Newer style seat gears? (1 piece plastic vs brass) (3 Viewers)

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So about a decade ago, I got a set of Gamiviti gears/caps to fix my passenger seat, then later on fixed my driver's seat.

Passenger still works as it should, but the driver's side quit working a while ago.

It once got stuck while I was vacuuming and I had to unbolt the seat to line up the rails again in order to set it in the fully back position and I just left it there as Im the only one that drives her.

Anyways, I'm currently looking into relacing the seat leather, so I figured I'd order a new gear while I was at it.

Did a search and was surprised to see other gears are now available

Instead of just a bare plastic gear that has to be pressed onto a metal shaft, there's now a fully plastic gear and shaft as well as a solid brass gear and shaft

Has anyone here used these new style of gears?

I figure a brass gear might cause more damage to sumthin else if it were to ever bind up, but just curious on how they're working out


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Not sure how the all plastic one is any better then the plastic gear.. but a cool option

Either way you can also get a cap to hold on the plastic end cap too..

 
The brass gear is idiotic.

The entire reason the gear starts to be problematic is because the little white plug starts to come loose or falls out altogether. That plug’s sole purpose is to keep the center access of the steel helical drive perfectly centered. Once that plug comes loose the helical is now touching the edges of the nylon gear instead of bedding into the teeth. Doesn’t take much time to grind the nylon gear down.

Replace the gear (not with brass) and use the white cap cover that Lee has on his site.
 
IIRC in the original discussion/thread about designing a new seat gear the OP (?Lee) of that thread ?? years ago said he used a more durable type of plastic for his "Gamviti" seat gears. The white plastic gear in the photo above appears to be a soft or less dense type of plastic compared to the Gamviti gears. FWIW
 
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The underlying reason for seat gear failure is the 25+ year old grease that Toyota used in the seat gearboxes has now turned to glue. This forces the drive rod against the little plastic plug until it fails, or simply strips out the plastic gears.

I have replaced gears (Gamviti) on 4 80 Series seats. Each gearbox was nearly impossible to move by hand, and the rubber washer had practically dissolved into an unknown sticky substance. Once cleaned out, which took some time BTW, rebuilt with fresh grease and a new washer, the seats move easily in all weather.
 
Not sure how the all plastic one is any better then the plastic gear.. but a cool option

Either way you can also get a cap to hold on the plastic end cap too..

I really like your link to the steel end cap retainers, i think they offer a very professional solution to holding those plastic end caps in place. Before items like that were available, i took the simple Rube Goldburg approach to holding my caps in place. I used a small screw that's made for threading into plastic to hold mine in place. I installed those screws 4, maybe 5 years ago, since then my caps have never fallen out.
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The brass gear is idiotic.

The entire reason the gear starts to be problematic is because the little white plug starts to come loose or falls out altogether. That plug’s sole purpose is to keep the center access of the steel helical drive perfectly centered. Once that plug comes loose the helical is now touching the edges of the nylon gear instead of bedding into the teeth. Doesn’t take much time to grind the nylon gear down.

Replace the gear (not with brass) and use the white cap cover that Lee has on his site.

Not necessarily. Both my white end caps were in perfect condition, but one gear was totally stripped out and the other side was on its way out. I replaced with Gamiviti plastic but was very tempted to use the brass and will probably do so if I have more trouble in the future. The brass gears had some quality issues in the past, see Update...Metal power seat gears - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/update-metal-power-seat-gears.1108863/. However, I don't think they are idiotic.
 
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I really like your link to the steel end cap retainers, i think they offer a very professional solution to holding those plastic end caps in place. Before items like that were available, i took the simple Rube Goldburg approach to holding my caps in place. I used a small screw that's made for threading into plastic to hold mine in place. I installed those screws 4, maybe 5 years ago, since then my caps have never fallen out.
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That definitely works well! I have some new seats coming in, curious why not just a piece of tape or something?
 
Not necessarily. Both my white end caps were in perfect condition, but one gear was totally stripped out and the other side was on its way out. I replaced with Gamiviti plastic but was very tempted to use the brass and will probably do so if I have more trouble in the future. The brass gears had some quality issues in the past, see Update...Metal power seat gears - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/update-metal-power-seat-gears.1108863/. However, I don't think they are idiotic.
I’ve had to repair previous repairs from a brass gear. It took out the motor stator because it bound on the helical. I’ve detailed this in another thread.

I stand by “idiotic”
 
I just replaced the OEM gear that had stripped on the cap side (with the Gamiviti replacement).

In my case, like @WCBlueSky, the endcap helical bearing was fine.

This is just a guess - as to why the gear stripped on that side...If there is any offset between the 2 sides - where the ACME drive screws hit their welded on stopper washers - then the first side to hit takes the full motor torque - helical against gear teeth, trying to shear them. So...when you re-assemble everything... take care to match the position of the ACME drive screws on both sides, so they hit the stoppers simultaneously and share the motor torque load equally.

For securing the end cap - long ago, I cobbled up a little sheet metal thingey that hooked over the frame bracket - has a little flat bit sticking out, like a little flat blade screw driver - into the end cap slots. Doesn't need to be strong.

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I really like your link to the steel end cap retainers, i think they offer a very professional solution to holding those plastic end caps in place. Before items like that were available, i took the simple Rube Goldburg approach to holding my caps in place. I used a small screw that's made for threading into plastic to hold mine in place. I installed those screws 4, maybe 5 years ago, since then my caps have never fallen out.
I did the same screw method on mine as they were stuck at time of purchase back 5 years ago. I might have even stollen your idea, i don't remember how I decided on it. Works great still, however i agree the metal cap solution would be a cleaner and overall better solution. If i ever pull them or change seats i will go that direction for sure.
 
I solved my stripped power seat gears with mechanical seats.
 
The one piece plastic gear in the original post looks very crude. It looks 3D printed. Not a good idea.

IMO, a correctly chosen polymer, injection molded, is the way to go for these gears.

Brass is not an improvement for the use/environment/failure mode.
 
Since you guys are on the seat gear replacement discussion. Did you guys ever replace the 1 plastic washer that is on the seat gear shaft? The one that I just fixed yesterday had one with the consistency of gummy bears, sticky AF, and unusable. I could not find a plastic washer similar, so I made one using my left over Kydex plastic. I just traced the similar size metal washer and cut away. So far so good. I would like to know if you can buy that plastic washer or if anybody have found a similar plastic washer.

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Mine was actual sticky goop - I thought it was some kind of degraded grease? I guess not...I think maybe the purpose is to act as a cushion-spacer inside the gear case - without it, there is a bit of forward-back slop in the seat position - every time you stop&go - annoying but not critical. Being resilient - might also serve to protect/pad the gear from shearing when you peg the travel at the end. so... a soft thick silicone rubber o-ring maybe?

Since you still have yours open - for finding an appropriate O-ring...could you post the O.D. of the spline tube, and the I.D. of the gear compartment, and the unfilled thickness in the gear compartment it's trying to fill? thanks.
 
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