I have a 2002 E350 conversion van. I am in need of front seat repairs and wondering if it would be a better choice to just replace them. Any suggestion as to with what?

 

There are folks here who have started threads about seats here before. Maybe some of them will stop by.
I think it would depend on what kind of repair is needed and the shop you would take it to. I used to have a GMC conversion van and it had plush leather seats. I stopped by a shop just to ask out of curiosity and they told me about $800 per seat! Now that shop specialized in re-upholstering furniture. Another guy i knew used to do small plane upholstery and was actually cheaper then the furniture shop but still cheaper to replace. There are several people who have just replaced the seats with seats from other types of vehicles. It doesn't have to be Ford. You just have to make sure that they are mounted safely and securely. My current van has light weight cloth seats that are 35 years old and I will one day be facing the same delima.

What kind of seats do you have now and if you were to replace them, what would you want to replace them with? Are you wanting to match the other seats? Do you have a budget in mind?
Most conversion vans are not factory seats but rather seats bought by the conversion company.
Some examples
There are motor home captain chairs.
https://shop4seats.com/rv-seating/rv...in-chairs.html

Tractor trailer seats. Many drivers remove the factory seats to install more comfortable seats since that is their work place. You can find the old seats at decent prices sometimes
https://www.ebay.com/itm/38494931169...0AAOSwkKNjvXcL

Then there are salvage yards where you might find a set of seats that you can use.

 

My drivers seat was in bad shape
I replaced it with the passenger seat and swapped the tracks
Then I used one of the rear seats in front of the bed, to use as a passenger seat
I had to modify the front pedestal to do that (cut it off and re welded it back together)
That was the cheapest for me, and I did not need those middle seats anyway
Dog lounges out in the whole back anyway

 

My '93 conversion has leather captain's chairs and the DS bottom is going bad. When I bought it 5 years ago I got rid of the rear fold-down seat and also the 2 mid-ship seats and the van is used as a camper. The mid seats were identical to the fronts but it was too inconvenient to store them plus they mounted differently than the fronts, so they were tossed. How I wish I had taken them apart and kept just the bottom upholstery!

I now have the passenger seat taken apart and found that it's pretty easy to remove the bottom leather. I've yet to take it to an upholstery shop to get a quote but I'm sure it would be lower than if the shop had to do all the removal work. Anyway, if you still have the mid-ship seats, that's an option.

PS: Years ago on an old Dodge van I installed newer seats from a Caravan that were more comfortable. Had to do some fabricating but it was worth it.

 

I didn't want to dispose of my seats either and have no basement or climate controlled storage. They are actually quite comfortable and I plan to make a base for them.

 

Not sure this outfit: The Seat Shop does anything with "conversion van" seating but they might be worth a try.

HTH

 

Thanks to all who replied. I have found a local shop that will redo my existing front seats to my specs. More pricey than used but I least I get the seats build to my specs.

 

If you don't mind, could you share a ballpark figures and what they are doing to the seats? I have had a spring brace, or some part that holds the springs in line to pop up through one of my seats in the past and was able to cut it off from underneath. One day have to make a decision myself,
Thanks

 

New foam,replace bottom seat heat,new leather seating surface,vinyl sides. $450 each,driver and passenger. Seats are in an Eclippse conversion Quigley 4WD. My other options just didnt match color and style,etc. to be $ feasable.I started to look into air ride seats but the cost of the seats and the bases just got too complex. The farther I looked into this,what started out as a simple seat repair, started to become a complex project..