I am glad to know it wasn’t just me experiencing this issue!!! Oh my gosh! The seat is very narrow at my hip line. I had to purchase a seat cushion for my Mode Y 2023 until I am able to schedule an appointment with my local upholstery shop. Thank you for the very informative video.
I'm glad to help you. I hope it works. If it's not enough please contact me so I can try to assist you. I didn't have great results at the upholstery shop and began rebuilding the seats myself. I can be reached at Seben(6+1)0neNine-244-Seben0neTw0Four. Kindly like and subscribe to my channel so I can afford to do more.
I rented a model 3 and this issue is killing me. I've tried 5 different types of cushions, pillows, anything even shoe inserts and God damn driving Uber in this thing is torture
I don’t have a fix for a rental. Not yet anyway. Can you describe exactly how the seat is "killing you", then I can make suggestions or possibly build something custom for your needs.
Thank you very much for your initiative. Based on your experience, would it be possible to decrease the inclination so that the seat is as parallel to the floor as possible? My physiotherapist recommended having a seat like a “chair” for sitting in the car. Usually, SUVs are better for this, but with the Model 3, I’ve been thinking about putting some sort of washer under the rear seat bolts to tilt the seat forward. Would that be feasible? I haven’t had the chance to see the construction of that seat yet. Thanks a lot.
Yes, you could. Keep in mind that all changes have some probable risk to original design for safety etc. But a set of washers in the back would raise the back of the seat a bit and might help you. The way the seat is designed is intentional so that you are lower in the buttocks and higher in the thighs. It is shaped tilted back. Caution to not use too much washer or you'll weaken the bolt connection. The bolts are rather strong. An option would be to replace the bolts with similar strength but longer, that would give you more to work with. I think a better foam, like I do in my own build is the best idea. It does many things to help with hip pain and other problems. But if you are happy with the seat itself but just wish to tilt it slightly, you might try to tip it all a bit. You can also put a spacer in between the metal base springs and the bottom of the foam. You can also buy an aftermarket filler to fill the bottom, especially the rear of the seat, by sitting on top of this filler. Amazon sells a few. I bought one to test a while back. If you are tall and or have a taller upper body, you only have so much head room to work with. That will be the limitation. Unfortunately the Model 3 is built more like sports cars of the past, seats close to the floor so the legs are extended instead of knees at right angle like you'd find in a chair or truck seat. Additionally Model 3 has a low roof line. Model Y puts the seat on a pedestal. You might try out a Model Y. But the Model Y thereby eats up head room and you can't raise the seat further much at all. Also try riding in the passenger seat. It already has a small spacer and you'd sit a bit higher. I think it's as much as 1/4" . It's a flat piece of plastic that's part of the seat sensor system. But it's only in the passenger seat. It not only raises the seat bottom a slight amount but it also stiffens the spring base even more. It will give you an idea of what a slight raise might be like. If you are having back issues, not knowing the details, I can't be too specific in what might help you. But I know that for me, a thicker bottom cushion was great but it also necessitated a modification to the back/upper part of the seat. I made my own lumbar and flattened it more. I also bent the headrest back some. If you want to talk in more detail, reach out to me more directly. I can be reached at (6+1) One Nine - 2 Four 4 - (6+1) One Two 4 Sincerely, George
Im not that big. Size 38 waistline 6'2" and 220 pounds. But i was creasing/folding over the left driver bolster. It wasn't that uncomfortable but was worried about resla a few years down the road. I am currently using about the same size polyurethane cushion. Its been effective not deforming the bolster but think your method is better.
Sometimes at your size, it can hurt. It depends more upon the hip width. If your hips aren't wide, shouldn't hurt much. Those seat bottoms can be replaced down the road. There's a healthy used auto parts market for them. If you wanted to just get one less creased and such. But if you want a more robust seat, my newest approach works very well. Thank you for your inputs.
I wondered if you can swap the entire seat with the Volvo or Nissan seats because the headrest is also terrible with Tesla. The original Tesla model s and x headrests can adjust not anymore.
