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Sun Apr 06, 2008 7:23 pm

So one of my old friend that I drove to school would always play around with the armrest since it wobbled a little bit. I was too lazy to ever fix it and he only made it worse and worse! :evil: So this past week I was going surfing with a buddy of mine and he noticed it was broken. I investigated there and found a bolt out of place. I put the bolt in the dash ash tray and enjoyed the surf. SOO now here I am begging you to help me fix it. the black bar that is in this pic won't move and there is a hole to place the bolt that I found. I have no clue how to fix it but I am thinking that the one little pin should get pushed through so I can take the arm rest off and work on it a little easier.HELPPPPP.

Sun Apr 06, 2008 8:34 pm

Well, your photos are awful, but is the problem that the mounting bracket came off the seat, but is still in the armrest? Or maybe just the one bolt came out, so the armrest is only half atttached now? If so, the solution depends on your year of van. My 85 has a small plastic cover on the outside of the armrest, when you remove it, there is a hex head bolt that can be removed which allows you to remove the pivot post form the armrest and gives you access to the two holes for the mounting bracket to the seat. On later models I think the arrangement is slightly different.

If yours is like mine and you need photos, let me know.

Sun Apr 06, 2008 8:42 pm

you are correct you have to push that pin through in order to rescrew the mounting plate. soak it with a penetrating lube, then get out a punch and start hammering and cursing. using something that is as large as the pin so that you don't go inside it and make it larger.

if the threads inside are stripped you could probably take of the seat back, open up the bottom and reach in the put some nuts behind it, after maybe drilling out the stripped threads?

good luck

Sun Apr 06, 2008 8:48 pm

vwlovr wrote: you are correct you have to push that pin through in order to rescrew the mounting plate. soak it with a penetrating lube, then get out a punch and start hammering and cursing. using something that is as large as the pin so that you don't go inside it and make it larger.

if the threads inside are stripped you could probably take of the seat back, open up the bottom and reach in the put some nuts behind it, after maybe drilling out the stripped threads?

good luck

perfect thank you

Sun Apr 06, 2008 8:50 pm

floggingmolly wrote: Well, your photos are awful, but is the problem that the mounting bracket came off the seat, but is still in the armrest? Or maybe just the one bolt came out, so the armrest is only half atttached now? If so, the solution depends on your year of van. My 85 has a small plastic cover on the outside of the armrest, when you remove it, there is a hex head bolt that can be removed which allows you to remove the pivot post form the armrest and gives you access to the two holes for the mounting bracket to the seat. On later models I think the arrangement is slightly different.

If yours is like mine and you need photos, let me know.

the photo were the best i could do. :oops: my van is a 90 and where you have the plate, i have pleather. you can feel the distinct hole but without breaking it you cant get through. thanks though :(

Mon Apr 07, 2008 1:27 pm

Take a 1/4" bolt at least 4 inches long and use it drive the pin out. Once it is out you can reinstall the screw holding the bracket onto the seat back, use a little loc-tite and do both screws. Then put the armrest back in place and use the bolt to drive the pin back in. No need for penetrating lubricant, plus it will just make a mess on your seat and/or carpet. I slide a piece of plastic(credit card, drivers license, etc) between the armrest and the pin as I remove and install it to prevent damage to the upholstery.

Mon Apr 07, 2008 2:10 pm

hey ddonnell.. i can't help w/ you armrest but maybe a bit with your pictures. if your camera has a "macro mode" (sometimes signified with a close-up of a flower icon) try taking those close up photos with that. I've found that for techy closeup shots like that it makes a much cleaner picture! I took a lot of crummy close ups before I discovered what that flower icon meant!!

good luck w/ your armrest!

Mon Apr 07, 2008 3:04 pm

ak_runner wrote: No need for penetrating lubricant, plus it will just make a mess on your seat and/or carpet.

maybe so, but if it's seized in there good, it's a good helper. i spent about 35 mins of sweat and cursing before lubing one and it came out within minutes afterwards. i then pre-lubed the other three and they were all a lot less painful.

Mon Apr 07, 2008 3:30 pm

vwlovr wrote: ak_runner wrote: No need for penetrating lubricant, plus it will just make a mess on your seat and/or carpet.

maybe so, but if it's seized in there good, it's a good helper. i spent about 35 mins of sweat and cursing before lubing one and it came out within minutes afterwards. i then pre-lubed the other three and they were all a lot less painful.

I did it today during my lunch break and didn't need any lube. But thanks because once I got off the arm rest it was evident what I needed to do.

Mon Apr 07, 2008 3:32 pm

Techbot said it!
Macro is usually depicted by a symbol like this..

Cheers

Mon Apr 07, 2008 4:16 pm

ddonnell wrote:
I did it today during my lunch break and didn't need any lube. But thanks because once I got off the arm rest it was evident what I needed to do.

That's usually the way. Took me a while to figger out how to remove the armrests the first time when they were loose. Now I'm like a NASCAR pit stop when it comes to tightening the armrests. :D

Also in remodeling a home. EVERYTHING took longer than it should cause I was figuring everything out the first time, hoping never to have to do it again. So no benefit of experience there. That's where the learning curve can suck. If you only have to do it once, you don't benefit from the knowledge acquired, but if you do it right, at least you are done.

Mon Apr 07, 2008 6:56 pm

floggingmolly wrote:

That's usually the way. Took me a while to figger out how to remove the armrests the first time when they were loose. Now I'm like a NASCAR pit stop when it comes to tightening the armrests. :D

haha it's always tougher putting it back together :? havent quite got that one figured out :o