Twisted driver's seat? How to identify and fix?

Post by **FireFox31** » 20 May 2021, 21:21

I feel like my driver's seat is a little twisted. How can I prove that it is or isn't? How can I fix it if necessary? On a 2000 V70, can I swap a donor front passenger's seat with my driver's seat?

Funny thing is, this is the second V70 which feels wrong. My last 2000 V70 which I owned for 18 years felt twisted compared to my Mercedes. Now, this new-to-me 2000 V70 feels twisted in the same way.

Thanks.

Post by **scot850** » 20 May 2021, 21:42

What makes you think it is twisted? It might just be the way they are. Not all cars have seats set square to the peddles or steering wheel due to peddle position limitations.

However, there is a ledge just forward of the seat on the floor. You could check the rails are both equal to the edge of the drop down in the floor.

Passenger and driver's seats cannot be swapped. Only the covers can be swapped.

Neil.

Cookeh · Post by **Cookeh** » 21 May 2021, 02:23

They are slightly offset from square. It actually really annoyed me, especially on longer trips. Could fix by cutting up and rewelding the seat brackets, but probably not worth the effort.

Post by **matthew1** » 21 May 2021, 09:43

Cookeh wrote: ↑21 May 2021, 02:23 They are slightly offset from square.

Do you mean offset from centerline of the steering wheel?

FireFox, by twisted do you mean offset from centerline of steering wheel? Or angled a few degrees from straight... pointing a little left or a little right, as the car drives straight?

Cookeh · Post by **Cookeh** » 21 May 2021, 12:33

The former, in my case. Hence 'offset', and not rotated

Post by **scot850** » 21 May 2021, 19:59

I can't say I have ever noticed on a P80 Volvo. Never bothered me as it has been one of the most comfortable long distance cars I have driven. I drove 1100km in a day and have a bad back and got out with no pain. Now a P2 is another matter or a XC90. Those seats are nor for humans of larger build!!

Neil.

Post by **FireFox31** » 21 May 2021, 23:19

My 2000 V70 driver's seat felt fine for the first 15 years that I drove it. Then I started driving my Mercedes more, with its stiff German seat. When I went back to the V70, it felt like I was leaning to the left and my left hip was farther back in the seat than my right. I tried to quantify this by using my hand to measure how much space was between each side of my rib cage and the seat. Sure enough, I was pressed harder against the left than the right. That car got totaled, I got another 200k mi 2000 V70, and it has the same problem.

Two cars, same problem? Maybe it's me. But my Mercedes seat feels perfectly straight. I'm tempted to take the seat out of the car, place it on a level surface, and take measurements to compare the left to the right. Then, if it is twisted, find some way to bend it back. I'm tempted to replace the seat covers with the custom aftermarket ones, so it seems ok to really strip the seat to diagnose it.

When I was with my sister getting her 1993 240 from a Volvo specialist in Boston, we saw another one with the driver's seat out. Asking what they were doing to it, the salesman said they were straightening the seat which was bent, "and you don't want to see what we have to do to some of them." Never forgot that.