Repairing swivel seat base

[mm289]

Hi,

just aquired an Autosleeper and blitzing a load of stuff to get it "ready" for its first outing hopefully at Volksworld.

The front seats both swivel and were both "rocking" more on their bases than I would like. As I had to do the "Wobbly armrest" fix anyway (great picture tutorial linked to from the wiki btw - can be found here http://www.weidefamily.net/vanagon/) I thought I would take the whole seat out and look at the swivel base.

To my surprise I found the swivel mechanism comprised a bit of plywood cut into a circle with 8 holes drilled in it filled with big ball bearings as per these pictures....
Bottom plate


Swivel mechanism on plate


Not exactly high tech me thinks.

I just wondered if all swivel bases were constructed like this - surely not - or whether this is an Autosleeper or previous owner special.

If there are any better mechanisms out there what are they and how do they work?

As a refurb I am considering getting some 1/2" thick hard nylon slab (same material as used for nylon bushes/roller probably), cutting to shape and then dropping in the ball bearings on the basis that if measured up properly the weight spread will be far better and the wear rates far lower.

Any thoughts/suggestions/similar experiences?

Cheers,

Paul.

[mm289]

no replies so I guess I am alone in having wobbly seats

Just incase I am not thought you might like an update on the repair.

Turns out there are two reasons (at least) for the wobble:
1. The latch mechanism was about 2mm higher that the bearings so the top plate always sat on that rather than the weight being spread over all the bearings
2. The plates are flat steel about 2mm thick and flex too much for the seat to be solid. This is exacerbated by the pinion being a 10mm bolt so the "point load" is only spread over a very small surface area, even though in theory the bearings should spread the load further this doesnt really work.

I notice that new swivels seats seem to be made from stamped steel with "corrugations" in them which I am guessing is designed to combat the inclination of a flat steel plate to twist and bend.

When I do the drivers seat I will use a large spreader under the pinion bolt and also weld some lengths of small square section tube onto the plates and see if this increase the stiffness.

Will report back on success or not for the avid followers of this thread ...... or perhaps just for posterity

cheers

[andisnewsyncro]

Never seen one like that before
Would I be right in guessing there's no makers name or such like on it?

[T25Convert]

Hi,

My Autosleeper has a base that looks just like that one, so either its a factory finish, or its a popular 'fix'!

However, mine doesn't really rock, but it does rattle like crazy unless I have someone sat in it.

If you do find a good solution to make the base better I'd be interested in photos......

Good luck,

Cheers,

Alex

[billy739]

these are quite a common ' after market' type , seen a few

looks a bit iffy , but they seem to work!

genuine vw much better , but thats what you pay for i guess

[scottbott]

my autosleeper has the same base,looks a bit naff but works ok,I thought it was a home made jobbie but obviously not

[mm289]

I have assumed it is an Autosleeper special but maybe not.

Mine doesn't rattle, am guessing that could be the ball bearing loose (in which case they are not taking the weight of the seat) or the latch mechanism (is the spring attached?).

A neat trick I found is that the seat will come off the runners completely, massively aiding removal and replacement of the seat swivels -( guess when i found this out? )

Basically the seat will slide forward all the way, then stick on a little catch on the l/h side (of the passenger seat) just behind the release lever (pointing to it with a pen in the picture)



Once you have lifted this lever and are past this the seat just slides of and allows you to admire your newly refurbished seat base



I swivel'd the seat round so I could take it off inside the van which made it even easier.

Try tightening up the main bolt that goes through the seat to get rid of the rattles (make sure it will still swivel though) and put a bit of grease on the runners whilst you are at it .


Cheers,

Paul.

[T25Convert]

Cheers for that - I'd got as far as finding out the whole lot was made of plywood, and just assumed it was a rattly home made bodge job.

Now armed with your handy photos and knowledge that its Autosleepers work I will go and have a proper look and see if I can fix it.

Cheers,

Alex