Seat back discomfort
 

Has anybody else had the feeling that the driver's seat back in your Dodge is crooked and nothing seems to make it better? I have replaced my seat cushion and that helped with the back pain but whenever I drive my Ram, my right shoulder gets a knot in it like I'm not leaning against a symmetrical seat back.

I have taken the cushions off and checked the frame from every angle. It seems very straight. The back cushion I had swapped from the passenger side but that did not solve the problem. I believe the cushions are actually slightly to either side because when I did that it feels like my bottom half is sitting right and my back is shifted to the left.

Does the factory back cushion solve this problem in anybody's experience? Or is there a company that makes a better designed cushion to fit in the factory seat cover? I'm open to any and all suggestions because i love everything about the truck except the medieval torture device that's disguised as a front seat.

The seat back foam does deteriorate on the outer side, typically you can see the difference surface of the foam. I wouldn't think a passenger side would work on the driver side, thinking they would be different.

You could try putting some foam between the foam and the frame to push it outward, like 1/2 high density - bought at your local crafts store. Or you could layer some stick on weather stripping to get a custom thickness. Or you could try to find original foam from the Dodge dealer. Or you could get into repairing the foam directly, there is a youtube video that shows a guy repairing foam with an electric knife, stock foam, and special glue.

My bare bones 3/4 tone truck has 164k on it, and I'm mid process on swapping to a power seat that includes power lumbar support. I'm not impressed with the manual seats. I had a loaded SLT with power seats and leather; those seats were still comfortable when I sold it with 150k. I picked up a couple of those power driver seats from a junk yard, and am rebuilding the bones of one to put in mine now - still deciding on the covers... whether to go with leather from leatherseats.com or just put on factory cloth. Which bottom seat foam replacement did you buy for yours?

You could also go power, Ebay has bases for sale. I may have a complete power driver seat to sell (minus foam and covers) when I'm done. I put power to the first one and its was completely operational so I disassembled and sandblasted and painted the frame. When I get my project complete, I'll probably unload the spare.

Good luck!

I have tried the things you mentioned with adding foam, and I tried using webbing to support the cushion in a more symmetrical way because I thought that diagonal bar was pressing against my shoulder blade on the right side. Unfortunately even though it helped with lumbar support my right shoulder still got knotted up.

I've already spent $350 on uphulstery and $200 on the stock seat cushion so I'm really hoping for a slightly cheaper solution than replacing the seat. But just the same it could be my end solution.

What is that electric seat worth to you? And would you know of a cheaper place to get cushions and cover for it?

Maybe the frame is bent, or that passenger side foam is wrecking the angles for the drivers side. Or, not meaning to be axehole, perhaps its your body dimensions not matching up with the seat design very well. Does your seat have an adjustable lumbar support, or are the only adjustments the slider and back angle?

I'm not sure I have a power seat for sale yet, didn't test the other one yet and have not built out mine yet. I also have another complete driver side manual seat I pulled just for the seat back cover.

The bottom seat foam is available from multiple sources, I haven't checked on the back foam. Replacement bottom covers are available from a few sellers on ebay, all different prices and, I suspect, quality. There is also Katzkin, or LeatherSeats.com selling replacement covers in nice leather. You could also go to your local automotive trim guy and see what they can offer.

Having had back surgery in the past, I completely understand you wanting to get that seat comfortable.

I wonder if it's because the driver's seat isn't actually centered behind the steering wheel...noticed this a while back, driver's seat in a 3rd gen is just a little offset from the wheel.

Huh, I thought I was the only one who felt this when I had my truck... It did feel like the seat was a bit to the side of the steering wheel...

Nope, and not just us lol...others have too. Swapping 4th gen seats in seems to have mitigated it a bit (maybe I'm just hallucinating), especially combined with a much more comfortable seat.

Haha you're probably not hallucinating :icon_teeth:

My '02 had the center collapsed. It felt like I was sitting on the top of an open bucket. (Previous owner was pretty hefty.) I got some foam and batting, put them on the seat then got a cheap seat cover to hold it in place. It's like a new seat now. total cost was about $35.

Sheesh the center collapsed??? The previous owner really was hefty :icon_goofygrin: