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Bent Driver Seat

P

Pharaoh XJ

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Cairo, EGYPT
I noticed lately that my back started to hurt after a long trip in my 94 XJ, then hurts every time after I v been in it & only when in my XJ cause I m fine after I drive my moms Corolla.

I found that the seat is bent towards the driver s door & I dont think its the upholstry cause the seat isnt fixed its quite loose but I couldnt figure out where is the loose link or may be its supported by the center console. Is this common ? Where & what should I be looking for ?
 
Besides being bent, seats will sometimes be more worn then they appear. The appearance is OK but too much of the shape and support are gone. I really noticed this after looking at several used cars lately.
 
I bought my Jeep from a rather large guy back in March (20k miles ago).

Got the XJ home and found the seat to be annoyingly bent and loose. Took it apart and found three welds busted. Fixed the welds but the seat was still bent sort of funny.

I "fixed" that by adding a 1" block beneath the right rear mounting bolt. That help a bit, but I really need a new seat to fix the slant. I just wonder what sort of long term damage I am doing to my spine.
 
It's actually a pretty common problem.
Remove the seat and take it apart.
You should be able to take off all the material, cushion and padding off of the frame.
You almost certainly find several breaks in the seat frame.

Your options are to either take the frame and getting it welded back together.
or
Finding a donor vehicle that does not have frame damage to the seat. You can use the donor frame and put on your seat cover on it.

===
Note: I would recommend getting it welded. I have spent a lot of time at boneyards to know that the majority of '96 & older XJs have at least one or more breaks.)

===
 
Mine was completely broken and the whole XJ actually leaned 1.5" to the left... fat @$$ weighed 400lbs and bent the seat, broke 4 welds.. and bent the leaf springs
 
The seats are tackwelded(badly) when they are made. At some point they will all start to lean inward.
 
Had the same broken, fatigued seat frame when I disassembled it. Proceded to reweld and add reinforcements. The seat is like new. I thought about finding a replacement, but figured if mine was broken, the replacement wasn't far behind. It's an easy fix and can be done in about an hour if you pay attention.
 
update:

Yesterday my mom noticed that my right shoulder is 1 in lower than my left, went today for X-ray luckily my vertebral column was not bent or anything but it seems that my shoulder muscles were trying to compensate the bent seat.

I inspected the seat, all the welds were ok no cracks but it needs padding on the doors side already did that 3 years ago but the guy at the upholstry said that SUVs are more prone to this symptom due to the hight of the vehicle & the way the driver enters & exits the car.

So please anybody with a broken, bent, or uncomfortable seats
GET IT FIXED.
 
Quick question, for anyone who has disassembled and re-assembled their front seats. Do you need hog ring pliers and hog rings to reassemble?
 
xjbubba said:
Quick question, for anyone who has disassembled and re-assembled their front seats. Do you need hog ring pliers and hog rings to reassemble?
Click to expand...

Nope. not needed.

It has been several years since I did this, but all I used were some sockets, some regular pliers, and some vise grips.
 
With a '94 or older seat, there are four bolts holding the metal pan with foam cushion onto the frame. What I like to do is to find a right seat cushion (the right seats are almost always perfect as they are never used!) in the boneyard and just replace the broken left seat bottom cushion with it. I put '89 two-door Laredo seats in my '92 Sport, and the left seat pan was cracked. I just went and got the right lower that matched from another car, and it fit fine.Any seat from '94 down will fit, as '95 up used the same mounts as ZJs, and are not readily bolted in.
 
Originally Posted by xjbubba
Quick question, for anyone who has disassembled and re-assembled their front seats. Do you need hog ring pliers and hog rings to reassemble?
On '95 and up, you may have to use these tools, but earlier years can come apart without un-upholstering anything. My '96 Country had a saggy drivers seat, and boneyards are not teeming with 'Dark Sand' interior parts that match or are in good shape. I stripped out a right side lower cushion from a '95 ZJ, removed the foam, and swapped it into my '96. The ZJ foam is about two inches longer, so I trimmed it just enough to pull the upholstery around it. And, it's at least two inches higher, so now I sit higher, and my back doesn't hurt, and it's more comfortable. There are so many easy fixes and combinations that there is no excuse to have a lumpy lumbar!
 
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