Caravelle cab seat - armrest repair.

[garyd]

One of my cab seat armrests has been damaged in the past - probably by someone moving between the seats into the back of the van. The result is that the thin end of the arm, above the adjustment knob, now flexes from the main arm.

I decided it was time that I looked into this and removed the arm (dowel pin front to rear through the hinge - squeeze the arm cushion away from the seat back to find it.) To get to the screws which hold the plastic cover trim above the adjustment knob it is necessary to remove the knob. As there is no apparent mechanism holding the knob to the shaft I unscrewed the knob. However, as it came away, it was apparent this was not the thing to do as a nut fell loose within the arm!!

I should have looked at the wiki first! (https://club8090.co.uk/wiki/In ... _seat_arms" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;)

To get further in requires the extraction of multiple staples holding the fabric around the end of the arm. The fabric can then be worked off the hinge end of the arm.

With the shaft extracted from the arm and clamped in a vice I discovered that the knob is actually driven onto a length of fine splines on the shaft!!

You can see from the photo that the construction of the arm is a strip of plywood and a moulded-in-situ, foam surround. On my arm the plywood had been snapped at the interface between the thin and thick sections of arm.

So, now I have two issues. I still have to repair the arm and then I have to discover how to reassemble the shaft & nut into the arm! The first of these should be accomplished by adding a piece of metal angle between the underside of the ply and the face of the black box visible in the pictures. Either that, or inserting a couple of lengths of angle along the ply and inside the foam. Or maybe by separating the ply from the black box and inserting a whole new piece of ply. This route might just give me access to the shaft/nut connection inside.

However, for the second issue, has anyone been deeper inside an arm and can guide me at all on that aspect, please?

[silverbullet]

All I can say is that I am amazed that there is just a bit of wood inside the armrest! Not a steel pressing or a plastic molding? How cheap were VW when they specced that?

[CovKid]

Unfortunately kids like to stand on those armrests - thats usually what breaks the plywood. Its fine as beyond the steel arm its not supporting much and the whole thing, combined, is fairly strong - except when kids climb on the ends - and believe me they do....

I'm sure if you cut carefully with a craft knife you can remove ply and replace then glue the lot back together.

[garyd]

Thanks for your responses. I asked the same question on the Samba and was pointed to:

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewto ... ht=armrest" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

which has some photos of a dismantled arm and some idea of how to reassamble it.

thanks

[CovKid]

Would be interesting to see the construction of the non-adjustable arms too. Got those in my Caravelle. Never found they needed adjustment in any way (even if you could be) but would like them a fraction longer and more padded. Recovering front seats over Winter so will see what can be done with them.

[garyd]

I have now repaired my armrest and added some notes and pictures here:

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewto ... 05#7872305" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I would have posted the details here but I can never get the pictures to attach properly.

[Emma&Al]

This is super helpful!!
Mines been broken for years and I couldn't work out what to do. Thanks

[CovKid]

Indeed. Think I might just add a thin layer of memory foam to the top of mine before making new armrest covers.