Floppy armrest - how to fix? |
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SebRogers
Vanorak Joined: 07 Oct 09 Location: Somerset Status: Offline Points: 1676 |
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Posted: 22 Jun 10 at 09:47 |
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One of the armrests on the passenger side captain's seat on my Westy has gone all wobbly and floppy It still swivels up and down but has way too much play in it, probably not helped by my five year old's tendency to use it as a piece of playground equipment
Anyhoo... I can't for the life of me work out how to get inside to see what the problem is. There are two screws holding the black plastic trim on the underside, but the angle adjuster knob thingumy is in the way of one of them and doesn't seem to want to screw all the way out. Anyone got any pointers?
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'85 T3 Doka EJ22
'94 T4 Westy Cali Club ABT 2.4td |
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BALDY3260
Yardie Joined: 16 Jan 09 Location: East Sussex Status: Offline Points: 521 |
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hi seb had the same problem with one of mine, i did find a thread either here or 80-90 to help fix it but buggered if i can find it now, what i remember is, squeeze arm rest near swivel point and there is a roll pin to knock out, arm rest then comes off, tighten the two screws that fix it to the seat(the swivel bar) then slide arm rest back on, fcuk about for ages trying to get roll pin back in( i think they only go in one way) finally have non floppy arm rest baldy
quite helpfull if you can get another pair of hands to help out too
Edited by BALDY3260 - 22 Jun 10 at 12:30 |
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'95 T4 syncro multivan '08 fiat500(mrs b's)1968 eriba pan/familia (also mrs b's)
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wilf
Not Quite Newbie Joined: 29 Sep 09 Location: Co Durham Status: Offline Points: 28 |
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There's some useful info on this site http://www.weidefamily.net/vanagon/
From home page go to /interior/armrest repair and you'll find step by step instructions with photos as well! |
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1988 1.6td Joker
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RichardN
Yardie Joined: 25 Feb 07 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 330 |
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Just a word of warning here - don't unscrew the big adjuster thingy too much as they can come off the nut inside the armrest and are a pig to get back (or so I'm told).
Richard |
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BANANABUS
Vanorak More Like BanBus! Joined: 01 Jul 07 Location: W YORKS Status: Offline Points: 1987 |
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your not wrong! |
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Committed To Famine Relief. Last Week I Sucked Off An Ethiopian
I'm Not Arguing,I'm Explaining Why I Am Right |
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jason k
Admin Group twinklerims Joined: 14 Jan 05 Location: Wales Status: Offline Points: 15934 |
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yup its the roll pin thats gone prob seb. easy enough to do .
new roll pins available at vw too.
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Bcs shallowest surf award winner 2006
camperjam 2011 chug and tug team member aberdare. south wales newest member of karmann korner no longer the only moderator to manage to ban himself |
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Joker_Club
Vanorak Joined: 14 Sep 06 Location: Sunny Lancs Status: Offline Points: 3733 |
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Sunny Lancs
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jason k
Admin Group twinklerims Joined: 14 Jan 05 Location: Wales Status: Offline Points: 15934 |
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yeah but thats if he has unscrewed it all the way. his problem sounds like lateral movement which is the roll pin.
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Bcs shallowest surf award winner 2006
camperjam 2011 chug and tug team member aberdare. south wales newest member of karmann korner no longer the only moderator to manage to ban himself |
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SebRogers
Vanorak Joined: 07 Oct 09 Location: Somerset Status: Offline Points: 1676 |
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Thanks everyone, some brilliant information and advice there I'll get to it when I have a spare 1/2 hour...
Cheers!
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'85 T3 Doka EJ22
'94 T4 Westy Cali Club ABT 2.4td |
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RichardN
Yardie Joined: 25 Feb 07 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 330 |
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Just to add to this thread, I have just fixed my armrest (yesterday) which had one of the two screws holding the arm on come out completely and drop into the chair. Luckily it was stuck on the vinyl so I could reach it. How one could unscrew and fall out while the other was still in tight I don't know. It must be some sort of vibration thing as you move the armrest up and down.
