Improving The Comfort For Very Tall Driver

[Matthew C]

My wife has recently sold the lovely Volvo 850 and bought a Focus. She is very pleased and finds it very comfortable. She is 5 foot 5.

I was taken a half hour journey this morning and had to drive it back for half an hour this afternoon. My back aches something awful. I am 6 foot 5 and 16 stone, so in the tallest 1% of men in the country, and only just a little overweight.

Back in the mid 1990s I had a company car and did 100000 miles in a Mondeo in two and half years. I had terrible backache then as well. Now I know the Volvo was a luxury car, built for all them massive scandidavians, but I'd hoped the Focus wouldn't be so bad.

We won't be changing car for a while, so do you have any suggestions (and links to shops or ebay) for cushions, supports etc to help me out.

Matthew

[Stoney871]

You may find that if your thighs aren't propetly supported then this can also aggravate a back problem.

A combination of lumbar support and a seat wedge may be best for you.

I use one of these on the chair at my computer desk and find it excellent, they fit car seats too-

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=370794962953

Btw i broke my back 16 years ago and was laid up for two years so understand back pain all too well.

[jeebowhite]

You could always look to replace the seats with something a bit more of the bucket variety... but overall as Clive said, its best to make the amendments to support what you can at the moment. you can lower the seat down to the furthest point, but dont know if thats going to be the biggest help?

[Matthew C]

Thank you Clive, James.

I've not been far in the car in the last couple of weeks, but just using an old pillow against the lower back and dropping the seat has helped. I only drive my wife's car at the weekends, so a cushion that can live in the boot most of the time is probably what I'll get.

Matthew

[SeanW]

Sounds crazy, but if you have the headroom, lifting the seat can help. It levels off your thighs and reducing pulling on the lower back. Doubt it would alleviate all of your problems, but may help a bit.

[jeebowhite]

Glad that the simplest answer is working for you at the moment. I would just say experiment, move the seat around to a thousand different positions, just see what feels right :)

The other thing you can do, is lay the seat back a little bit that might help.

[Stoney871]

Driving position is extremely important for a nice relaxed drive.

Had the misfortune last year of having to drive a Vaux#### combo on a training week and the driving position was so cramped and rigid I ended up with my back and neck jammed up.

Also strangely I ended up with nut pain from a strained groin.

Sadly the suspension dropped on the poor (horrible ;)) vehicle when I 'accidentally' drove it into a ditch, busting up the steering rack and making it undriveable.

It's now sat in the back of the compound breeding spiders (:d)

[jeebowhite]

that is probably the best thing to ever happen to that wagon... Are they planning on fixing? or leaving it to procreate arachnid's?

[021C]

At 6'7" and 18.5 stone (lean) I'm consider by most people as 'huge'.

I've owned my Focus for the past 18 months and typically drive 50 miles a day commuting to and from work.

While I don't suffer from any back issues I do find it hard work on my ankles as I have a 37 inch inside leg and size 13 feet. As mentioned above, raising the seat from the lowest position and playing the reach and rake of the steering wheel has helped. I find that by not having the wheel pushed all the way in (further away) allows a small amount of bend in my arms which is much more natural, doesn't force the elbows to lock out and reduces strain on the shoulders / upper and lower back.

If I were doing more miles I would get a bigger car, but for now it suits me fine.

Stu

[Stoney871]

that is probably the best thing to ever happen to that wagon... Are they planning on fixing? or leaving it to procreate arachnid's?

The things been dead for nearly a year so barring someone getting over keen with the spanners i'd say it's an ex Vaux####, bereft of life, it rusts in pieces. ;)