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01-13-2016, 09:03 AM
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#1
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Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2010
Posts: 1,295
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Flex Steel Seats Falling apart
Ok, so my Flexsteel captains chairs are falling apart from a know Flex Steel quality problem. Knowing that Flexsteel will not care because there are many seats out there with faulty coverings I contacted Fleetwood parts and asked them to order replacement seats. Gave them my id number and the lady said she would contact Flexsteel for the answer. The answer back was that they do not make that model anymore ..... DUH. She also said I should contact Flexsteel for the replacement. I am thinking don't you sell parts anymore?
I have currently sent Flexsteel several emails with no reply.
I started contacting local companies that advertise Motorhome renovation. Camping world advertises rv captains chairs. Parts department told me to contact the manufacturer. North Trail RV said not interested. Called another renovator for the chairs and they claimed they did not do the chairs. So far I have contacted at least 10 renovators representing several brands with no result.
Has anyone done any business in either Southeast Michigan or Ft Myers area.
I did get a quote for recovering ... $5000.00.
__________________
Pcurt
2007 Fleetwood Bounder 38V
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01-13-2016, 09:18 AM
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#2
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Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: TEJAS
Posts: 811
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01-13-2016, 09:49 AM
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#3
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Moderator Emeritus
Damon Owners Club Workhorse Chassis Owner
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Lone Star State
Posts: 19,203
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Flexsteel had an issue with the material used in their captain's chairs from 2007-2009ish and were sold in many, many brands.
If the seat foam and frame are good, why not just reupholster?
Most any automotive upholstery shop could do it in your choice of material and color.
$5000 - Brand-new seats with power are much less than $5000...me thinks somebody was trying to tell you to go away
See like the link above, or:
https://www.braddandhall.com/product...p?idCategory=3
We are not affiliated in any way.
Best luck
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01-13-2016, 10:00 AM
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#4
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Senior Member
Fleetwood Owners Club
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Orange County, Ca
Posts: 359
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I had my chairs and couch reupholstered with much better material for less than half of what you were quoted and I live a California. I don't remember the exact cost but I know it wasn't close to $5000.00. They did a really good job also. Half of the cost was the removal of the couch cause it had to be dismantled.
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01-13-2016, 10:13 AM
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#5
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Anacortes, WA (Stick & Brick)
Posts: 2,643
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That's a good excuse to get rid of those awful seats completely. When I worked for our county transit agency, all the Gillig fleet had Recaro driver's seats. They have adjustments fore/aft, vertical, seat back angle, seat cushion angle and were on a vertical shock absorber. I found them comfortable enough for 4 hours without standing for relief and could do a 9-hour shift without a problem. In our RV with Flexsteels, I need a break in 90 minutes and can't drive more than 4 hours in a day. They had no height adjustment and very limited fore/aft, which resulted in DW not being able to drive the RV at all.
I have no idea what Recaro seats cost, but I was seriously considering a trip to a bus wrecking yard to buy a couple of used ones. We sold the MH instead!
__________________
Frank Damp -Anacortes, WA,(DW- Eileen)
ex-pat Brits (1968) and ex-RVers.
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01-13-2016, 10:14 AM
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#6
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Senior Member
Fleetwood Owners Club Ford Super Duty Owner
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Currently on the road somewhere
Posts: 206
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We had a problem with the covering on our flexsteel seats, driver and passenger. The "ultra" leather starting flaking off after in less than a year. We went to a upholstery shop that did both boat and auto. Had the seats recovered with a high quality vinyl instead of leather or Pleather. Cost about $1000 for both chairs. Has held up for over 5 years now. Perfect color match. Biggest hassle was removing the seats and taking them to the guy to work on. Took about a week. This was in the Lafayette LA area, but these shops are everywhere....shop around for reputation and price.
__________________
Richard & Samme..and Honor the cat.
