Defenders and back pain

I have owned my 2006 110 for 6 years, from new.
I work in physical therapies, and have heard some defender owners complain they get back pain from the seats in their defenders.
Personally I find the seat very comfortable, but those affected say it affects the sacro iliac area.
I would be very interested to hear others experiences from a personal and professional point of view.
Dr Les Bailey
Dr Les Bailey phd, DO, Acopm,Apta

Seriously?

they're spartan vehicles born for warfare and agriculture :doh: man up or sell on

Mines dead comfy

I think your find the early Model seat's were a bit harsh on long journeys , but the modern seats type have changed for the better, Warning never fit cobra bucket seats , might as well sit on a rock welcome

I tend to suffer from back pain and especially when driving. It was always on my left shoulder and between the shoulder blades but I find my standard defender seats brilliant for it as they seem to support that area whereas other car seats don't

i find discos equally so , i put it down to seat been higher from the floor meaning your legs arent bent up

I suffer the same problem as the wolf, until I bought Defenders years back. The tdci seats are even better. Would never go back to a car sitting on the floor with knees in the air!

Hello, my Defender is fantastic and I like the seats! It's the German thing I drive in the week that is killing not my back but my left knee! It was designed as LHD and I am convinced when they are made RHD you sit in a twisted driving position at a funny angle!

So 2 weeks ago I went to the doctor (I'm 36 so getting on) and told him my knee was aching after long journeys he asked how long it hurt, when it hurt. The answer was in the last 6 months so all pointed to this car. I then thought about changing it! (not my knee the car)Anyway last week driving a good 200 mile trip and I noticed the air con front right vent was pointing directly onto my knee and I tend to have it cold if in the car for a long time! I moved the vent to up since then no issue as did a 450 trip yesterday! Cold air on my knee for 3 hours is not good it stiffens up!

So I nearly sold the car when infact all I had to do was move the vent!

Confirming my stupidity.

Def1383

I find the Land Rover is more comfortable than my every day driver for long journeys.

My "family" car is an Audi A6 and after driving long journeys (over 100 miles) I suffer chronic pain in the posterior sacro iliac area (RH) despite trying many seat configurations, including altering the lumbar support. If I repeat the journey too soon after, the pain can take 2-3 days to subside.

However I can spend all day behind the wheel of my Land Rover (04) without similar problems. The only time driving the Land Rover caused me similar problems was before I fitted the longer seat rails, when I would get minor twinges in the anterior area.
The only discomfort I now suffer in the Land Rover is now down to the "handbrake left leg abrasion"; the "trench foot" in the right foot due to leaks, and a "numb bum" due to lack of padding (in the seat, not my posterior).

My layman's view is that the difficulties with the Land River arose because of the lack of thigh support (not brilliant in a LR) particularly with the shorter rails meaning that my right thigh was always above the seat squab when driving, particularly if on motorways/open roads. The extra couple of inches made life so much more comfortable (No smutty comments please).

Similarly, as I continue to suffer with the Audi, I have concluded that some of it could be attributed to the fact that it's an automatic, and therefore on long motorway journeys my right leg remains relatively static for longer periods. However, I have tried, using cruise control, to exercise my leg/hip joint whilst on such long journeys without much success in alleviating the onset of the problem. So some of it, I assume, is down to seat design/ pedal layout influencing my posture whilst driving.