For comfort what adjustments do you do to drive the Vibe on trips???

emt · Post by **emt** » Sun Oct 05, 2008 3:24 pm

I'll assume someone called Ingineer #1 at 6 ft 5 inches with osteoporois and a severly curved backbone designed the front seats. I'll assume Ingineer #2 at 5ft 2 inches decided where to place the rear view mirrow on the windshield. Unfortunately I am neither. If I was the 5ft guy I could easily see (horizontally) across my front window since my eye level would be under the mounted rear view mirror, but at 6 foot and above my eyes are level with it and I loose a lot of needed visual field. My only solution has been to lower my seat to the bottom notch which gives me a little of the needed field of vision but the seat cannot be raised during 3 hour trips for the usual buttock repositioning without risking accidents etc. The head rest unfortunately cannot be lowered to my neck level and it is way too high. It protudes toward the front of the vibe forcing my head forward of my back and causing my (removed) to head to be shaped like a C and I am unable to keep my back in a nearly straight line . I am presently getting a blanket or pillow and stuffing it behind my back just to be comfortable on a 3 hour trip. I was wondering why most vibes I test drove had the front seats reclined so far and now I know it's because the head rest pushed the head too far forward. One problem with this plan is that you end up soo far back your shoulder is behind the middle of vibe and you cannot open the window and put your arm out at the bank or at a toll booth to hand anyone anything. The blanket or pillow is also useful to raise the almost non existant elbow support of the right arm. Other than these two problems I am happy with my 3 week old vibe as interior room and mpg have been good. Also Ingineer #1 @ 6ft 5in at least made the seat softer for the buttock than my inlaws camaaaary, but having the ability to adjust and reposition the height on a trip would have been idea without the windshield mirror getting in the way. Any suggestions from others on overcoming these problems???

03vibegt-r · Post by **03vibegt-r** » Sun Oct 05, 2008 3:31 pm

well, this is just a thought you could take apart your factory seat , unzip the bottom cove and shave the foam to a comfortable level then put it all back together or 2 buy race seats with side mount brackets then lower the rear view mirror just a thought . i would try step 1 first

emt · Post by **emt** » Sun Oct 05, 2008 3:37 pm

The taking apart of the seat sounds interesting but more the idea of taking apart the head restraint that is angled toward the front of the Vibe too much. Is it possible to remove and decrease the amount of foam in it or angle it differently????

03vibegt-r · Post by **03vibegt-r** » Sun Oct 05, 2008 3:53 pm

yes, bottom of the headrest has a zipper unzip and shave the foam in there to your liking

03vibegt-r · Post by **03vibegt-r** » Sun Oct 05, 2008 3:54 pm

what year vibe do you have ??

keithvibe · Post by **keithvibe** » Sun Oct 05, 2008 7:47 pm

I have a bad back and all the traveling I do it pays the price for it.what i use is a back pillow wedge. It fills the sloped area behind your lower back.I will be trying something new on my next long trip. One of those back braces that you see all those employees wearing in Homedept or Lowes. I will try that to see if that helps keep my back strait

emt · Post by **emt** » Sun Oct 05, 2008 10:35 pm

I have a 2009 Vibe--- regular (not GT). .......................................Are there any suggestions of how to raise the rearview mirror mounted on the front windshield (the Onstar cable is next to the plastic) . It looks like an extension of plastic originally supporting the mirror extends down too far. I tried to loosen and slide it up but I think it is glued or permanently attached to the window in some manner. I wish I could just slide it up toward the top of the vibe so I could see under it like Ingineer #2 @ about 5ft height.

emt · Post by **emt** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 12:33 am

unfortunately bottom of headrest does not have a zipper. But, it could be pulled apart (sort of like glue holding it together on the bottom).

emt · Post by **emt** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 12:44 am

I just solved my headrest solution of protruding too far forward for my liking. 1st I tried moving the smaller rear headrests to the front seat but unfortunately the metal tracks are a different distant apart for the holes than the front seats. After several minutes looking, I decided to try reversing the front headrest position 180 degrees and see if if would fit with the head restraint now pointing toward the rear of the vibe and allowing one to truly relax in an upright seat tilt position and in passenger seat a nice relaxing reclining position. IT WORKED. I CAN NOW DRIVE WITH THE SEAT TILTED UPRIGHT AND MY HEAD NOT PUSHED FORWARD AND THE PASSENGER SEAT IS MUCH MORE COMFORTABLE BEING ABLE TO FULLY RECLINE THE NECK & BACK. (of course Ingineer #1 would probably warn me that whip lash odds would be increased since my head may be 2 inches away from the restraint if an accident occurred) (I much prefer this over the 5 inches my head is pushed forward away from my vertebrae column in the "correct position"). Just reverse both if you want to live comfortably and just remember life is an unavoidable risk, choose your life and risks accordingly with due comfort or torture.

joatmon · Post by **joatmon** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 12:48 am

I can't speak for the 09's, but on my 03 I can pull the headrest completely off the seat and put it on backards. For what it's worth, the headrest is intended to be adjusted to contact the rear of the skull, not the neck. I don't know how reversing the headrest will affect it's usefullness in a crashedit - you beat me to it

emt · Post by **emt** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 1:01 am

Thanks joatmon. Yea I just thought of it before your post and wow, what a difference in comfort. .................MUCH BETTER.............................could you help me out on the other annoyance, I'm fairly tall and the rearview mirrow is in my vision field and I would like to raise it. There is a screw on the extension and I am about to try loosening it to see if I can raise the rearview mirrow on the front windshield but I doubt it and think it is probably an onstar attachment. Any Ideas on this???