2009 Southwind 36D & 2017 Passport Elite 23RB
2015 Dodge Ram 1500 Quad Cab 4x4
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01-13-2016, 10:22 AM
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#7
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Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Sedona, AZ
Posts: 2,989
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pcurt23
Ok, so my Flexsteel captains chairs are falling apart from a know Flex Steel quality problem.
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We have Flexsteel chairs on our 2014.5 Thor. We do not apparently have the fabric problem, knock on wood, but they are not nearly as comfortable as the chairs we had on the former Thor. I don't know what brand the earlier ones were, but I could drive all day in those; not these.
__________________
Shell Bleiweiss
2014 1/2 Thor Challenger 37KT
Sedona, AZ
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01-14-2016, 06:05 AM
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#8
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Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2010
Posts: 1,295
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Bye Bye Flex Steel hello Villa. Dude from a RV Refurbish shop called last night. The chairs will be replaced in April. Threw out the Euro chair last night. Now for the couch. And they are expensive.
__________________
Pcurt
2007 Fleetwood Bounder 38V
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01-18-2016, 02:01 PM
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#9
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Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Highlands, TX
Posts: 145
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Good luck with that. I have a 2014 Bounder. The driver seat has a tear in the seat bottom. I contacted Fleetwood and they gave me the phone number to Flexsteel. I called them and they said I would have to go to a dealer. I told them that Fleetwood told me to call Flexsteel. My information was supposedly forwarded to a customer service agent. Almost two months later and I still haven't heard from them. Clearly, they don't want to work with me.
__________________
2020 Thor Quantum WS31
2020 Jeep Wrangler Sahara
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01-18-2016, 02:32 PM
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#10
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Senior Member
Newmar Owners Club
Join Date: Feb 2012
Posts: 1,517
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pcurt23
Ok, so my Flexsteel captains chairs are falling apart from a know Flex Steel quality problem. Knowing that Flexsteel will not care because there are many seats out there with faulty coverings I contacted Fleetwood parts and asked them to order replacement seats. Gave them my id number and the lady said she would contact Flexsteel for the answer. The answer back was that they do not make that model anymore ..... DUH. She also said I should contact Flexsteel for the replacement. I am thinking don't you sell parts anymore?
I have currently sent Flexsteel several emails with no reply.
I started contacting local companies that advertise Motorhome renovation. Camping world advertises rv captains chairs. Parts department told me to contact the manufacturer. North Trail RV said not interested. Called another renovator for the chairs and they claimed they did not do the chairs. So far I have contacted at least 10 renovators representing several brands with no result.
Has anyone done any business in either Southeast Michigan or Ft Myers area.
I did get a quote for recovering ... $5000.00.
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Look into reupholstering it. If you are close to Grand Rapids, call Coffman Auto Glass and Trim. I had some wear on my Affinity Captain's chair. They told me they would be able to fix it. As it turned out, I drove it over to Villa International in Elkhart, IN. They replaced the piece for me. This was just on small piece in the back of the chair. Yours may not be that heavy, but mine sure was. Aside from that, it came off easy - five bolts, and a couple of heavy duty power plugs.
__________________
2008 Newmar Dutch Star 4304
2005 HR Navigator 45PBQ - SOLD
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01-23-2016, 10:10 AM
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#11
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Senior Member
Join Date: May 2013
Posts: 1,123
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__________________
1992 Bounder 28T, Chevy 454, Yak Rak
2001 tacoma 4x4 TOAD
ROLL TIDE
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01-23-2016, 12:22 PM
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#12
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: West Palm Beach, FL. USA
Posts: 27,519
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Flexsteel makes some very good stuff, and some not so good stuff. In other words, whatever quality level the RV maker orders. My Flexsteel captain seats and recliner are real split grain cowhide with more adjustments than most people can figure out how to use. Other RVs may have junk, if the RV builder skimped on costs in that area. Sadly, an all too common affair.
Getting them recovered ought to be easy enough - any upholstery shop should handle that sort of thing, though you may have to dismount them yourself or have someone do it. And if you don't like the seats anyway, then there are choices to replace them, starting with an RV specialist like Bradd & Hall but there are many choices.
