Add Some PAH! To Your Office with DIY Car Seat Office Chairs

Tim Odell

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car seat as office chair

There’s nothing worse than a crappy office chair. Typically, larger corporations outfit their cube farms with decent units, for fear of picking up workman’s compensation claims over sore backs. Besides, they can buy at incredible bulk discounts. On the other hand, if you’re at a smaller outfit, possibly self-run, you know the pain of choosing between saving money and…well…pain.
Fret no more, penny-pinchers. Here’s a great tutorial on Instructables.com for how to put together an office chair out of your favorite car seat. After reading today’s Hooniverse Asks, you’ll know just what to look for.
Hat Tip to someone who didn’t give us their name!

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Tim Odell

Tim Odell

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  1. Maymar Avatar
    Maymar

    How much weight are those plastic bases designed to deal with? Unless you're getting your seat out of a Lotus, I could see something going very wrong, in a potentially hilarious manner, after about a year.

    Reply
    1. CptSevere Avatar
      CptSevere

      My butt's parked in a secondhand office chair with the same type of base, right now. It seems strong enough. I'm no midget, I'm 6', 190 or so and it seems sturdy enough.

      Reply
  2. Age_of_Aerostar Avatar
    Age_of_Aerostar

    Great timing Hooniverse!!!
    3 weeks ago I picked up 2 captain's chars from a Ford Aerostar (of course an Aerostar, what else, right?) to do this same thing to, except they will become bar stools. Yeah, a little risky if someone leans back too far, but they'll look sweet in my eyes and that's what matters. Pictures will come when they are done!
    side note: I bought the middle row chairs, and the driver's side chair only has one armrest, because the left side armrest was molded into the trim on the side of the van…. I overlooked that.

    Reply
    1. Charles_Barrett Avatar
      Charles_Barrett

      That's easy…! Make a joke out of it and offer that driver's side chair to any left-handed guests; you don't need an armrest for your drink-hoisting hand. Problem solved and conversation piece created.

      Reply
  3. skitter Avatar
    skitter

    One of the four couches in the apartment, one of two found by the side of the road, was a van bench seat with no suspicious stains or smells. With the front propped up on a four-by-four, it was one of the more comfortable places, and the belts were good for restraining the completely wasted.

    Reply
    1. Age_of_Aerostar Avatar
      Age_of_Aerostar

      We did this with a seat back in college… and we'd take it tailgating…. 3 drunks seat belted into a bench seat. The real fun starts when you try to get up and walk around! We found the seat next to a dumpster when we were moving into the apartment, and it was in great condition too… and of course, it was an Aerostar seat, but, well, I need help, that's acknowledged.

      Reply
      1. blueplate Avatar
        blueplate

        You should get together with Ford_Tempo_Fan and swap war stories!

        Reply
  4. Charles_Barrett Avatar
    Charles_Barrett

    The Service Department Representatives' cubicles at Mercedes of Encino have visitor chairs made from '60s-'80s vintage front buckets (or facsimiles thereof), rendered onto five-point casters. They even have the big knurled knob at kidney level to adjust the seatback rake.

    Reply
  5. Alff Avatar
    Alff

    Once you've scavenged your Herman Millers for bases, mount the leftover seats in your car, thereby shaving tens of pounds.

    Reply
  6. Manic_King Avatar
    Manic_King

    Recaro has office chair line for years already, just google it, gives idea how they see the way it should be done.
    Here's another home made chair: http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=398…

    Reply
  7. FuzzyPlushroom Avatar
    FuzzyPlushroom

    My car seats are nearly as uncomfortable as my office chair. They'd be gone, at least the driver's seat, in a heartbeat if they weren't heated.
    But mmm, heat…

    Reply
  8. rovingardener Avatar
    rovingardener

    I brought this wonder to your attention. Sorry I skipped out on the glory houndery.

    Reply
  9. muthalovin Avatar
    muthalovin

    Confession: I use a yoga ball for my office chair.

    Reply
  10. Froggmann_ Avatar
    Froggmann_

    Note: Toyota Previas (Toyota Egg) have nice comfy, corduroy seats with 2 armrests.

    Reply
  11. smokyburnout Avatar
    smokyburnout

    I built a racier one last year…
    <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v648/smokyburnout/04-08-09_2049.jpg"&gt;
    It's been lowered since I took that pictured, but it's still a bit too tall to be comfortably used with the steering wheel/pedal setup on my computer.

    Reply
  12. mark verma Avatar
    mark verma

    Hi Great Post. YOu can wright more post on same topic.

    Reply
  13. Portable Infrared Sauna – Therapad Far Infrared Heating Pads

    […] Car Seat Office Chair : Hooniverse […]

    Reply
  14. JGribin Avatar
    JGribin

    I am the owner of a company called JGribinEnterprises (.com) and build such seats for a living. Plastic bases work just fine- the seats weigh about 15-20 lbs more than the standard office chair once you strip out the excess metal. Seat bases are rated for either 250 or 300 lb people. The ones I use are rated for 250lb people, so my chairs with the standard base are rated for people weighing between 215 and 220 lbs. If a client weighs more than that, I reccomend a higher end base.

    Reply