Seat Slider Track Disassembly (1 Viewer)

[AYM707]

I'm trying to fix my seat slider tracker. It does not slide!!

Removed the slider, then tried to disassemble the two channels. Tried forcing it out with a mallet; but it just would not slide out. Looked inside and I could see there was a clip inside. I am not sure this is the right approach, I do not want to damage the slider.

In the mean time, got both sliders in a WB40+Engine Gunk+Dawn bath; hoping to remove 40+ years of grease & desert sand!

I'm thinking maybe squirt some grease in and then use brute force. Need some advise on how to get this thing moving.

Thanks

 

[charliemeyer007]

Take them to the car wash and use the wand with hot soap to blast off most of the trash. Then you can soak them or use carb spray. There should be springs and a bolt to lock into notches. Likely a cam to retract the bolt so the rail can slide.

 

[AYM707]

Take them to the car wash and use the wand with hot soap to blast off most of the trash. Then you can soak them or use carb spray. There should be springs and a bolt to lock into notches. Likely a cam to retract the bolt so the rail can slide.

Great idea of using carb cleaner!! and will try the hot soap approach too.

So not sure I understand, one slider has the lever with notches. The other slider has no notches / lever. There are no additional bolts to separate the two channels. Let me look again.

 

[Living in the Past]

Great idea of using carb cleaner!! and will try the hot soap approach too.

So not sure I understand, one slider has the lever with notches. The other slider has no notches / lever. There are no additional bolts to separate the two channels. Let me look again.

If this is the 40 series driver's part of a bench seat I believe early only locked one side and the later used a spring and lever to do both side.

Could be possible the slider is just stuck with crusty grease or rusted. I have some front seats out of an 80 FJ40 that will require a good clean of the sliding track if I ever use them.

 

[AYM707]

Take them to the car wash and use the wand with hot soap to blast off most of the trash. Then you can soak them or use carb spray. There should be springs and a bolt to lock into notches. Likely a cam to retract the bolt so the rail can slide.

Had another good look ... definitely, its all riveted together. So no real hope to separate it for cleaning. I've sprayed alot of carb cleaner inside. Let's see.

If this is the 40 series driver's part of a bench seat I believe early only locked one side and the later used a spring and lever to do both side.

Could be possible the slider is just stuck with crusty grease or rusted. I have some front seats out of an 80 FJ40 that will require a good clean of the sliding track if I ever use them.

Yeah, only 1 side is locked / has notches. other side is just the channel assembly; but there is something inside...maybe a spring. Either case, i'm not going to push my luck. Going to clean it to the best of my ability, grind the rust away, spray paint it and apply some grease!!

 

[Living in the Past]

I would use either brass mallet or brass punch on the ends to try and loosen the channel. Worse case the rivets can be drilled out and use cartridge bolts to reassemble.

 

[igotta40]

I had mine completely disassembled, cleaned, painted, lubed etc last year. It works great now. Let me see if I still have the pictures. If I recall, there’s a big steel roller inside and the tracks don’t actually rub against each other. You don’t have to drill out rivets. Oh, and mine is 1974 bucket seat.

 

[wimberosa]

It looks like you may be working on a 1980+ fj40 or other. I had my 1979 seat sliders apart last year and I
would avoid taking them apart if at all possible. On the inside of this channel are 2 small trays of very thin
metal. In the center of each "tray" is a roller wheel. The wheel sits loosely in this little tray. The metal on
this tray is very thin and easily bent / mangled by forcing it past the rivets. There is no replacement individual part
here if you mangle it too much.

There is a poor tactic for taking it apart by forcing these trays closer together .... and eventually you can get it
close enough to get clearance to pop the slide apart ... but I gotta tell you.....you're
going to mangle these little trays.

If at all possible get it really clean.....lubricate it a bit and slowly work it back and forth. Look for perhaps a mangled
front edge on these little trays by looking down the barrel of the slider. ... hope that it is not.

I "may" would try to take mine apart by removing the rivets if I absolutely needed to again. I'd have to look at
it closely again to see if I could replace the rivet. I did not find a good trick to get these apart without damage
to a part I did not want to damage.

 

[igotta40]

I must have deleted my work pictures. As wimberosa stated, there are thin sheet metal cages for the rollers, and those are easily deformed as you go through the process of cleaning the rails. But they are also easily re-shaped as well. It’s a test of your patience to get them sliding on both rails correctly. Once you get the rails sliding the bolts can be removed. Align the holes in the rails with the bolt heads to get your socket on the bolt head. Be very careful to keep all the pieces, including the bolts, in the correct order of where they came from. Some of the bolts are slightly longer or shorter and have to go into the correct blind nuts or it won’t reassemble. There’s a spring loaded latch that engages the slots for the adjustment settings. I held that locked open with vice grips to make the work easier.

 

[AYM707]

It looks like you may be working on a 1980+ fj40 or other. I had my 1979 seat sliders apart last year and I
would avoid taking them apart if at all possible. On the inside of this channel are 2 small trays of very thin
metal. In the center of each "tray" is a roller wheel. The wheel sits loosely in this little tray. The metal on
this tray is very thin and easily bent / mangled by forcing it past the rivets. There is no replacement individual part
here if you mangle it too much.

There is a poor tactic for taking it apart by forcing these trays closer together .... and eventually you can get it
close enough to get clearance to pop the slide apart ... but I gotta tell you.....you're
going to mangle these little trays.

If at all possible get it really clean.....lubricate it a bit and slowly work it back and forth. Look for perhaps a mangled
front edge on these little trays by looking down the barrel of the slider. ... hope that it is not.

I "may" would try to take mine apart by removing the rivets if I absolutely needed to again. I'd have to look at
it closely again to see if I could replace the rivet. I did not find a good trick to get these apart without damage
to a part I did not want to damage.

I saw the roller inside, that's what had me worried. I have a feeling the metal trays / clips may already be damaged from the PO; that's why its not sliding. Either case, I'm not going to risk it. Cleaned the rust off best I can, painted, some grease and then I'm going to bolt it up.

Thanks