__________________
Gary Brinck
Former owner of 2004 American Tradition and several other RVs
Home is West Palm Beach, FL
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07-16-2018, 11:40 AM
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#13
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Junior Member
Join Date: Jul 2018
Posts: 2
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I've had major issues with my Flexsteel seats and my efforts to contact them went unanswered until I left a facebook review - https://www.facebook.com/pg/Flexstee...esInc/reviews/
I was hoping to resolve this matter with Flexsteel but unfortunately was not able to resolve it.
After communicating with Lisa Bauer, RV Customer Service Advisor I was told it would cost basically $800 to buy "custom made" covers. There are two MAJOR issues here. 1. Flexsteel knows Fleetwood is providing fabric that doesn't hold up, yet they continue to use the fabric (see email below) 2. It's such an issue they have created custom covers.
Flexsteel KNOWS there are issues but instead of having integrity, they are making money coming (making the chairs for Fleetwood) and going (making custom covers because Flexsteel KNOWS the fabric isn’t going to hold up).
Here is the email I received from Lisa Bauer on July 16, 2018 at 1:10:52 PM EDT
“At the time Fleetwood chose the cover, neither Fleetwood nor Flexsteel knew that there was going to be issues with it.* Again, the workmanship of the seat itself is not the issue, it is the fabric, which Fleetwood supplies.* I totally understand your frustration, and wish there was something more I could do to help you believe that we do stand behind OUR product.”
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07-16-2018, 12:00 PM
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#14
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Senior Member
Monaco Owners Club
Join Date: May 2012
Location: DFW, Tex-US
Posts: 6,196
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Sorry to hear that !
our 2011 has the ultra leather and it has held up well - even with a 65 lb wild dog running around on them ....
-Leather
Care Instructions:
Spot clean with mild soap and water.
Air dry or dry using a hair dryer on the
warm setting
For stubborn stains, use mild solvent.
For tougher stains, try Fantastik® brand
spray cleaner.
Disinfect with a 5:1 water to Non-
Chlorinated bleach solution.
Dry clean using commercial dry cleaning
solvents only.
Use a mild detergent for:
- Red Wine, Liquor, Coffee, Tea, Cola,
Milk
- Ketchup, Mustard, Mayonnaise, Steak
Sauce, Soy Sauce
- Butter, Salad Oil, Chocolate, Lipstick,
Make-up, Face Cream
- Suntan Oil, Machine Oil, Urine, Blood
Removing ballpoint pen stains:
Wipe the stain off with ethanol (ethyl alcohol).
Follow all manufacturer safety instructions
when using chemicals.
If the stain remains, use the following
procedure:
1. Dilute household bleach (sodium
hypochloride) with an equal amount of
water (1:1 ratio).
2. Apply bleach/water solution sparingly
to a piece of tissue. Place the tissue
on the stained surface and cover it
with polyethylene film to prevent the
solution from drying.
3. Periodically remove the tissues to
check on the condition of the stain.
When the stain is almost gone, remove
the tissues completely. Do not leave on
for more than one hour.
4. Wash the stain with sufficient amount
of clean water.
CAUTION:
If bleach residue remains on the fabric,
the polyurethane resin and back cloth
will yellow and deteriorate.
Neutralize bleach by the following method:
Place a piece of tissue, as in Step 2, and
apply hydrogen peroxide solution (15%).
Leave the solution on for approximately
30 minutes before removing the tissue.
Completely remove the residue of
hydrogen peroxide on the Ultra-leather
with water.
CAUTION:
Ensure adequate ventillation when
performing this procedure.
For more information, please call:
Ultrafabrics, LLC
Customer Service: 1-877-309-6648
__________________
'11 Monaco Diplomat 43DFT RR10R pushed by a '14 Jeep Wrangler JKU. History.. 5'ers: 13 Redwood 38gk(junk!), 11 MVP Destiny, Open Range TT, Winn LeSharo, C's, popups, vans, tents...
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