Fixing a broken seat mount with ingenuity and jb-weld

   I'm kicking myself as I write this up for not taking pictures of the repair I did on the front drivers seat of my Jeep GC. About a month ago, it started having a clunking noise during hard acceleration or deceleration. I thought at first that the mounting bolts to the floor were loose or something, but then one day I heard and felt a loud sproing from the seat. it then started wobbling badly. Luckily I was almost at work and managed to get there safely. Thinking my seat had broken entirely, I looked into the problem expecting that I was in for an expensive repair bill or replacement of the seat.

   Once I had a chance to take a look, I discovered that the front mounting frame has a (what I thought at the time) bolt that attached the upper frame to the lower frame. It felt like it had snapped off about 4" inside the frame tube, but I could not tell for sure with all the seat molding in the way. Plus pushing it back in fixed the problem at least short term. However, it would slowly work itself back out and cause the seat to start rocking again. I could reach down while driving and push it back in with some wiggling of the seat at least. Because of this, I just kept pushing it back in until I had actual time to fix it. Finally, I started searching online to see if this was a common problem and found out that it was. There was even a company that created a replacement frame, but they charged almost $200 for it. Before I sunk that amount of change into it, I figured I should tear it apart first and make sure the kit would work.

   This Sat I was able to finally get to it. I pulled off the molding and unbolted the seat from the floor. After getting it all apart I was able to determine what the problem was. Turns out it was not a bolt at all, but a metal tube the runs between the side rails. The tube had sheared off about 4" in. The kit would replace all this, but a the cost of almost $200. I decided I should try to fix it myself. I pulled it out and after looking the whole setup over, decided that if I could insert a metal rod into the tub and jb-weld it in place, it would support the weight of the frame as well as being able to bond the tube back together.

   With the plan in hand, as well as the tube/bolt piece, I headed off to Home Depot. I was quickly stumped and very quickly annoyed because the inside diameter of the tube was not quite 7/16"  which gave some room for the jb-weld. Unfortunately, this was also the cause of my annoyance and frustration.  I was not able to find a metal rod in tht size that wasn't 48" long. I only needed 6"-8" at most and the entire tube itself was less than 24". Practically screaming in frustration, I grabbed a tube of jb-weld and started for the registers. Then I saw it... A 3/8" punch setter tool with a body that looked just about right. I grabbed it and slid it inside the broken tube. It was a perfect fit and just long enough for what I needed. Grabbing my treasure, I headed out the door and home.

   Once home, I mixed up a batch of jb-weld and bonded the tube to the setter tool with about 1/4" of the rod sticking out the outside end just in case I needed to get a grip on it. This left about 3" sticking out the other end where it would go into the rest of the tube still attached to the seat frame. I let that sit for a few hours and watched some TV. Then I mixed up a fresh batch of jb-weld and coated the other end. Heading down to my Jeep I carefully slid that into the tube and wiggled the seat until it set properly. I spun it a few times to make sure all was well and then clamped it to hold it in place just in case. Satisfied with my repairs, I headed back into the house to watch me some Doctor Who! Daleks rock... even the crazy ones.

   The next morning, I headed out to check on the repair. I adjusted the power seats through their normal range of motion and checked on the fix. All seems to be solid and not interfering with the motion of the seat at all. Proclaiming victory I headed to the store for celebratory cider.

   I may end up trying to fix my roommates Jeep which is the same year as mine and also has a broken seat. If I do, I will try to remember to take pics of this as I go.

Adventures in fixing shit land

   I figured I would start off this blog with my latest adventure in the world of broken shit I need to fix. In the past 6 months I have had my Neutral Gear selector cable break as well as my parking brakes stop gripping the rotors. I fixed those, the one by crawling under my Jeep and using wire to reconnect a plastic (yes PLASTIC) clip that holds the transmission shifter cable in the correct position for it to engage the parking gear when going from D/N/R to Park. The other being my parking brakes not working. Filled with euphoria from this success I pulled off the tires and rotors, replaced my worn out parking brake pads and adjusted my parking breaks to firmly grip the rotors once more. Once again, my Jeep was safe to park in SF without worrying about it rolling away down the hills and taking out some poor lady trying to cross the street.

   Flush with my new victories against the forces of mechanical breakdown, I basked in the joys of parking where ever I wanted to, and not worrying about coming back to find my Jeep rolled off somewhere without me. Flash forward a few weeks as I am parking at home. I calmly pull the parking break up as I always do, when TWANG!!!! The cable on the parking break lever snapped off. Thankfully the parking gear fix is still working (knock on wood) but now I have to take apart the center console in hopes of getting in there and being able to fix it easily. My fear is that it snapped somewhere in the middle or on the wheel end of things. That could complicate it a bit. As I am stewing about this and waiting for my buddy to return my toolbox (because we all know that things WILL break when you loan out your tool box), I continue to go about my daily routine as normal. Then two days ago, the seat makes a clunking sound and starts to wobble. Like three or four inches of travel wobble. I freak out because my roommate's Jeep has a broken seat and is almost impossible to drive, so now I'm worried that my seat broke in the same way. I do NOT want to buy a new seat. After I pull into work and get out, I start to poke around under there and notice that a large bolt/pin is about an inch out from where it looks like it should go. I start to push that in while wiggling the seat and sure enough it goes back in. After looking around a little more and trying to see how it all works, I give up and head inside. At least the seat is mostly stable again.

   Skip to this morning... On  my way into work it pops out again. I reach down while driving and find the bolt and push it back in while rocking the seat around a little. It goes back in and is stable once more. But now I have to find out why it is not staying put and how it all is supposed to fit together so that I can fix it permanently.

   So there ya go. A small adventure into my life of fixing shit that breaks. I will post more stories here of my adventures in the past as well as any new ones that come up along this journey.