Anyway, after trying various methods to get the roll pin out for about 20 minutes I found the perfect answer with a Philips screwdriver with a shank the same diameter as the pin. Stick the end of the screwdriver into the end of the pin that has a slight bevel and twat it hard with a hammer. It came straight out in seconds. After tightening the screws on the bracket (or whatever it is you need to fix) put the armrest back into place, lining up the holes as well as you can, then put the pin onto a long thin screwdriver (where the shank goes right through the pin) to line up the pin into the holes by pushing the screwdriver through the hole. If you use a long screwdriver it holds all the foam out the way for you as well which makes this far easier. Give the head of the screwdriver a few taps to get the pin started through the hole and then swap back to the bigger Philips one and give it some more wacks with the hammer until the pin is in the right place. This method made a job that I had struggled with for about 30 minutes so quick that I got the pin out, tightened the bracket and got the pin back on the other armrest in under 5 minutes. Hope it helps. Richard |
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Joker_Club
Vanorak Joined: 14 Sep 06 Location: Sunny Lancs Status: Offline Points: 3733 |
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The armrests on my seats are held on with 6mm thin-headed allen bolts and Nylocs, not roll-pins. All 4 are the same, so I don`t think they`ve all been changed from roll-pins to bolts. |
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Sunny Lancs
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RichardN
Yardie Joined: 25 Feb 07 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 330 |
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I would expect that, if one armrest is loose the chances are the others could do with a tighten at the same time so it's possible that the PO (or a lazy mechanic) checked and tightened them all but couldn't get the roll pins back in (or couldn't be bothered to try) so took the alternative route of using the bolts. I've never seen any mention of bolts in posts about this on any other T3 sites. It's a mystery!!! |
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jason k
Admin Group twinklerims Joined: 14 Jan 05 Location: Wales Status: Offline Points: 15934 |
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the roll pin is not where the bracket bolts into the seat. the roll pin is where the arm fixes to the seat bracket
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Bcs shallowest surf award winner 2006
camperjam 2011 chug and tug team member aberdare. south wales newest member of karmann korner no longer the only moderator to manage to ban himself |
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Joker_Club
Vanorak Joined: 14 Sep 06 Location: Sunny Lancs Status: Offline Points: 3733 |
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Sunny Lancs
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Tee3
Admin Group Coprophagous Cretin Joined: 06 Jun 04 Location: Huddersfield Status: Offline Points: 9763 |
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my ISRI seats had nuts and bolts on their armrests.
My Bluestar has roll pins |
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YOU CANT EDUCATE GAMMON http://www.tee3.co.uk/ |
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Joker_Club
Vanorak Joined: 14 Sep 06 Location: Sunny Lancs Status: Offline Points: 3733 |
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Cheers Tee3, that clears that up For those struggling to get the roll pins back in, might be easier to use allen bolts and nuts.
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Sunny Lancs
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simoncummins
Not Quite Newbie Joined: 12 Aug 07 Status: Offline Points: 28 |
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Mine was loose but i found it was held on by alan screws i cut the short side of a 4mm alan key even shorter held the foam back and got the alan key in with out removeing the arm rest. Hope that makes sence.
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robthedon
Yardie Joined: 16 Apr 09 Location: London Status: Offline Points: 482 |
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Hi all, Ok, so I'm trying to correct the problem where the adjusting knob has been over loostened and nut has fallen off inside, leading to droopy armrest. I have done stages 1-4. However now revealed, the plastic channel is almost entirely enclosed, with only a couple of small square shaped holes (2 on the underside, 1 on the back) where you can see the thread of the adjusting pin. I can hear the loose nut rattling around inside but try as I might (I've fiddled with it for about 1.5 hours this evening), I can't get it to go where the holes are so I can set it in the right place to thread it back on. Has anyone else encountered this problem and how did they get past it? I'm tempted to drill some holes in the plastic housing now, but not knowing what lies inside, I'm not sure if I'd damage things? Also do others find the adjustment know and thread will not come out from the plastic housing? It feels like there is a shim inside stopping this? Finally for future reference of others who wondered at stage 3 where to cut the foam, the section you need to cut is the back and underside rear 3 inches. Make a gash going front to back along that section and it will reveal the 3 "windows" I mention above (n.b they might be behind the glue layer of the foam to start with so might not be instantly visible). Any help on stages 4, 5, 6 greatly appreciated!! Rob |
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Rob Don
Managing Director, London Campers T: 07985 991349 E: rob@londoncampers.co.uk W: www.londoncampers.co.uk |
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robthedon
Yardie Joined: 16 Apr 09 Location: London Status: Offline Points: 482 |
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anyone any ideas?
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Rob Don
Managing Director, London Campers T: 07985 991349 E: rob@londoncampers.co.uk W: www.londoncampers.co.uk |
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