Ghetto Seat Wobble Fix

[FuriousNotFast]

So, I just bought my Genpu Speed3 last week (getting rid of my mk6 GTI ). I love it, but the seat had a mean wobble.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lCJWB8JYbI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lCJWB8JYbI

I set about fixing it the only way I know how... really ghetto. It seems to be working well so far, but there's a lot of fail in this tutorial.

1. Take the seat out of the car. There are 4 bolts under plastic covers. Also, there is a plug under the seat for the airbag, weight sensor, and seatbelt sensor. The black plastic lever can be accessed from the front of the seat, and it releases the plug.

2. Fold the seat all the way forward and carefully remove it from the car. Don't scratch your door sill like I did.

3. Turn your seat upside down on something clean, like a drop cloth. Maybe try removing the headrest so you don't wrinkle it like I did.

4. Instead of using bolts, the seat's tracks are held on with 4 riveted knobs. A nylon washer and press washer is fitted on each one. Unfortunately, if you're a robust fellow (like my car's previous owner) each press-fit washer will slowly wiggle and flex off, and create slop in the connection.


4.5 (forgot a step). There are some plastic covers on the tracks (for appearances only). The only way to get them off without breaking them is to raise the seat track up with the lever that you use when sitting in the chair to raise/lower. Then remove it with the requisite phillips screwdriver. I decided not to replace then at the end, since they don't show that much anyway. #weightsavings

5. I used a burly screwdriver to pry each press-fit washer off. Jam the screwdriver in, and then twist. Like you're stabbing a VW driver.


A hammer can come in handy.


5.5 (forgot another). I had trouble getting the track off on the latch side, so I pried this way.


6. You also have to take off the seatbelt latch bolt, and release the seatbelt sensor plug.

Also remove the whole plug block which is attached to a bracket on the seat rails. Be careful not to break the bracket like I did.

7. Drill holes towards the end of each rivet. Use titanium nitride drill bits, and some sort of lube. Slow and stead drilling is the best way to go with metal. The metal is actually pretty soft, so the drilling goes quickly.


8. Go the hardware store and buy washers of varying widths. 1/2" is about right for the ID. The OD should be as thin as possible. I bought nylon washers, and steel washers. Also buy nails that will fit in the holes you drilled. They have to be strong enough to not easily bend.

9. Select the correct amount of washers to do as below. Pound a nail through each hole, bending it towards the seat track to keep it from jiggling out. If no combination of washers will fit properly, then try enlarging the hole slightly.


10. Done. Assembly is the reverse of disassembly.


Conclusion: This definitely worked, but it's probably the messiest way to accomplish the desired result. The best way to do this? Just weld it.

If you can't weld it, or don't want to mess with paint removal and the metal fatigue that goes along with welding, then maybe try drilling a hole in the same direction through the entire rivet, and then use a bolt and some washers to clamp it all together. I think that would be less ghetto than the way I did it.

[MD1032]

Just have to say, you did a great job. I really like this method of modifying these because it retains the ability to adjust the seat height.

[djpSpeed]

I used this guide, but drilled the hole through the "rivet" and used bolts and washers to tighten thing up. It worked great so far...about a month. Thanks for the idea Furious.

[Don]

These seats are cheap as fuck.. Broke mine By cracking my back..

If these cars werent so much fun to drive id actually be on the hating side and say the whole damn car is cheap as fuck.