It's a great idea, and early in my efforts, I explored it some. Keep in perspective, I've worked on Tesla seat mods for 2 years. For the first year it was my primary effort. I explored a lot of options. I bought a lot of seats and parts from other cars and used Teslas. I spent quite a bit of time and money in my research and "engineering" and modeling and testing. If you mean the “entire seat”? Which would be all the metal base, and all the cushion as it comes from another brand, then there are lots and lots of challenges. As always, Anything can be done with enough time, money, knowledge, effort.... but …. I didn't want to modify the wiring and mess the computer up any so I kept all the Tesla electricals stock. Electricals include the seat sensor for person in seat, a seat belt sensor, seat heater, seat motors, and seat air bag. That's a lot to deal with but could be done. I chose a much easier approach. I simply swapped to the new bottom cushion that I modified/built after I moved the seat sensor over. I retained the faux cover and so the heater is normal. I didn't touch motors, air bag, seat belt sensor in my approach. What I did was swap only the foam and built a seat bottom from there. I also bent the headrest and disabled the lumbar and added some foam in the back/upper. Moving the metal frame of a seat also involves the challenges of the physical floor interface. Tesla Model 3/Y uses four floor bolts to secure the seat frame to the car floor. I doubt you'll find any other make with exactly the same floor bolt pattern. You could overcome that with adapters, welding and such. Just seems like too much work to arrive at the goal that I had, a comfortable seat for a larger body build. Another challenge with moving a different frame into the Tesla is size. The Model 3/Y has virtually zero additional room to the sides. I couldn't fit some of the seats I explored. They were too wide for the car. Then there's the mounting configuration from a height perspective. Many other cars have uneven floors and therefore the seat mounts are uneven. You'd have to do metal work to get it to sit on the floor. If you meant move only the seat bottom cushion from another brand into the Tesla, that's kind of where my focus ended up. But you'd have to deal with the seat heater and person in seat wiring. That's not hard to do. I would move the Tesla seat sensor into the seat you are installing. The seat heater in the Tesla is integrated into the faux leather cover. So it would depend upon how the other seat is wired if you wanted to retain the seat heater. And my biggest challenge to this approach was the size and shape and how to hold it down to the Tesla seat frame. I have also investigated modifying the metal frame. But that proved way too difficult and risky to safety. I also investigated swapping two seat bottoms and that included the older Tesla model S and a luxury Japanese car. The seat bottoms were very different sizes and it proved much more work than my approach, so I abandoned that idea. The seat bottoms were different size and shape, they really didn't physically fit into the Tesla frame.
Hello George Do you maybe have a video on removing the lumbar support in the drivers back rest. I also have back pain in my left leg, tried almost everything Regards Johnny Haugaard DK
Call me but in the meantime, a quick response. Back pain and pain in your leg (I'm not a back professional) are likely due to a pinched nerve or two. I believe it is labeled as sciatica. In most cases the lower back has a disc(s) issue(s). I have them too. We've got to get the pressure off the discs. As far as seats, we want to minimize the rounding of the lower back. The rounding causes the spine to compress the discs in the lower back and push the disc(s) into the nerves in the spinal column. To do that takes a realignment of the entire seat-to-back interface. A good video is here: ua-cam.com/video/wOzu-nzTbGc/v-deo.html And another expert: ua-cam.com/video/feejuXcCWt8/v-deo.html And another expert: ua-cam.com/video/YpnNvh5cpi8/v-deo.html Starting with the head, The head shouldn't be bending forward, that pulls the spine to a round figure. I bent my headrest backwards. Here's a How to video: ua-cam.com/video/J4vIBNx0rBQ/v-deo.html And mine: ua-cam.com/video/URG3iNrS3W8/v-deo.html To keep the head from bending to see the screen. Get a rotating mount! ua-cam.com/video/bpqarDFZ_5U/v-deo.html And removing the seat back to access the lumbar and all that. ua-cam.com/video/MLgpF8zfuoo/v-deo.html An easier change is to pull the headrest out and put it in backwards. Headrest removal: ua-cam.com/video/URG3iNrS3W8/v-deo.html Another seat back removal: ua-cam.com/video/uO14ozvn-T8/v-deo.html I put the foam in front of the yellow plastic, seen in the above video I haven't been able to find the video on removal of the lumbar. If I can find it I'll share, if not I'll make one at some point. Here's what I found on lumbar, there's a better one someplace: ua-cam.com/video/y91gwfiST3o/v-deo.html Going down from the head, the upper back tends to be sunk into the middle. I placed a piece of foam in the center vertically and as wide as would fit. Going down I put a piece of foam horizontally to prevent the lower back from sinking into the seat. The hips should be all the way back into the upper back of the seat. To do this I removed the lumbar support. There are videos out there on how to do this. I did NOT cut or remove any lines or wires. Instead I simply placed it in back of the yellow plastic. PUT VIDEO CLIP HERE OF LUMBAR SUPPORT REMOVAL The lower seat I rebuilt so we can sit full back into the upper back and the wings didn't squeeze, and there's a lot of suspension to reduce/prevent shock to the spine and have a nice cushy ride.
