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indytriple Samba Member
Joined: April 27, 2009 Posts: 710 Location: Brownsburg, Indiana
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Posted: Tue Jul 27, 2010 8:42 am Post subject: Passenger Seat Reclining Mod |
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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. _________________ "See The Glass As Already Broken."
87 Vanagon Westy Auto Bostig
www.bluegrassbicyclecompany.com
Last edited by indytriple on Sat Jul 31, 2010 7:03 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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tencentlife Samba Member
Joined: May 02, 2006 Posts: 10075 Location: Abiquiu, NM, USA
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indytriple Samba Member
Joined: April 27, 2009 Posts: 710 Location: Brownsburg, Indiana
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Posted: Sat Jul 31, 2010 7:00 pm Post subject: |
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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.
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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.
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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. _________________ "See The Glass As Already Broken."
87 Vanagon Westy Auto Bostig
www.bluegrassbicyclecompany.com
Last edited by indytriple on Sun Aug 01, 2010 5:07 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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tencentlife Samba Member
Joined: May 02, 2006 Posts: 10075 Location: Abiquiu, NM, USA
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Posted: Sun Aug 01, 2010 6:34 am Post subject: |
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Glad that worked out for you. _________________ Shop for unique Vanagon accessories at the Vanistan shop:
https://intrepidoverland.com/vanistan/
Please don't PM here, I will not reply.
Experience is kryptonite to doctrine. |
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IdahoDoug Samba Member
Joined: June 12, 2010 Posts: 10248 Location: N. Idaho
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Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2011 10:15 pm Post subject: |
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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 _________________ 1987 2WD Wolfsburg Vanagon Weekender "Mango", two fully locked 80 Series LandCruisers. 2017 Subaru Outback boxer. 1990 Audi 90 Quattro 20V with rear locking differential, 1990 burgundy parts Vanagon. 1984 Porsche 944, 1988 Toyota Supra 5 speed targa, 2002 BMW 325iX, 1982 Toyota Sunrader |
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tencentlife Samba Member
Joined: May 02, 2006 Posts: 10075 Location: Abiquiu, NM, USA
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Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2011 10:36 pm Post subject: |
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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. _________________ Shop for unique Vanagon accessories at the Vanistan shop:
https://intrepidoverland.com/vanistan/
Please don't PM here, I will not reply.
Experience is kryptonite to doctrine. |
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IdahoDoug Samba Member
Joined: June 12, 2010 Posts: 10248 Location: N. Idaho
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Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2011 10:52 pm Post subject: |
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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 _________________ 1987 2WD Wolfsburg Vanagon Weekender "Mango", two fully locked 80 Series LandCruisers. 2017 Subaru Outback boxer. 1990 Audi 90 Quattro 20V with rear locking differential, 1990 burgundy parts Vanagon. 1984 Porsche 944, 1988 Toyota Supra 5 speed targa, 2002 BMW 325iX, 1982 Toyota Sunrader |
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stevey88 Samba Member
Joined: January 16, 2008 Posts: 1317 Location: Fremont, SF Bay Area
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Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2011 10:56 pm Post subject: |
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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. _________________ Steve
87 Westfalia full camper 4 speed |
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BenT Syncro Samba Member
Joined: January 07, 2005 Posts: 1085 Location: San Francisco
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Posted: Sat Feb 19, 2011 5:11 am Post subject: Re: Passenger Seat Reclining Mod |
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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 Samba Member
Joined: January 27, 2005 Posts: 5076 Location: denver
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Posted: Sat Feb 19, 2011 7:15 am Post subject: |
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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 _________________ Joe T.
'86 NAHT Vanagon GL Syncro/ supercharged ABA 2.0 "Pigpen"
'04 GTI 1.8T
'04 Golf R32
"get metaphysical with it. if it's simply a means to get to and from places, it will let you down. if it becomes your zen, it can't fail you." -dabaron
"Still, it's good to be afield."--VWagabond
Available Now! Vanagon to Louisiana--A Two-Lane Reckoning Through Past and Present
www.josephtrussell.com |
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