Cushion, cushion, who's got the cushion?

swei0009

Looks like we're ordering a T@b.  The check sheet lists the 4 colors shown in the brochure, then lists Sofitel cushions $428 and Outback cushions $218. Sofitel is 2 tone faux leather, Outback is grey.  Is the covering the only difference?

Nomad

I believe so.

Verna

The material is a soft faux leather material and I love mine. 

jkjenn

I thought the Outback was fabric, not Ultra leather? Ultraleather is what they put into the Sofitel. I had Ultraleather put into my T@b this year and love it! It is so soft and cleans up easily.

Photomom

Oddly enough my trailer came with gray Outback fabric everywhere but the bottoms of the side bench seats.  Those are a white faux leather. 

swei0009

Leaning toward the Sofitel cushions, but.... do you stick to them in the summer?  LOL I am remembering my old cars....

LauraRey

swei0009 said:

Leaning toward the Sofitel cushions, but.... do you stick to them in the summer?  LOL I am remembering my old cars....

I'm curious about this as well.  I was afraid they would be hot to sleep on in the summer.

DurangoTaB

On a related note, has anyone replaced the foam of the cushions?  We like the fabric we have, but the foam is too soft for sitting or sleeping.

Nomad

J.D. - I did after the first six months. Too soft and broke down too easily if one sits in the same spot all the time (photo editing for hours on end). The factory did change the foam they were using sometime in the 2015 model cycle from what I read somewhere.

DurangoTaB

PXL...thx!  Although ours is a 2015 model, we got it in mid 2014, so I suspect we just missed it.  I wonder if I could negotiate a discount on replacement.  Contact Elsie?  We don't have a dealer closer than 200 miles anymore, so shipping might be a challenge...

Nomad

Mines a 2015 and I missed it also. The side cushions aren't too bad to do, just stuff in new foam. The back bench is another story, lots and lots and lots of staples. It's more like reupholstering a couch.
I didn't approach the factory as things change and other than just a few of us it, seems most are fine with the old foam. Don't see a lot of complaints here.

Dalehelman

We had our 2015 cushions replaced last July when we were at Tearstock. Cost $600 to replace all. 100% improvement. We no longer need any extra foam topper. Which was always tuff to store. We would do it again in a minute. Maybe the factory could put them in the next trailer coming your way. To save on freight.

Nomad

Cost me a couple hundred to redo my own.

Dalehelman

PXLated said:

Cost me a couple hundred to redo my own.

Did you have all of the tools required to do such a big job and how would you rate the skill and difficulty level.

Nomad

Hardly any tools required - none for the loose cushions and just a staple remover and staple gun for the bench. I had the foam company cut everything to fit - took the old foam pieces into them and they cut new ones to match. In addition to the foam you wrap it in this white fibery material so the fabric doesn't get hung up on the raw foam.
To get the foam in the loose cushions just takes folding in half and then tugging/pulling to get in place and the corners seated.
The back bench is a different story - a tip = only take the staples out of three sides. Might want to get a fabric plyers (artist canvas stretcher would work). You need to compress the foam, pull the fabric into place and staple. To compress the foam, I had a relative stand on top of the plywood.

Took me two days including running around getting foam.

DurangoTaB

@Dalehelman... What kind of foam did you replace with?

Dalehelman

It was a complete factory interior. High density foam and new fabric.

Nomad

Note: I got my foam at a place that carried supplies for restoring car and boat interiors. Several different densities of foam to choose from and they had some of the wildest vinyl I've ever seen. 

Fatman1966

The ultra leather is wonderful

jkjenn

I swapped out the old cushions for the new ones and upgraded to Ultraleather. I did not stick to the cushions, but I was also in the Southwest, so I can't give an option on it in hot, humid conditions (thankfully.) I love the upgrade from a comfort perspective, and found it easy to keep them clean with a damp cloth when a certain lovable Shih Tzu's paws would get them dirty.


Both the guys at the factory and I noticed how a lighter upholstery brightened up the interior, too.

Hobien

I have a 2015 Q Max and have never liked the foam, was sitting on plywood within 30 sec! My wife and I like a very firm mattress. I replaced both side cushions(both bench and backs) and the back benches(total of 6 pieces). I chose not to replace the back of the back bench as this only supports our heads. I took a chance with the Foam Factory, an online company. We used the firmest foam they had, high quality lux foam (4" thick) with a dacron wrap. The whole thing cost us $200(free shipping) There are always the horror stories when ordering online but we had a very positive experience. They stated that you should allow 6-10 days for custom cutting and another 6-10 days for delivery. That being said, we received ours in less than a week from the time we ordered. All pieces were a perfect fit(measure and then measure again) If you're handy at all, replacing the foam is an easy project. The side back and bench were easy as they are zippered. For the 2 back benches, I took out the staples on the front and just enough on each side to peel back the fabric from the corners. After stuffing in the foam, I was able to easily stretch the fabric back over the foam and staple it in starting at one corner and working across. The whole thing probably took me about 1 1/2 hours. The tedious part was removing the staples. The Foam factory has a very user friendly web site, good description of all their foams and lots of useful tips for installing etc. Couldn't be more pleased with the outcome!

DurangoTaB

@Hobien...our 2014/15 T@B seats are as yours were, and we were wondering about options to replace (our small town has maybe one upholsterer).  Thanks for sharing! 

DurangoTaB

Is this The Stuff...
http://www.thefoamfactory.com/opencellfoam/LUX-HQ.html ?

We're also curious what you do bedding wise now.  We have two 24" Exped air mattresses, a 1-1/2" kinda-soft foam topper, and a double width thick mattress pad to hold it all together.  It's pretty comfy, but it'd sure be nice to eliminate some layers!

Hobien

Yes, that's the stuff, go to the "seats & cushions" tab to order custom using the first rectangular shape "cushion". (also check out "foam types" under this tab- the Lux Foam- High Quality may be too firm for some folks)  We used the 4" thick.  For bedding, we bought some knit sheets as they stretch and seem to accommodate size variances and now just use what I consider  a "regular" mattress pad, but then again, we like a "very firm" mattress. We got rid of our 2" foam topper, much easier now to roll the bedding up and store behind the back seat. The dimensions I used  were 4" x 19-1/2" x 34", 4" x 14" x 31-1/2" and 4" x 20-1/2" x 31-1/2", 2 of each.  I have no idea if the Teardrop factory cushion covers are all uniform and if every cut from the Foam Factory is as precise as the cut we got. They state that "Custom-cut cushion foam has a dimensional tolerance of 1" for length and width, and 1/2" for thickness". Different types of foam could also make a difference. I would definitely do your own measuring but could use the dimensions I gave as a base to work from. Remember to measure the covers and not the old foam.  I must admit I was pretty anxious when the cushions showed up but in our case they fit perfectly. They also did a nice job with the dacron wrap, covering the foam completely, the old foam was only covered on the top and front. I don't know if I just got lucky with everything working out so well but we are literally "happy campers" now.

DurangoTaB

 Excellent...thanks for the detailed response!  Since it snowed today, I'm pretty sure our T@B is put to bed (pun intended) for a while, so this might be a great winter project.  

Just to confirm...you can now just put on a bottom (knit) sheet and no problems with "falling between the cracks"?  Less hassle and more comfort...nice.

Hobien

A bottom sheet over the mattress pad which has a small amount of cushion, yes! I'm sure you can choose a mattress pad to meet your comfort needs(or a less dense foam).