Ford 3600 Suspension Seat Rebuild ?

Anyone rebuilt a suspension seat (low back, large tension knob on back)on a Ford 3600 ?

It depends on what it needs.
If it needs a new rubber suspension spring (which is usually the case) it's cheaper to buy a new aftermarket seat. If it just needs new bushings those are just simple bronze bushings and are available at most any hardware store.

On suspension seats, I like a soft ride. I keep my tires as low as is functional and usually sit on an air cushion. Even with buying new suspension seats the ride is too harsh. So one day I was fooling around with a lawn mower and wound up disconnecting one end of the shock absorber off the SSeat and WOW, what a difference. So I go to my Ford Tractors and pull the pin out of one end of the shocks on them too........WOW, nice soft, floating ride. Might try it and if you don't like it, just put the pin back in.

Thanks for the replies. I have found that at 68 the old body doesn't handle the ride as well as it did 50 years ago !

That has become paramount in my equipment, on the road and off. I bought a new tractor in 2007 and one of the selling features was a high back, armrests, air pump (motor/compressor) equipped seat (like OTR truckers have) with a hand operated bulb lumbar control.

I live on Houston black clay and it has horrible habits...mud or cracks a rabbit could fall into. Add to that, clumps of Fescue or Dallis grass and it makes for a very bumpy ride. I tried numerous things to soften the ride on my riding lawn mowers (have several due to peculiarities in terrain and obstructions), including motorcycle "air bag" springs which worked good at 5 psig till I ran across something better.

I was at TSC one day and they had Cub Cadet riders on display. I usually browse riders to see what's being offered. I flipped the seat up and lo and behold was this gorgeous set of soft springs: Large diameter, small wire, few coils. I got the model number and when I got home pulled up Cadet parts and ordered a set for every rider I have on the place. Cost about 6 bucks apiece and worth a fortune.

The other thing I bought was a $90 truckers air seat cushion....FYI I think is the brand, off the www. It has an extremely durable cloth covering and non skid backing. Comes with a separate hand operated air pump, which is seldom needed. You put very little air in it (1# or so) so that what's in there forms the cushion around your body parts applying equal pressure to everything, not just your hip or tail bones. When you squeeze it in your hand you can hardly feel any air in it, but this is how it is designed to work. Too much air and you defeat the purpose. This too is well worth the money.

Then I run tire air pressure as low as is reasonable and safe (except the truck which gets it's 35 psig but the suspension is designed for that). I had a problem on ZT front tires holding air since the tires are 10 years old or more and lost their rim sealing ability at low pressures, so rather than buy new, or look for tubes or other rim sealing techniques I tried, I got some green slime and put about a pint in each tire. That did the trick. I run my 5 psig and no flats any more.

On the truck, Fisher Body of GM took care of that. My 2011 Silverado has the most comfortable seat I ever sat in, in any vehicle.

Life is good.

Great Idea on the Cub Cadet springs--I stopped at TSC today, and looked at them, and think I can adapt a pair to my Ford seat. I made a quick attempt to look them up online, but there are so many models of the Cub Cadet XT1, want to make sure I have the right part #. I couldn't find the seat cushion you mentioned-- if you have more info on it, I would appreciate it. Thanks for the suggestions.