Broken Front Seat Arm Rest

[Troglodyte]

We managed to break an arm rest last night on out T6 Cali. We have always used the drivers seat turned around 180 degrees and it’s arm rest as a step to get up and down from pop top roof.
Last night something broke in the mechanism that lets you adjust its position with thumb screw. The thumb screw is locked solid and the arm just revolves around.
Has this happen to anyone else? Is it an easy fix I can do myself or expensive VW Dealer visit?
I would be interested to know, how do others get up and down from pop top?

 

[Beeechke1]

Stand on the seat base then one foot on top of seat next to head rest and your up. Reverse the process to get down. Cant help you on how you fix the damaged arm rest but be aware there are stickers and warnings in the manual about standing on the arm rests if you are going down the warranty route.

 

[David Eccles]

don't tell dealer you stood on it?
trust no-one; deny everything...

 

[Perfectos]

It depends what you have broken
Sounds similar to this thread
Part to fix is a few quid from eBay
Hope this helps

Broken Armrest

I have a broken drivers lefthand armrest and after trying to remove what seems to be a large spline drive bolt inside the alloy casting that pertrudes from the seat I have contacted VW Parts, giving them the part no. and explaining the problem that the casting the arm moves on has a broken...

www.vwt4forum.co.uk

 

[Perfectos]

 

[Perfectos]

 

[Digger]

don't tell dealer you stood on it?
trust no-one; deny everything...

Also be aware many dealers may read these postings

 

[Nick Stubbs]

Our dealer said to use it as step but only step where the end meets the seat back, Not on the free end..

 

[WelshGas]

Our dealer said to use it as step but only step where the end meets the seat back, Not on the free end..

Obviously not California experts, so you might get away with a warranty claim.

 

[Nick Stubbs]

Don’t see an issue the bolt is well strong enough and the dealer is very clued up, but do not stand on the end and use it as a lever.

 

[Bellcrew]

We managed to break an arm rest last night on out T6 Cali. We have always used the drivers seat turned around 180 degrees and it’s arm rest as a step to get up and down from pop top roof.
Last night something broke in the mechanism that lets you adjust its position with thumb screw. The thumb screw is locked solid and the arm just revolves around.
Has this happen to anyone else? Is it an easy fix I can do myself or expensive VW Dealer visit?
I would be interested to know, how do others get up and down from pop top?

We use a small folding step on the turned drivers seat, also useful for putting bikes on the rack and the cover over the pop top.

 

[WelshGas]

Don’t see an issue the bolt is well strong enough and the dealer is very clued up, but do not stand on the end and use it as a lever.

And what's happened?
The bolt may be strong enough but the arm isn't.
By all means take the Dealers advice as gospel and apply for a Warranty Repair.
Let us know how you get on.

 

[clarinetbcn]

My method for climbing up: stand on the rotated front seat facing the windshield, put one hand on the exposed frame of the roof, the other on the bed and hoist the backside onto the bed. I took the manual seriously: I am VW's "Average Passenger Weight," 75k, and would never trust the armrest screw. Once you start taking things apart in these vans, you realize that they are not very ruggedly put together.
Edit: I've heard of cases where standing on the front seat is blamed for breaking the heated seat element, but so far no problem with mine.

 

[Perfectos]

And what's happened?
The bolt may be strong enough but the arm isn't.
By all means take the Dealers advice as gospel and apply for a Warranty Repair.
Let us know how you get on.

WG, the person with the broken arm is Troglodyte, not Nick Stubbs

 

[westfalia]

Standing on the seat is gonna knacker the heated part of it
at some point so the ladder is probably the way to go.
The seats will be the same in the multivan and transporter so
i doubt they have been tested as a climbing frame, i can't quite justify
the space that the ladder will take up.

 

[David Eccles]

the telescopic folding ladders take hardly any space in boot
one of my best buys...

 

[WelshGas]

WG, the person with the broken arm is Troglodyte, not Nick Stubbs

But he supports standing on the Armrest.

 

[Perfectos]

But he supports standing on the Armrest.

I would not recommend using the Arm rest in any way to assist egress to the penthouse, the arm rest is exactly that, designed for resting ones arms, not supporting whole body weight, the fact that some have been able to use the arm rest to assist in climbing up top does not make it an advised action and no doubt will result in damage at some point IMO ! (Dealer advise or not)

 

[Troglodyte]

Thanks all for your replies. We have learnt the hard way. I haven’t been all the way through the user manual as yet. Would need a few weeks to do so. I’ve seen quite a few reports of the pivot bolt breaking, but ours is just floppy now and the thumb screw adjuster is locked solid. I’m going to take it apart this weekend to see if a DIY fix is possible.

 

[ArunAlec]

Thanks all for your replies. We have learnt the hard way. I haven’t been all the way through the user manual as yet. Would need a few weeks to do so. I’ve seen quite a few reports of the pivot bolt breaking, but ours is just floppy now and the thumb screw adjuster is locked solid. I’m going to take it apart this weekend to see if a DIY fix is possible.

The user manuals are not an easy read!
If you are going to remove the armrest be careful not to bugger up the fixing bolt.

 

[Perfectos]

Let us know how you get on, some photos before, during and after would be useful to others.

 

[CannonDale]

Let us know how you get on, some photos before, during and after would be useful to others.

You need one of these.

 

[Topsy]

We managed to break an arm rest last night on out T6 Cali. We have always used the drivers seat turned around 180 degrees and it’s arm rest as a step to get up and down from pop top roof.
Last night something broke in the mechanism that lets you adjust its position with thumb screw. The thumb screw is locked solid and the arm just revolves around.
Has this happen to anyone else? Is it an easy fix I can do myself or expensive VW Dealer visit?
I would be interested to know, how do others get up and down from pop top?

I did exactly the same on my T5. Don't worry I took it to the VW dealer and they repaired it and although I can't remember how much it cost it was not expensive (less the £50 for sure).

 

[Kirx]

I did exactly the same thing on mine too, so interested in how you are fixing it and how much it will cost. I’m probably not going down the DIT route though as useless as all things like that.
Good luck
Kirstie

 

[BikerGran]

I've done the same so will follow this with interest - I was just going to leave it but if there's a cheapish fix it would be better to get it done!