joatmon · Post by **joatmon** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 1:34 am

I don't know about the 09's, never seen one up close, but the mirror in my 03 has some range of adjustment. If yours is similar, you could try adjusting both pivot points, (usually this comes up when people have it too high and the visors hit it)You can also recline the seat back a little, that will lower your head relative to the rest of the car

emt · Post by **emt** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 1:53 am

Thanks that helped. My 09 has a plastic piece (decoration) that I removed leading up to top of windshield (I removed this and now my wires are more easily seen like yours in your picture). I then loosed the star screw and slid it up about 1/2 inch on the metal attachment gluded to the window. i then tilted the mirror up as you described at the pivot point. It is now higher and obstructs less of my front horizontal plane of view thru the front window. I might remove the metal fastener from the window and re-glue it higher up. Without pulling the metal off the window, I now have about a inch more to raise it. I also went ahead and tilted it to an unusable angle facing the roof as I usually do not rely on the rearview and use the side door mirrors as well as rotating the head due to well known small rear vision field while looking backwards from the driving position. (p.s. I would have probably just removed the rearview mirror totally except for the onstar system being attached.) (2nd p.s.... spouse let me know the rearview mirror will stay operational for her & not tilted with the second pivot position toward the roof)

shadow_dog · Post by **shadow_dog** » Tue Oct 07, 2008 9:07 am

Just had 2 road trips with our 09 GT. Both were right around 1300 miles each. I have my seat set all the way back as far as front to back adjustment, and the steering wheel all the way up and in. The wife had the passenger seat in the farthest back location. Neither of us had any fatigue issues at all. On one of the trips we were 8 hrs straight in the Vibe only stopping to get fuel.

postmac · Post by **postmac** » Mon Sep 13, 2010 2:25 am

I noticed yesterday that the sun visor slides out to block the sun near my left shoulder. Now I don't have to shove a piece of paper in the window to block the sun. I also took the headrest off the passenger seat and used it as an arm rest for my left elbow. It makes it much more comfortable. Don't have to fight trying to keep my elbow on the tapered ledge of the door armrest.

ponta2147 · Post by **ponta2147** » Mon Sep 13, 2010 3:14 am

My Wet Okole seat covers have been a godsend. I paid extra to have the adjustable (inflatable) lumbar support installed, and it's amazing, plus the extra quarter inch or so of cushion. Only downside is when it is warm the neoprene makes me really sweaty... but I'll take that in order to have great back support!!

KNINE · Post by **KNINE** » Mon Sep 13, 2010 3:38 am

(removed) sweat. Yuck!

ponta2147 · Post by **ponta2147** » Mon Sep 13, 2010 3:45 am

Quote, originally posted by K-NINE Â»(removed) sweat. Yuck! Back sweat, mostly. Many a wrinkled shirt.

Vibe2.0 · Post by **Vibe2.0** » Mon Sep 13, 2010 4:19 am

I am 6 feet even and here are my observations: I have notcied on my 09 ( vs the 04 ) the seat seems to be of a better quality however i notice it forces me to sit upright. In particular there is a ridge along the side of the seat ( right and left) that protrudes. If I lean a bit to the right this ridge pretty much hits me right in the kidney, very uncomfortable. Anyone else notice this?

ramenboy... · Post by **ramenboy...** » Mon Sep 13, 2010 5:07 am

http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/17 ... v_[XSVALUE]i actually got mine at walgreen's for like $10. had it for a couple years and works great on my back. and on hot days, keeps it from sweating up a storm.good luck

DressedInBlack · Post by **DressedInBlack** » Mon Sep 13, 2010 6:00 am

Quote, originally posted by K-NINE Â»(removed) sweat. Yuck! the solution!

Zimm · Post by **Zimm** » Mon Sep 13, 2010 7:35 am

after reading this thread, i'm going to have to look into adjusting the height of the rearview mirror in my '10. mine sits in a perfect spot for blocking traffic moving perpendicular to me at useful places like intersections. i can't count the number of times that a car approaching a 4 way stop slowly at the same time i am has hidden behind the mirror, completely out of my view.

star_deceiver · Post by **star_deceiver** » Mon Sep 13, 2010 9:41 am

Quote, originally posted by Zimm Â»Mine sits in a perfect spot for blocking traffic moving perpendicular to me at useful places like intersections. I've gotten used to looking under the damned thing. It's up as high as it'll go. I've found that the most comfortable way to take a long trip in the Vibe is to carefully choose who is in the passenger seat!!! Preferably nobody!!! It's sooooo much less stressful not having to cater to other peoples demands while driving! Better gas mileage, too!Quote, originally posted by ponta2147 Â»Back sweat, mostly. Many a wrinkled shirt. But that's only a problem for 4 months of the year...

ponta2147 · Post by **ponta2147** » Mon Sep 13, 2010 10:23 am

Quote, originally posted by DressedInBlack Â»the solution! Lol, I've seen that stuff before.Quote, originally posted by star_deceiver Â»But that's only a problem for 4 months of the year... Exactly! So it doesn't bother me.

ramenboy... · Post by **ramenboy...** » Mon Sep 13, 2010 12:20 pm

Quote, originally posted by DressedInBlack Â»the solution! hhhahahaha that's the biker's best friend!!!!

For comfort what adjustments do you do to drive the Vibe on trips???

For comfort what adjustments do you do to drive the Vibe on trips???

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