I've got to tell you I hated the idea of replacing a perfectly fine sun visor just because it droops, but truth be told, I can't stand the drooping! I broke down and paid $100 from CruiserParts to replace my badly drooping visor only to get a not as badly drooping, but still unacceptable drooping visor. The explanation was I can buy a $200 new one that doesn't droop at all.
So...I took my old visor which was actually a little ratty looking any way and tore it apart to see how this thing actually worked and what causes the drooping...see images below. NOTE: The image shows the frame after I removed the molded foam that was underneath the cover...you will NOT be doing this the visor you repair...there is NO cutting, I was simply looking over how this thing works.
The above image show the skeletal frame...without posting all the closeup detailed images, you can see that there is a clip that wraps around the plastic post that slides into a sleeve...the clip presses down and holds the visor in place and it appears it also creates the friction point that keeps the visor up in place. The plastic behind this deteriorates and eventually no longer holds the visor in place...squeezing down on this metal sleeve will tighten it but I would imagine it won't last long and would likely damage the operation of the visor.
I have a $9.00 fix...simple and easy, not major tools necessary and only takes about 15 minutes per visor. This repair is easiest if your Cruiser has a sunroof...if not, you will have a little more trouble that I will detail later.
You will need to purchase a set of highly powerful magnets...see below. Small in size, these magnets are big on power...really big! I bought them at ACE Hardware for $9.00
You will need to pull the mirror off the back side of the visor...I did this repair with the visor in the truck and did not need to remove it. You use a small screwdriver to pull the lens off the light that is built into the visor. One that is pulled off you will need to unscrew the mirror...this releases one side of the mirror, the other has some small tabs on the back side that fit behind a portion of the wire frame of the visor.
Once this is removed, it will hang down from the visor and out of the way. You are going to take ONE of the magnets and apply a small piece of tape (shown to the right of the image showing the magnet packaging)...I used 3M VHB tape, you can get this at Staples, but I would imagine you could use just about any durable tape that is double sided (I didn't include the tape cost in the cost of the total repair as you will likely have some tape laying around).
I took the magnet with the tape and slid it in through the hole that is left after removing the mirror...I slid it toward the forward section of the visor away from the window and closest to your head if you were sitting in your seat with the visor in front of you, or in simpler terms...down toward the bottom of the visor as it is shown in the above image. It's best to position the magnet just to the right of the farthest opening to the right...a few inches or so is good. Make certain the tape side is facing the foam in the visor leaving the magnet against the interior of the cover facing the headliner when the visor is folded in the up position. You don't want the magnets power to have to travel through anymore material than necessary.
Once this magnet is in place you can replace the mirror in the reverse order you removed it and you're done with this are...next we move on to the placement of the remaining two magnets in the headliner area.
Something to make sure of is that you will need to make certain you are aware of the sides of the magnets that attract to each other...as you read ahead, you will find that you are also going to put magnets above the headliner...they need to attract each other, not repel each other, so install carefully and pay attention.
Continued....
So...I took my old visor which was actually a little ratty looking any way and tore it apart to see how this thing actually worked and what causes the drooping...see images below. NOTE: The image shows the frame after I removed the molded foam that was underneath the cover...you will NOT be doing this the visor you repair...there is NO cutting, I was simply looking over how this thing works.
The above image show the skeletal frame...without posting all the closeup detailed images, you can see that there is a clip that wraps around the plastic post that slides into a sleeve...the clip presses down and holds the visor in place and it appears it also creates the friction point that keeps the visor up in place. The plastic behind this deteriorates and eventually no longer holds the visor in place...squeezing down on this metal sleeve will tighten it but I would imagine it won't last long and would likely damage the operation of the visor.
I have a $9.00 fix...simple and easy, not major tools necessary and only takes about 15 minutes per visor. This repair is easiest if your Cruiser has a sunroof...if not, you will have a little more trouble that I will detail later.
You will need to purchase a set of highly powerful magnets...see below. Small in size, these magnets are big on power...really big! I bought them at ACE Hardware for $9.00
You will need to pull the mirror off the back side of the visor...I did this repair with the visor in the truck and did not need to remove it. You use a small screwdriver to pull the lens off the light that is built into the visor. One that is pulled off you will need to unscrew the mirror...this releases one side of the mirror, the other has some small tabs on the back side that fit behind a portion of the wire frame of the visor.
Once this is removed, it will hang down from the visor and out of the way. You are going to take ONE of the magnets and apply a small piece of tape (shown to the right of the image showing the magnet packaging)...I used 3M VHB tape, you can get this at Staples, but I would imagine you could use just about any durable tape that is double sided (I didn't include the tape cost in the cost of the total repair as you will likely have some tape laying around).
I took the magnet with the tape and slid it in through the hole that is left after removing the mirror...I slid it toward the forward section of the visor away from the window and closest to your head if you were sitting in your seat with the visor in front of you, or in simpler terms...down toward the bottom of the visor as it is shown in the above image. It's best to position the magnet just to the right of the farthest opening to the right...a few inches or so is good. Make certain the tape side is facing the foam in the visor leaving the magnet against the interior of the cover facing the headliner when the visor is folded in the up position. You don't want the magnets power to have to travel through anymore material than necessary.
Once this magnet is in place you can replace the mirror in the reverse order you removed it and you're done with this are...next we move on to the placement of the remaining two magnets in the headliner area.
Something to make sure of is that you will need to make certain you are aware of the sides of the magnets that attract to each other...as you read ahead, you will find that you are also going to put magnets above the headliner...they need to attract each other, not repel each other, so install carefully and pay attention.
Continued....
I might do the pass-side one too before it starts to sag.
