Seat Springs from Snyders
 

I contacted Snyder's in Springfield OH to order some new seat springs for my 1936 pickup. The person on the phone took my info and said they would send out a catalog.

Next day I get an email from Snyders saying "Sorry, we don't have any parts for your vehicle".

So Monday I placed an order with one of the upholstery suppliers, including headliner & panels kit, seat wood base, and bottom springs/top springs to build a new seat.

Today I get my order, and the two boxes with the springs are both printed "Snyders Antique Auto Parts, Springfield Ohio"

Re: Seat Springs from Snyders
 

Looks like that person doesn't know the catalog and cost them a sale. Or they discontinued them recently. When you get your catalog, chreck to see if they list the springs. If so, email them back and tell them they lost a sale because that person didn't look hard enough!

Re: Seat Springs from Snyders
 

Actually, they did not lose a sale as the springs must have been bought by the supplier at one time. He will probably order another set to replenish his store.

Re: Seat Springs from Snyders
 

Right. They lost some profit

Re: Seat Springs from Snyders
 

The email indicated they wouldn't be sending a catalog because they didn't cover my vehicle.
So yeah, they probably wholesaled them to the other supplier instead of getting the full retail value themselves.

The box is printed with Jun 12 on the outside so I'm assuming these were made a year ago. Went to pull the spring out of the box and got some gooey black paint on my hands.

Re: Seat Springs from Snyders
 

Here's an excerpt from Snyder's catalog:


Seat springs got us started in this business, and remains one of our main products. The springs are made here in our shop. The spring units are built from original seat spring patterns so they...

Interesting !

Re: Seat Springs from Snyders
 

Many wholesale businesses don't sell retail.

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True, but this one DOES. The point being they said they DON'T HAVE PARTS TO FIT MY VEHICLE when clearly they do. I think it was a mis-informed employee. Even if they don't have what I'm looking for now, they should still take the opportunity to send a catalog to a new customer in the hope that one day I would have a need for their services.

Re: Seat Springs from Snyders
 

Hey Scott, it's all good as long as you got your part's. Like my episode with an un-named supplier, if you give them your state and zip code and there's a silent pause and then your asked "is that in the United States" your in trouble.:eek:

Good post as I'm about to start working on my seat and headliner on the 39.

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Yeah, I ordered my headliner and door panels kit at the same time but it didn't ship with the other stuff. The wood seat base looks perfect and I'm really pleased with the brand new springs. I've reupholstered mid-60's mustang bucket seats so I don't think I'll have a problem with a simple bench seat like this.

I haven't decided yet what material to cover the seat with. Stock was any color as long as it was black LOL. Since I'm not going stock color on the paint I'm thinking of a custom EZ BOY cover. Outside of the truck is Wimbledon White with red wheels and wide whitewalls. I'm leaning towards a two tone red and white pleated seat. Might also do the door panels and headliner in red. Supposedly you can paint the ABS panels.

Re: Seat Springs from Snyders
 

I've delt with Snyder's for a while and they mostly cater to the Model T and Model A folks and that is how their catalog is set up. They don't have a catalog for the later vehicles but they do still make spring units for quite a few models including the 1935 to 41 trucks & commrcials.

The person handling the situation may have judged your needs incorrectly. They do have an on-line catalog for the springs and I believe you can order that way.

If a person had the tool to crimp the special clips that hold a spring unit together, the wire & coil springs are available for a person to make there own but the crimp tooling is not cheep.

I don't know about Ford trucks but many trucks in the late 30s & 40s had either brown or a gray color of simulated leather as well as black.

Re: Seat Springs from Snyders
 

I strongly considering making my own. I have the old rusty springs to use as a pattern. I found a place to order upholstery coil springs. I saw the price of the Snyders springs and weighed my options. I thought it was a good value to purchase theirs pre-made and correctly done vs. the cost of individual coil springs and my several hours of trial and error to make them.

Re: Seat Springs from Snyders
 

I recently contacted Snyder's for seat springs for the rumble seat in my conv. I told the person that answered the phone what I was looking for, she transferred me to Chris in the spring shop.. Very nice helpful man.. He told me that they did not have patterns for my car, however, they had sold earlier Ford cushions for my application..
Not wanting to gamble on spending over $400. for something that would not fit, at Chris' suggestion I am sending him my springs.. They are in pretty bad shape as a result of water intrusion into the rumble area. Chris will make new upper and lower seat springs. There will be an added set up charge, however, they will be correct for my car.
I have instructed Chris to keep my old seat springs, I know three other guys that are restoring the same cars and will need new seats for their cars.
I think the trick to ordering parts, either local or across the country, is to ask the right questions, if you don't get a good answer ask to talk to someone else..
A footnote.... I contacted three vendors for interiors for antique vehicles.. Two of them told me they did not service the vehicle I had.. One of them gave me Snyder's phone number.. Telling me it would be better for me to contact the company that made their spring sets... That's good customer service..

Re: Seat Springs from Snyders
 

Snyders make the seat springs sold by most suppliers including LB. I found this out afew years ago when I ordered some from a different supplier and they arrived in a Snyders box that had not even been opened by the supplier. Rod

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Yep, that's what I was expecting and that's what I got. Very happy with LB service and the Snyders springs look great!

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Every now and then you get someone who answers the phone that doesn't know the product line or just too lazy to go ask someone else. Customer service is not what it used to be.

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I used Snyder's for the last 2 '40's converts, and one '38 cabriolet I did.They were expensive but well worth the price in my opinion. I think they were the only only ones making them at the time.

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For what I've seen happening to the cost in labor rates plus the cost of materials, their prices seem to be fairly decent. After couple of hours or more at $50 to $80 per hour and the price really goes up there fast. It doesn't seem that long ago when labor & materials was a lot lower so it's getting harder to swallow it but it is a sign of the times.

Re: Seat Springs from Snyders
 

I have bought 2 sets of Model A seat springs from Snyders, they were all custom. They make them what ever way you want. The man in the spring shop is very helpful and accommodating. I was under the impression that they carried Model T & Model A parts. I have had good experience with Synders over the years. You must have gotten a rookie.