfortable and maybe he can figure out what to do.
Air bags would make the whole issue much more difficult. You shouldn't monkey around with the cover or the foam anywhere near the bags.

Maybe look at some cheaper seats, between the expensive scary brand names and the no-name Chinese junk. I sat in an NRG seat that was nice, but it was a racing seat that keeps you wedged in place.

noddaz wrote: 05 Pilot has seat airbags... So proceed with caution... But there is an LX and EX model. Which probably has different seats..

Yeah, looks like you're right. I haven't been in there in a while. Think MDX seats with the same airbag configuration would wire up?