All, I have been doing a lot of upgrades to my boat this winter getting ready to retire next year.   One critical one for my wife and I will be suspension seat upgrade.  I added Centric SAS seats to the boat a couple of years ago and we like them but need more protection with bad back in play for both of us.   
I am in contact with a couple of suppliers and working through it right now.    My first choice at this point is the Shockwave S5 system.   They have a very cool story and I like the look of there product and development efforts to reduce high G loads we experience on the water.   They are a little more expensive then the Glyde Ryde and some others I have looked at but am leaning that way.
I plan to fabricate new set boxes to mount them on and plan to have the install done for our Neah Bay run this year.   
Shockwave has an incredible story of development and testing with the build of a RIB and they integrated Cab system for military use.   They did the Northwest passage in this vessel an incredible feat at time hitting speeds of 60 knots.   Check out the website for the six part video.   Really interesting.

I found Centric SAS II seat and Springfield hydraulic pedestal took care of my needs in that category...

StreamFixer

Like SF, I also have the Springfield pedestal. I would rather sit on the seat and let the pedestal absorb the shock than stand and let my knees and back take it.

CS

I have the Glyde Ryde system with SAS seats.  I love them.
Im not familiar with the Shockwave
I would go with the best you can afford.
It hurts when you pay for them but you will never look back.

I'm always too cheap. 

Walt, I have been going back and forth on the Glyde Ryde.  I have appreciated your review of them.  The Shockwave system and development story just looks like a great option, but are more money. 

I have used two different shockwave seats during sea trials of smaller Canadian Navy vessels that I have refit. If the S5 works as well you wont be disappointed.

Bruce, please post pictures when you're done with the upgrade  :biggrin:

Driver seat is on my upgrade list this year. Please send photos. Did the bolt holes match up?

Quote from: Fishin Machine on December 04, 2017, 07:09:21 AM
Did the bolt holes match up?

      :party:      :hoboy:

Silly boy!!!

StreamFixer

I will post as the project progresses.   Going to start mock up after.  I will be making a seat box for helm so the pedestal bolt holes will be getting filled and sealed. 

Bruce, they may not work for your soft top, but for folks with hard-tops...

I replaced the "Smooth Moves"spring suspension seats that came in my Hewes with a set of air ride seats last spring.  The Smooth Moves were good 75% of the time, but could bottom out if I got a little too "enthusiastic" on the throttle on rough water.  The air rides can't bottom out, and have made a huge difference in my ride.  Also infinitely adjustable to match the size/weight of the person sitting in them. 

I bought mine used (they came out of a Freightliner Cascadia) for $250 for the set, then spent another $150 on an on-board air compressor system and assorted parts.  Mounted my old seats + swivels to them.  New, you can get the suspensions by themselves fro $250-400 each.

They are just painted steel, so I'd worry about them getting chewed up fast and rusting on a soft top.  But another possible way to go, and IMO they work fantastic.

    Threeweight:   Air ride seats with..........WHAT?........an "onboard air compressor system"?   Wow!  You never cease to amaze us.  That said, given the distances you've reported running offshore; I'd be willing to bet it's turned-out to be a good investment.  Beats the hell out of spinal surgery, right?

Yat

Steve, thanks for the idea, I will have to check into that alternative.

Air Compressor Floatation ??  Next thing you know, he will be adding heat and vibrator. ??

    Croaker;  Please......don't give him any ideas.  You tryin' to keep him up at night?  :hoboy:   Wait a minute........what am I saying?  Threeweight probably has more ideas running around in his head than most of us put together. 

Yat

My suspensions came with a set of 6-way adjustable heated seats out of a Freightliner... I originally planned on having them re-done with gray and red vinyl to match my boat, but I did not have enough room in my cabin for them    When trucking companies replace the seats in big-rigs due to wear and tear, they often just yank the whole thing, seats+air ride suspensions.  I got a deal on mine by finding a guy on CL who was selling take-offs.  The high-end "marine" Bostrom and Bently air-ride suspension seats are the exact same units, just with vinyl covered seats.

My set up are OSRI-brand, with a scissor-style suspension with an airbag to absorb impacts and a mini-shock absorber as a dampener.  Work super but they are a bit bulky.  My buddy's old Stabicraft had a National-brand air ride unit for the helm seat... it was more compact and simpler swing-arm style. 

A lot of heavy equipment (tractors, bulldozers, etc... ) use these same air ride systems.  You can get rubber boots to cover the mechanism, which offers some protection from the elements.  Eventually, though, they are all gonna rust and squeek. 

My guess is these are going to be too big and bulky for most Arima's, but if someone has a really bad back they may be worth looking into.

How do you define 'really bad back'  ?!?!   :hoboy:


Flying helicopters logging can put a hurt on ya.  Discovered the offset fusions when I lost  2.5 " height

Thinking about seat supports besides the SAS.

Wow Greg, shock mitigation suspension added to your seats would be a great thing for your back as well. 

Quote from: BruceL2_Fish on December 05, 2017, 03:40:37 PM
Wow Greg, shock mitigation suspension added to your seats would be a great thing for your back as well.

That's why I'm tracking your efforts Bruce.  I'm not too proud to copy good ideas.......   

Greg, with your back I would certainly look into an air ride system for your helm seat.  Mechanism + an inexpensive Viair compressor will run $500-600 new.  On mine I have a small 1 gallon tank... if I were just rigging one seat, I'd skip it and rig the compressor directly to the seat.  Could build a pretty compact set up that way.

Steve, sounds like you have a creative solution. 

I was inspired when I learned Bostrom air ride seats were a nearly $4,000 upgrade when buying a new tin can  :biggrin:

I have maybe 500 in my setup.

I am still pursuing the Shockwave S5 for my Arima.  I think that they have a great marine product designed for the roughed environment we operate in.  Further the operational testing and experience they have with military applications have been adapted for our recreational application.   
I totally respect Steve's creative solution but from my research i think Shockwave S5 may be a great match for my Arima. 
More to come as once i get them here.

My brother has the same set up as Three Weight.

Small air compressor on board with air seats.

My brother has four air suspension seats that are all fed from his air compressor.

Not my style but when it gets really rough he doesn't slow down much.  You just lift your feet and let the seat take care of the ride.

I have 2 of the Glyde Ryde seats.

Im happy with the Glyde Rydes (they are very compact)  but I would like to see the Shock Wave seats Bruce is looking at.