Reupholster or replace Driver and passenger captain's chairs in a 2005 Safari Cheetah

[1nolaguy]

While our "riding" chairs are in pretty good shape considering their age (no tares or de lamination) the piping upholstery covering has worn through in  many places including on the seat front and arm rests. My DW particularly complains about this as often she is wearing shorts while we drive while I usually wear jeans.

Buying new seats is a considerable cost undertaking but the few quotes I have gotten for reupholster seem to be close to replacement cost. I would be interested in hearing your experiences with either approach, especially in the south east as we are located in SE Louisiana.

[Gary M]

6 minutes ago, 1nolaguy said:

While our "riding" chairs are in pretty good shape considering their age (no tares or de lamination) the piping upholstery covering has worn through in  many places including on the seat front and arm rests. My DW particularly complains about this as often she is wearing shorts while we drive while I usually wear jeans.

Buying new seats is a considerable cost undertaking but the few quotes I have gotten for reupholster seem to be close to replacement cost. I would be interested in hearing your experiences with either approach, especially in the south east as we are located in SE Louisiana.

If you have Flexsteel Captains Chairs and furniture, Lisa Bauer an ex employee of that company has all the patterns from 2000 and up till Flexsteel quit making RV furniture. She can sew up your pattern, ship it to you and if you have the knowledge, install yourself or find an upholsterer to remove old and install new like we did. We got luck and was within driving distance to take our chairs to also an ex installer employee of Flexsteel. 
 

https://bauerrvupholstery.com/

[63Hotrod]

We recovered and re padded our seats using covers and foam from Baurer RV Upholstery. Very nice folks who use the OEM patterns. Not a difficult project 

[vito.a]

I'm not sure on Safari, but Monaco used seats from Villa International.  Unlike many RV suppliers, Villa is alive and doing well today.  They will not recover older seats but will sell you a new set.  On our coach they were the only ones that made seats with the built in seat belts.  

Be prepared.  The seats unbolt easily with just four 3/4" head bolts but are they are extremely heavy.  

[1nolaguy]

Gary M, before you posted I went to Bauer website but was unclear from there whether they make kits or only do fabrication and installation. Thanks for the added info. I will call them tomorrow. I think we have Flexsteel and not VI but it is not stated on the MH build sheet or the brochure so I will have to wait until I am back at the RV and can check the tags ( hopefully the PO did not remove them.

[Dennis H]

I had mine re-upholstered in Mesa AZ a couple years ago. Not a big deal but they have to remove them to do so. I picked out an above average leather and the total cost was about $1000 for both seats. The passenger seat has an electric leg platform. Also, the seat belt protrudes thru the top of the seat where they installed a plastic feeder. Only notable difference is the comfort of the seats, (better as they refilled them) and they were not able to reproduce the Monaco emblem on the original. I'm extremely satisfied with the quality and comfort of the new seats. They took two days to disassemble and reassemble the seats and reinstall them....Dennis