Let me know if you have difficulties. I'd like to know how it works out for you. I can be reached as follow: Call or text. Seven one mine(sounds like) - 244- seven one 2 fore(sounds like). Sincerely, George
Do you mean you'd like a video taking the cover off the foam, once the seat bottom is out of the car? If yes, I could do that for you. For now, general written instructions. Work the seat cushion out of the car. On a bench or sturdy table. Place upside down. On the bottom rear is a black strap in two pieces across the foam. Pull together the two plastic tabs holding the two strap ends together. Without pulling pressure of the foam they will release from each other. Now reaching under the covers, so to speak, starting with the back end: The two outside strips (corresponds to the grooves you see on the top of the cover), running front to back, are attached with Velcro like strips, but are really strong. White fuzzy attached to the seat cover. Blue Velcro strips are glued to the foam. The blue velcro part in the foam is glued can be easily ripped out, so be careful. Carefully separate with fingers, one inch at a time, trying not to tear the blue strip off the foam. You'll only get to the first horizontal strip for now. The three horizontal seat cover seam strips are clipped down into the foam. The clips are red colored plastic buried into the foam. They can readily break. I usual break some, in spite of my best effort trying not to. The clips are quite small snapped very tightly around a plastic bar attached to the seat cover. Hold one side of a clip into the foam with a finger while pulling the bar up. They are quite difficult to pop open. Work your way from one end of the cover and of side of the cover towards the other. These are get difficult to pop open without destroying them. Call or text if you want help. Seven one mine - 244- seven one 2 fore. Sincerely, George
Driver seats sits very low - is that a problem in real life with bend knees and stress on lower back etc? Or only getting in and out is a bit extra problem? Or it's all good and low seat is not a problem at all? Thanks
I think low seats has the potential of rounding the lower back. Generally not good. I raised my seat as high as I could and still see and not hit my head. Mostly with more dense and more foam in the seat bottom.
@georgeborrelli3134 So increasing the seat height makes is more like a regular car (Camry, Corolla or any other sedan)? I am 5 feet 7inch so I don't think I will ever touch the model 3 roof but I am not sure how high the seat can be raised by the automatic control on it. If it is like 2 inch higher then I think low seat should not be a problem. Also, is it practical to put a cushion on the seat to make it higher? Are there third party vendors that you know who offer such cushions? Thanks again
@georgeborrelli3134 That is awesome 👌. But for most of the mere mortals that may not be an option. And a seat cushion may be more realistic solution 🙂. Having said that is the seat comfortable for long drives. No knee discomfort since they are bent more? Or lower back stress? Is it realistic to assume that the built-in height adjustment can increase seat height by 2 inches?
Be sure to watch my latest videos on seat modifications. This was an early approach. I don't do it this way anymore. Although it could work for you, you may need the more enhanced approach I show in follow up videos. Finally I tossed the OEM stock Tesla foam entirely and replaced it with another more robust foam. I also add some blocks of foam underneath the seat. Some people put a spacer between the springs and the bottom of the Tesla OEM stock foam. That might work. First test the passenger seat because it already has a spacer in the form of the fancy passenger sensor module between the foam and the springs.
I am glad to know it wasn’t just me experiencing this issue!!! Oh my gosh! The seat is very narrow at my hip line. I had to purchase a seat cushion for my Mode Y 2023 until I am able to schedule an appointment with my local upholstery shop. Thank you for the very informative video.
I'm glad to help you. I hope it works. If it's not enough please contact me so I can try to assist you. I didn't have great results at the upholstery shop and began rebuilding the seats myself.
