Best way to repair broken car seat frame?

May 6, 2009 9:48 AM

Currently in my 2005 Chevy Malibu the driver seat frame is cracked. Underneath the seat I can see a metal bar going across (not IN the seat but under) and it has a huge crack/hole and the other piece is hanging off. This causes my seat to tilt back some and rock. I know eventually when that breaks completely my seat will forever tilt back. Is there a way I can fix this by DIY?

What about a metal bonding? Or some type of v-band clamp perhaps?
Any suggestions are welcomed!

posted by dolemite01 to Travel & Transportation (7 answers total)

If you have the "gangster lean" (this happens in other cars, too), the only good way to fix it is to remove the cover and re-weld it. Good idea to strengthen all the joints at the same time.

If it were me, I wouldn't trust a v-band clamp, for example - seems kind of sketchy, particularly if you're in a collision.

See here.
posted by HopperFan at 10:05 AM on May 6, 2009

Yeeeeah, I wouldn't do a DIY repair of the driver's seat of my car. This is a bit dangerous - if you're in a collision you have no idea whether the seat will hold up properly or not, and this could compromise the effectiveness of both your seat belts and your air bag. I'd look into getting this fixed professionally, or just replacing the driver's seat myself.
posted by autojack at 10:22 AM on May 6, 2009

Any ideas where to find how to remove the seat online?
posted by dolemite01 at 11:12 AM on May 6, 2009

The seat should be relatively easy to remove - maybe 4 bolts into the floor or similar. Just pull the little flaps of carpet up and look will probably take you as long as looking it up on line.
posted by Brockles at 11:15 AM on May 6, 2009

Call a junkyard and find out how much a replacement seat would be. As easy is they are to take out and put back in, a new, safe seat might easily beworth the money. (And watch for wires when you remove it - you might have to disconnect some wires via a quick disconnect.)
posted by azpenguin at 2:20 PM on May 6, 2009

The seat is a safety device. The seatbelt prevents you from flying through the front window, the seat itself is what prevents you flying through the back window.

A lot of US cars have weak enough seats that when rear ended the passengers fold the seats over and fly headfirst through the back window. Its a problem with US standards not being high enough, if you have a seat that isn't even up to US standards REPLACE IT! An 05 is pretty new, but for older cars junkyards charge next to nothing for a seat.

Best way to get a strong seat is to buy a car made in germany or japan. TUV and JIS are pretty tough on safety, and the companies don't usually retool for the export models. A german or japanese car made in US, Mexico, etc. you takes your chances...
posted by jester69 at 2:44 PM on May 6, 2009

Thanks for all the assistance, it turns out the car manufacturer did in fact cover this under warranty due to safety reasons.
posted by dolemite01 at 7:45 PM on July 23, 2009