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broken drivers seat lumbar support springs[200/1985] posted by Stu on
Saturday, 11 September 1999, at 2:05 p.m.
Hi Friends,
Maybe it's time to expect some problems with my old car. The lumbar support in my driver's seat went "boing" and is now felt towards the bottem part of the backrest. I hate going to a dealership for non-motorized repairs. Is a home repair possible? How hard would it be? If it sounds too difficult, do you have any suggestions as to a reasonable alternative to the dealership. I'm in Minneapolis.
Thanks,
Stu
Re: broken drivers seat lumbar support springs[200/1985] posted by Mike Gambone on
Saturday, 11 September 1999, at 2:29 p.m.
Stu,
The lumbar support can be repaired at home very easily. A kit is available from RPR in CA. for about 10 - 15 bucks. All you do is lift up the seat back cover (I took the seat out), and replace the couple of wires and the plastic piece. It takes a little fiddling to get it all set-up. Also, getting the seat back cover up will require you to loosen the hog rings. Its a nusiance but can easily be done with 2 pairs of needle nose pliers. You do not have to disassemble the seat. RPR has instructions with the kit. The whole thing won't take long at all. Good luck.
--Mike
Re: broken drivers seat lumbar support springs[200/1978] posted by Bruin on
Saturday, 11 September 1999, at 9:57 p.m.
I used to be into bicyle racing so casting around for suitable wire
I used brake cable soldered to make a loop. In retrospect shifter
cable being smaller and more flexible would have probably been better.
Brake cable should satisfy the 300 pound gentleman who was having
trouble. Regards Bruin.
--
Bruin.
Re: broken drivers seat lumbar support springs[200/1985] posted by Mark Pelurie,Sr. on
Saturday, 11 September 1999, at 3:48 p.m.
Stu,
ipd also sells a repair kit to fix the lumbar part of the seat. I have done this repair many times and keep spare wires at home to fix it when it breaks. if you have not put in the updated pieces in the seat the kit will be needed but like mine i put in the updated pieces in a long time ago and only have to replace the wires when it goes snap. The repairs can be done in the vehicle (eaiser in a four door) by removing the hog rings and carefully lifting up on the seat cover from the rear of the seat. Another thing i found is NOT to put the lumbar too tight ---i know it might feel better on your back but having them tight and with me being about 300 lbs i was breaking them fairly regularly so i leave the lumbar at a position looser than i normally prefer. hope this helps.
Mark Pelurie,Sr.
75 240 B20F M40 Rusty but it runs
83 240 B23F AW71 K&N ipd sport exhaust MOMO R-Sport Steering Wheel
Re: broken drivers seat lumbar support springs[200/1985] posted by Randy on
Saturday, 11 September 1999, at 4:12 p.m.
Stu,
Both previous suggestions are great, but if you are a frugal person you can repair the lumbar support with wires you fabricate from a coat hanger! Using the old pieces as patterns make new ones from sections cut out of coathangers. Be very careful to duplicate the size of the originals otherwise you will have too much or too little support that really can't be adjusted. The hanger wire is larger than the original stuff and some work must be done on the plastic piece to accept the larger diameter. I've repaired three this way (on all three it had been the wire that had failed rather than the plastic) and they are all still holding.
Zip ties work real well in place of hog rings to close the seat back up. If you find the foam to be in bad shape you can purchase a small carpet sample of the short pile commercial variety and slip it in between the foam and the lumbar support (you will need to detach the plastic piece from the foam). The small samples are a near perfect fit and require no trimming. They changed the seat back in 86 and this method won't fix the most common failure to the newer seats- that being the round frame piece in the seat back pushing through the foam and giving you the dreaded lopsided seat back.
Randy