I can be reached at Seben(6+1)0neNine-244-Seben0neTw0Four.
Kindly like and subscribe to my channel so I can afford to do more.
Exactly my thought, I can’t fit my hip on it and feel comfortable, that’s a deal breaker for me.
I rented a model 3 and this issue is killing me. I've tried 5 different types of cushions, pillows, anything even shoe inserts and God damn driving Uber in this thing is torture
I don’t have a fix for a rental. Not yet anyway.
Can you describe exactly how the seat is "killing you", then I can make suggestions or possibly build something custom for your needs.
Thank you very much for your initiative. Based on your experience, would it be possible to decrease the inclination so that the seat is as parallel to the floor as possible? My physiotherapist recommended having a seat like a “chair” for sitting in the car. Usually, SUVs are better for this, but with the Model 3, I’ve been thinking about putting some sort of washer under the rear seat bolts to tilt the seat forward. Would that be feasible? I haven’t had the chance to see the construction of that seat yet. Thanks a lot.
Yes, you could. Keep in mind that all changes have some probable risk to original design for safety etc. But a set of washers in the back would raise the back of the seat a bit and might help you. The way the seat is designed is intentional so that you are lower in the buttocks and higher in the thighs. It is shaped tilted back. Caution to not use too much washer or you'll weaken the bolt connection. The bolts are rather strong. An option would be to replace the bolts with similar strength but longer, that would give you more to work with.
I think a better foam, like I do in my own build is the best idea. It does many things to help with hip pain and other problems. But if you are happy with the seat itself but just wish to tilt it slightly, you might try to tip it all a bit. You can also put a spacer in between the metal base springs and the bottom of the foam. You can also buy an aftermarket filler to fill the bottom, especially the rear of the seat, by sitting on top of this filler. Amazon sells a few. I bought one to test a while back. If you are tall and or have a taller upper body, you only have so much head room to work with. That will be the limitation. Unfortunately the Model 3 is built more like sports cars of the past, seats close to the floor so the legs are extended instead of knees at right angle like you'd find in a chair or truck seat. Additionally Model 3 has a low roof line. Model Y puts the seat on a pedestal. You might try out a Model Y. But the Model Y thereby eats up head room and you can't raise the seat further much at all.
Also try riding in the passenger seat. It already has a small spacer and you'd sit a bit higher. I think it's as much as 1/4" . It's a flat piece of plastic that's part of the seat sensor system. But it's only in the passenger seat. It not only raises the seat bottom a slight amount but it also stiffens the spring base even more. It will give you an idea of what a slight raise might be like.
If you are having back issues, not knowing the details, I can't be too specific in what might help you. But I know that for me, a thicker bottom cushion was great but it also necessitated a modification to the back/upper part of the seat. I made my own lumbar and flattened it more. I also bent the headrest back some.
If you want to talk in more detail, reach out to me more directly. I can be reached at (6+1) One Nine - 2 Four 4 - (6+1) One Two 4
Sincerely,
George
Im not that big. Size 38 waistline 6'2" and 220 pounds. But i was creasing/folding over the left driver bolster. It wasn't that uncomfortable but was worried about resla a few years down the road. I am currently using about the same size polyurethane cushion. Its been effective not deforming the bolster but think your method is better.
Sometimes at your size, it can hurt. It depends more upon the hip width. If your hips aren't wide, shouldn't hurt much. Those seat bottoms can be replaced down the road. There's a healthy used auto parts market for them. If you wanted to just get one less creased and such. But if you want a more robust seat, my newest approach works very well. Thank you for your inputs.
I wondered if you can swap the entire seat with the Volvo or Nissan seats because the headrest is also terrible with Tesla. The original Tesla model s and x headrests can adjust not anymore.
It's a great idea, and early in my efforts, I explored it some.
Keep in perspective, I've worked on Tesla seat mods for 2 years. For the first year it was my primary effort. I explored a lot of options. I bought a lot of seats and parts from other cars and used Teslas. I spent quite a bit of time and money in my research and "engineering" and modeling and testing.
If you mean the “entire seat”? Which would be all the metal base, and all the cushion as it comes from another brand, then there are lots and lots of challenges. As always, Anything can be done with enough time, money, knowledge, effort.... but ….
