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Passenger Seat Reclining Mod
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indytriple
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Joined: April 27, 2009
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Location: Brownsburg, Indiana
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 27, 2010 8:42 am    Post subject: Passenger Seat Reclining Mod Reply with quote

OK, I've reached my 30 minute time allotment of diligent searching before I resort to posting...

I've seen a reclining passenger seat mod mentioned in a few posts, but no link to the mod. It's also been credited to tencent. Something about grinding a piece off. My seats are stock.

Cheers, and thanks in advance.
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Last edited by indytriple on Sat Jul 31, 2010 7:03 pm; edited 2 times in total
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tencentlife
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Location: Abiquiu, NM, USA
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 27, 2010 9:14 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=238428
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indytriple
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Posts: 710
Location: Brownsburg, Indiana
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PostPosted: Sat Jul 31, 2010 7:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

You can find this tencent seat recline mod buried in the thread above, but I'm going to list it here so people can find it easier.

Quote:
tencent wrote:
You can modify the cog segment to get one more click of rearward tilt if you remove the metal to the left of the white line. Just lay a ruler against the projecting end of the pipe axle, and mark a line that is a tangent of the pipe and goes straight to the center of the first cog recess. Then cut and grind off the last tooth of the segment, and you get a couple inches more rearward tilt.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


I have completed this mod, and I must say that I'm very pleased with the results. I measured the difference with a digital angle finder, and it appears to get you an additional 5-6 degrees of rearward tilt. My wife especially loves it, as she is usually the one that sits in the seat. It was fairly easy. It requires complete disassembly of the passenger seat (with the exception of the arm rests). I cut off the end tooth segment with an air-powered cutting wheel. The steel is thick (about 3/8"), and it's tough stuff. I would NOT attempt this mod with files or a Dremel tool. After cutting, I gave it a quick spray with some paint to keep rust away.

Tools and Supplies Needed:
-8mm Allen Wrench to Disassemble and Reassemble Seat
-5mm Allen Wrench to Disassemble and Reassemble Seat
-Powerful Cutting/Grinding Tool for Removing End Tooth Segment
-Vise to Clamp Pipe Axle to Hold While Cutting/Grinding/Filing
-Rasp File to Clean Up The Edges of Your Cut
-Grease to Regrease Seat Sliders and Bolts Before Reinstallation
-Straight Edge for Marking Cutting Line
-Scribe or Marker to Mark Cutting Line
-Paint to Cover Cut and Prevent Rust

Thanks to tencent, my passenger seat is now "sleepable". It's a great mod for those long road trips or for when the seat is swiveled and we're leisurely hanging out in the van.
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Last edited by indytriple on Sun Aug 01, 2010 5:07 pm; edited 1 time in total
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tencentlife
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 01, 2010 6:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Glad that worked out for you.
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IdahoDoug
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 18, 2011 10:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Excellent. I was in the van tonight measuring for sleeping and storage mods when I noticed the passenger seat won't recline far. Dismayed as my wife loves to travel in recline mode, I immediately thought "Bet someone on Samba has figured a mod for this." 5 minutes later a search brought up this thread. Bravo, Tencent and others who've helped.

I have a question after looking at the seat and the mechanism. Can I actually cut another tooth off to gain two more teeth of recline? If not because the mechanism would not have a tooth to grab, could I weld the removed chunk back on the opposite side to solve that? Thanks! Any other mods to the stock seat for reclining would be great. I'm kinda surprised that a German vehicle designed for touring would not have a sleeping/recline position, actually. Did other countries get the full recline??

DougM
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tencentlife
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 18, 2011 10:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have to say that, having done this mod, it never gets used.

What you propose won't work, Doug, I worked out the same ideas.

And just to cover my posterior, I don't endorse having the seat fully reclined while underway, only parked. There, indemnified I am.
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IdahoDoug
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 18, 2011 10:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks - bummer. Even with the extra click I think it will be a marginal recline amount for her standard copilot mode. Ah well, I'll do the extra tooth and see. Maybe a quarter inch of steel spacers on the front edge to lean the whole seat frame back a few degrees will help.

Still wondering if this wimpy recline mode reflects the state of affairs in other countries (most are asleep at this hour...).

DougM
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stevey88
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 18, 2011 10:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yesterday, I modify the seats of my Westy before putting them back ( after the repaint ) using the instruction from 10c. They Works great. Now, I need to work on the headrest to take advantage of the new reclining angle.
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BenT Syncro
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 19, 2011 5:11 am    Post subject: Re: Passenger Seat Reclining Mod Reply with quote

indytriple wrote:
OK, I've reached my 30 minute time allotment of diligent searching before I resort to posting...

I've seen a reclining passenger seat mod mentioned in a few posts, but no link to the mod. It's also been credited to tencent. Something about grinding a piece off. My seats are stock.

Cheers, and thanks in advance.


I just read 10cents write up on this. Wanted to add that another Chris (aka JordanVW on the Vanagon List) handwritten something many years ago about removing the Allen bolt on the passenger seat so you can recline it all the way to almost flat. It's a different solution and not the one requested but seems another option to consider.


BenT
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joetiger Premium Member
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 19, 2011 7:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Here's one of Chris' posts on the subject from back in 2002:

"if you pop of the plastic covers at the base of the backrest where it meets the seatbottom, you can see a gold anodized allen head bolt. remove this bolt on each side, and your seats will recline fully. i was thinking of making a "quick release" pin that i could slip in there, and pull out when i wanted to recline the seat.. of course, you would have to have something supporting the seatback once you remove this bolt on either side.. i just spin the seat (i have the swival base) around backwards and lay the seatback on the dash.....

chris"

http://gerry.vanagon.com/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind0203D&L=vanagon&P=R20557
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