Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Classic Morgans (pre-CX) best seating position for a bad back

Hi , I have had a back problem for years , and been driving a morgan for the last 20 years [ 1970 4/4 , 2009 plus4 for the last 3 years ] I have been trying different seating positions, padded back supports, heated seat , blankets and I dont to sell it. Does anyone have any advice about the best seating position. many thanks

I think it is the seat that is the problem. I have a pair of the later Morgan seats. The back is adjustable. It give a lot of lateral support. Maybe too much. These replaced a non adjustable 1970 to 1980 +8 seats that I found to be the most comfortable. I set them high enough to go over the spring perch. As I have a 1998 chassis this is about 1" lower than the earlier +8 models. This to give Me adequate leg/arm room. I then put screw jacks under the front, so I could change the angle of the seat. I experimented with the screw jacks to find the most comfortable position for My Back. It took a bit of fiddle. With this set up I was able to put a 12 hour shift in My +8 from Northern California to Seattle. And I could still walk. I also took a pill called "ALEVE". It helped.

Oddly, you may find a fixed race seat like Sparco rev more comfortable . You can't slouch and it supports your back .

You could try just the upright part of a "Backfriend"
They make an enormous difference, my wife uses one in her car all the time.
Nick

Backs are complicated things, and work best in a car when the vertical loading is reduced by spreading the weight load over an inclined plane - ie a reclined seat which will reduce stack load in your lower back vertebrae and the muscular effort of holding your trunk upright.

BUT modern Morgan trad seats are not designed to facilitate this. Yes, they recline, but for most body shapes they do not allow the broadest part of your back (at the level of your shoulder blades) to make full contact with the upper seat back, so the load you are placing on the seat is not spread.

I can bear 2 hours in mine before I have to pull over and stretch out my back, quite literally a right pain when my houses are 2.5 hours drive time apart. If my wife ever decides she wants to tour in the 4/4 new seats will be essential.

Well that is weird. From time to time I have excruciating pain from sciatica and can't bear to drive the family Skoda but I can drive for miles in the Morgans past and present without a hint of pain. I think the most comfortable seats were the Restall versions which were fixed, with a removable squab.

Car seats are all a problem as they need to raise the front of the squab to prevent you sliding under the belt in an accident, whereas the human body is most balanced when the knees are lower than the hips. So we sit in chairs designed for something other than health mostly. Like children at school who mostly sit on chairs which were designed with stackability as first priority!
I remember my MGB seats were so basic to look at but actually very comfortable as they were flat.
Having said all that I find the mog seats pretty good for my back....I put it down to the lack of suspension forcing the body core muscles to work properly
Nick

It depends I supppse on what's causing your back problem Andy

I did my back in nearly two years ago by bad posture and lifting where the lowest disk in my back had squashed where it had a large bulge on the left pushing into my left sciatic nerve

I had 6 months of agony and paid out a fortune in massage and a chiropractor but the real breakthrough was when I had a scan and I was able to target specific excersises and I bought and read Robin Mckensie's book 'Treat your own back' which perfectly explained every problem I had and gives the correcting excersises

I can not recommend it enough

The important factor for my driving seats is extra lumbar support so I use a lumbar cushion from Posturite in the Mog and a mesh support in my tin top (the mesh marks the leather in the Mog)

hi many thanks for all of the information - very useful.

I had a recurrent back problem but find the Morgan seats far better suited to my back than any tintop I've driven, I can quite happily drive all day with only comfort breaks. As has been mentioned I have the seat back fairly well laid back.

Interestingly I have suffered far less back problems since I took up Church Bell Ringing, the reason being that the spine gets stretched as opposed to it's continual compression for about 3 hours a week.