I didn't want to modify the wiring and mess the computer up any so I kept all the Tesla electricals stock. Electricals include the seat sensor for person in seat, a seat belt sensor, seat heater, seat motors, and seat air bag. That's a lot to deal with but could be done. I chose a much easier approach. I simply swapped to the new bottom cushion that I modified/built after I moved the seat sensor over. I retained the faux cover and so the heater is normal. I didn't touch motors, air bag, seat belt sensor in my approach. What I did was swap only the foam and built a seat bottom from there. I also bent the headrest and disabled the lumbar and added some foam in the back/upper.
Moving the metal frame of a seat also involves the challenges of the physical floor interface. Tesla Model 3/Y uses four floor bolts to secure the seat frame to the car floor. I doubt you'll find any other make with exactly the same floor bolt pattern. You could overcome that with adapters, welding and such. Just seems like too much work to arrive at the goal that I had, a comfortable seat for a larger body build.
Another challenge with moving a different frame into the Tesla is size. The Model 3/Y has virtually zero additional room to the sides. I couldn't fit some of the seats I explored. They were too wide for the car. Then there's the mounting configuration from a height perspective. Many other cars have uneven floors and therefore the seat mounts are uneven. You'd have to do metal work to get it to sit on the floor.
If you meant move only the seat bottom cushion from another brand into the Tesla, that's kind of where my focus ended up. But you'd have to deal with the seat heater and person in seat wiring. That's not hard to do. I would move the Tesla seat sensor into the seat you are installing. The seat heater in the Tesla is integrated into the faux leather cover. So it would depend upon how the other seat is wired if you wanted to retain the seat heater. And my biggest challenge to this approach was the size and shape and how to hold it down to the Tesla seat frame.
I have also investigated modifying the metal frame. But that proved way too difficult and risky to safety. I also investigated swapping two seat bottoms and that included the older Tesla model S and a luxury Japanese car. The seat bottoms were very different sizes and it proved much more work than my approach, so I abandoned that idea. The seat bottoms were different size and shape, they really didn't physically fit into the Tesla frame.
Hello George
Do you maybe have a video on removing the lumbar support in the drivers back rest.
I also have back pain in my left leg, tried almost everything
Regards Johnny Haugaard DK
Give me a call. I'm around most of the time. Seben(thenumberaftersix)0neNine-Tw0fourfour-Seben0neTwoFour.
Call me but in the meantime, a quick response.
Back pain and pain in your leg (I'm not a back professional) are likely due to a pinched nerve or two. I believe it is labeled as sciatica. In most cases the lower back has a disc(s) issue(s). I have them too. We've got to get the pressure off the discs. As far as seats, we want to minimize the rounding of the lower back. The rounding causes the spine to compress the discs in the lower back and push the disc(s) into the nerves in the spinal column. To do that takes a realignment of the entire seat-to-back interface.
A good video is here: ua-cam.com/video/wOzu-nzTbGc/v-deo.html
And another expert:
ua-cam.com/video/feejuXcCWt8/v-deo.html
And another expert: ua-cam.com/video/YpnNvh5cpi8/v-deo.html
Starting with the head,
The head shouldn't be bending forward, that pulls the spine to a round figure. I bent my headrest backwards. Here's a How to video:
ua-cam.com/video/J4vIBNx0rBQ/v-deo.html
And mine:
ua-cam.com/video/URG3iNrS3W8/v-deo.html
To keep the head from bending to see the screen.
Get a rotating mount!
ua-cam.com/video/bpqarDFZ_5U/v-deo.html
And removing the seat back to access the lumbar and all that.
ua-cam.com/video/MLgpF8zfuoo/v-deo.html
An easier change is to pull the headrest out and put it in backwards.
Headrest removal: ua-cam.com/video/URG3iNrS3W8/v-deo.html
Another seat back removal: ua-cam.com/video/uO14ozvn-T8/v-deo.html
I put the foam in front of the yellow plastic, seen in the above video
I haven't been able to find the video on removal of the lumbar.
If I can find it I'll share, if not I'll make one at some point.
