RV Upholstery & Camper Cushions

Shasta trailers got their start as mobile military housing in 1941. They were called "house trailers" back then. That market dried up after World War Two, but America's burgeoning highway system spawned a lucrative new market; the travel trailer.

Back in the 50's and 60's there was no mistaking the distinctive "toaster-on-wheels" design of Shasta's first travel trailers. The decorative wings on the side signified flight and freedom. You still see these old Shasta trailers on the road every now and then.

These are the original seat cushions from one of those 1956 Shasta Trailers. The hinged cushions double as fold-out beds. After sixty plus years, the seats were overdue for a makeover. The owners liked the old design, but preferred a new color with better padding.

These cushions were cutting edge technology in the mid-fifties; coiled springs wrapped in sisal and cotton batting. Cushioning technology has improved quite a bit since then. So, instead of rebuilding the old seat the same way, we created a contemporary feel without sacrificing the old fashioned look.

We augmented the original coil box with brand new torsion springs. We were also able to reuse the old sisal padding. The rest of the seat was another story. The original burlap was trashed, so after wrapping the coil box with new burlap, we added separate layers of polyurethane foam, cotton batting and reinforced scrim. Then we went to work on the cover.

We replicated the original cover by using the old one as a template. After replacing the original vinyl with something more contemporary, we tracked down a blended upholstery fabric to go with it. As you can see, the renovated seat looks just like the original in blue.

Here's another Mercedes Sprinter van. The interior of this one is configured primarily for travel. The owner needed a set of multipurpose, custom cushions that could be reconfigured for transportation, sleeping or entertaining.

Most customers select a medium soft foam for this sort of application, but he wanted something with a little more support. After sampling our foams, he selected a much firmer upholstery foam for the cushions, HR45. HR45 is a nice compromise between a soft foam often used for bunks and a firm foam used in galley seating and breakfast nooks.

Be sure to visit our Ballard showroom to compare foams. We'll help you chose the one that's right for your project.

These vinyl fold-down seats are from a camping trailer manufactured in the 1960s. They were made the old fashioned way with a wooden frame, cotton batting, coil springs, burlap and No-Sag^® springs. This was state-of-the art furniture padding at the time. Today's high quality polyurethane foam is much more comfortable and durable than old fashioned cotton padded springs. So instead of restoring the RV seats, we kept the frame and hinges, then replaced the springs and burlap with plywood seat decks and foam.

While the plan was straightforward; pulling it off proved a little tricky.

The original vinyl was stiff and slippery. Because it was slippery, the seats folded up and down without wrinkling. The fabric we used was much more comfortable than vinyl, but it wrinkled when the seats were tilted in the upright position. We solved the wrinkling problem by anchoring the fabric edges to the frame with elastic straps. The constant tension keeps the fabric nice and smooth in any position.

The owner was nice enough to send us some pics of the seats after they were reinstalled in the trailer. As you can see, they look great! Better yet, they're a lot more comfortable than the old vinyl ones.

You've probably seen this sort of damage before – the safety harness on an RV rubs against the captain's seat, tearing the fabric and shredding the upholstery foam. If caught in time, it's a relatively easy fix. When it gets to this point (below center) the repair can be a lot more difficult.

Because it was originally manufactured with poor quality foam, the seat deteriorated in no time. Before repairing the fabric, it was necessary to rebuild the cushion. We replaced the cheap foam with high quality polyurethane. Then we reinforced it with special padding material underneath. Fortunately, we were able to salvage the fabric. With the cushion repaired, we reattached the upholstery fabric and that was that.

The owner could've saved a chunk of money by bringing it in before the foam was shredded – something to keep in mind if you notice this sort of thing happening to your seat.

Often times it's unnecessary to replace an entire seat cover when only a section of the seat is damaged. Finding the right fabric for a sectional repair is pretty straightforward. Matching the original stitch pattern is where things get tricky.

A seamless repair requires aligning the thread and fabric with the existing stitch line, then matching the stitch length. When the stitch length is right, the thread used in a sectional repair slides precisely into the existing stitch holes. As you can see from the pics above, there's no way to tell the seat's been repaired. The stitch line looks original.

Volkswagen long ago stopped manufacturing the Vanagon Bus (a.k.a. Westfalia Eurovan) for the U.S. market. The company says there's insufficient demand for a van-sized camper. Try telling that to folks devoted to their Vanagon. Despite the vehicle's notorious mechanical flaws, Vanagon owners still delight in the ability to pop their tent top and camp almost anywhere.

Since Vanagon afficiandos can't buy new models here, they're keen on maintaining the old ones, such as this camper in need of a new pop top tent canvas.

We could custom-manufacture a new tent top for this Vanagon, but there are plenty of affordable replacement tops in the aftermarket. Installing the top is the hard part. To do the job correctly, you have to remove the shell and tent component in a certain way. The same goes for replacing the top and reinstalling the shell.

Our Vanagon expert has learned a few tricks to flawlessly replace your pop top tent and get you back on the road in no time.

Mac's Upholstery recently enjoyed the rare opportunity of restoring the interior of a vintage 1966 Aistream Trailer. The snapshots in the first row were taken before the restoration. The pictures below were taken after we fabricated and installed the new padding, upholstery and curtains. What a difference!