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.
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