Here's what I found on lumbar, there's a better one someplace:
ua-cam.com/video/y91gwfiST3o/v-deo.html
Going down from the head, the upper back tends to be sunk into the middle. I placed a piece of foam in the center vertically and as wide as would fit. Going down I put a piece of foam horizontally to prevent the lower back from sinking into the seat. The hips should be all the way back into the upper back of the seat. To do this I removed the lumbar support. There are videos out there on how to do this. I did NOT cut or remove any lines or wires. Instead I simply placed it in back of the yellow plastic.
PUT VIDEO CLIP HERE OF LUMBAR SUPPORT REMOVAL
The lower seat I rebuilt so we can sit full back into the upper back and the wings didn't squeeze, and there's a lot of suspension to reduce/prevent shock to the spine and have a nice cushy ride.
Thanks I think I'll do this to my model 3 seats.
Let me know if you have difficulties. I'd like to know how it works out for you.
I can be reached as follow: Call or text. Seven one mine(sounds like) - 244- seven one 2 fore(sounds like). Sincerely, George
Do you have a video on how you took off the cover?
Do you mean you'd like a video taking the cover off the foam, once the seat bottom is out of the car?
If yes, I could do that for you. For now, general written instructions.
Work the seat cushion out of the car. On a bench or sturdy table. Place upside down. On the bottom rear is a black strap in two pieces across the foam. Pull together the two plastic tabs holding the two strap ends together. Without pulling pressure of the foam they will release from each other. Now reaching under the covers, so to speak, starting with the back end: The two outside strips (corresponds to the grooves you see on the top of the cover), running front to back, are attached with Velcro like strips, but are really strong. White fuzzy attached to the seat cover. Blue Velcro strips are glued to the foam. The blue velcro part in the foam is glued can be easily ripped out, so be careful. Carefully separate with fingers, one inch at a time, trying not to tear the blue strip off the foam. You'll only get to the first horizontal strip for now. The three horizontal seat cover seam strips are clipped down into the foam. The clips are red colored plastic buried into the foam. They can readily break. I usual break some, in spite of my best effort trying not to. The clips are quite small snapped very tightly around a plastic bar attached to the seat cover. Hold one side of a clip into the foam with a finger while pulling the bar up. They are quite difficult to pop open. Work your way from one end of the cover and of side of the cover towards the other. These are get difficult to pop open without destroying them.
Call or text if you want help. Seven one mine - 244- seven one 2 fore. Sincerely, George
Driver seats sits very low - is that a problem in real life with bend knees and stress on lower back etc? Or only getting in and out is a bit extra problem? Or it's all good and low seat is not a problem at all? Thanks
I think low seats has the potential of rounding the lower back. Generally not good. I raised my seat as high as I could and still see and not hit my head. Mostly with more dense and more foam in the seat bottom.
@georgeborrelli3134 So increasing the seat height makes is more like a regular car (Camry, Corolla or any other sedan)? I am 5 feet 7inch so I don't think I will ever touch the model 3 roof but I am not sure how high the seat can be raised by the automatic control on it. If it is like 2 inch higher then I think low seat should not be a problem.
Also, is it practical to put a cushion on the seat to make it higher? Are there third party vendors that you know who offer such cushions? Thanks again
@@UA-camuseritis
I rebuilt the seat bottom myself
@georgeborrelli3134 That is awesome 👌. But for most of the mere mortals that may not be an option. And a seat cushion may be more realistic solution 🙂. Having said that is the seat comfortable for long drives. No knee discomfort since they are bent more? Or lower back stress?
Is it realistic to assume that the built-in height adjustment can increase seat height by 2 inches?
I just got a model Y and i think the drivers seat is so uncomfortable. I am a thin average height woman and IDK what to do to fix it
Contact me, maybe we can fix it? Text or call. Seben(6+1) One Nine 244 Seben One Two 4
Tank you!
Be sure to watch my latest videos on seat modifications. This was an early approach. I don't do it this way anymore. Although it could work for you, you may need the more enhanced approach I show in follow up videos. Finally I tossed the OEM stock Tesla foam entirely and replaced it with another more robust foam. I also add some blocks of foam underneath the seat. Some people put a spacer between the springs and the bottom of the Tesla OEM stock foam. That might work. First test the passenger seat because it already has a spacer in the form of the fancy passenger sensor module between the foam and the springs.