Update...Metal power seat gears

[bicycleagent003]

Seat swap - that's the ticket. These factory seats, specifically the leather power ones, stink. Crap leather, not super comfortable, weak link with the plastic gear, PITA to replace (yes, I've done it). I'd love a new pair of seats in my truck.

 

[1973Guppie]

I dunno man, my stock 80 seats with new leather and seat heaters are damn comfortable, even on long trips......

 

[jojo29er]

Just another 80 flaw/upgrade/fix dilemma.

 

[Rock40]

And why not?!?

All kidding aside just get the gear from @NLXTACY or witsend and call it a day. Tried and true.....or muck around with some no QC made in China stuff for days and then order from witsend. It’s a free country and your own hair.

Agreed. When the seat gear in my passenger seat failed I replaced it with the Gamiviti gear and it fixed it. It "may" be nice to have a metal gear tho, I'm curious what, if anything would be to the next part to go with a metal gear installed.

 

[Rifleman]

Delrin is a brand name for "Polyoxymethylene (POM), also known as acetal, polyacetal, and polyformaldehyde" (source wikipedia) which is commonly used to make gears because it is naturally slippery and very durable

Just as an FYI you can also get Delrin stock that has been impregnated with powdered graphite, we used it to machine gears out of. Being impregnated with powdered graphite the gears were self lubricating, and they seemed to last longer than gears made out of plane Delrin.

 

[thelal]

Now hopefully they will make replacement gears for the trip meter/odometer..

in the same boat

 

[jojo29er]

Fyi been given the run around on a refund for the gears. Seller is allway-auto-us. Looks like they sell a lot of different parts, probably a ebay name changer. Buyers beware.

 

[DLPDLP]

Me and a friend are both about to do Gamiviti plastic as mine arrived yesterday. But we're both waiting to see if the metal gears works or cause problems. I see both sides of the point. I lean towards staying with OEM materials/plastic. That's just me. And I thought about seat swap but want to keep my two tone 40th Anniv leather.

 

[shocktower]

Me and a friend are both about to do Gamiviti plastic as mine arrived yesterday. But we're both waiting to see if the metal gears works or cause problems. I see both sides of the point. I lean towards staying with OEM materials/plastic. That's just me. And I thought about seat swap but want to keep my two tone 40th Anniv leather.

Do the Delrin, look how long the stock one's last, I have done 5 cruiser seat gears, make sure you grease everything including all the worm gears and make sure you time the rails right

 

[musthave]

I dunno man, my stock 80 seats with new leather and seat heaters are damn comfortable, even on long trips......

What did you use for heated seats?

 

[1973Guppie]

What did you use for heated seats?

I think I used a kit off of amazon or ebay, there are quality kits and not so good kits. Last thing I wanted is the unit to stop working after install so made sure to check reviews and look at them closely before using. Can't remember exact mfg off hand sorry.

 

[musthave]

A customer of mine came by yesterday. He had a friend in Georgia install a metal seat gear. The seat malfunctioned because the rails were not aligned. The metal gear shredded and took a chunk out of the steel piece that is supposed to hold the plastic gear. Got it all fixed up.

Note to self, Toyota used plastic gears for a reason.

 

[shocktower]

A customer of mine came by yesterday. He had a friend in Georgia install a metal seat gear. The seat malfunctioned because the rails were not aligned. The metal gear shredded and took a chunk out of the steel piece that is supposed to hold the plastic gear. Got it all fixed up.

Note to self, Toyota used plastic gears for a reason.


View attachment 1894185

That is a no brainer, people think they know when Mr T knew the correct material for that application

 

[NLXTACY]

A customer of mine came by yesterday. He had a friend in Georgia install a metal seat gear. The seat malfunctioned because the rails were not aligned. The metal gear shredded and took a chunk out of the steel piece that is supposed to hold the plastic gear. Got it all fixed up.

Note to self, Toyota used plastic gears for a reason.


View attachment 1894185

Yuuuuuuup

Whoever could have known that could have happened

 

[thelal]

Now hopefully they will make replacement gears for the trip meter/odometer..

I'm in same boat with no workie trip

 

[Kernal]

I used Dow Corning "Molykote" 33 Medium silicone grease for the gears (Gamviti) and the jack screws and tracks. Despite the Brand name (Molykote) it is Silicone oil in a white LIthium base grease without Molybdenum, so if anything touches the carpet it won't leave a dark stain. I wouldn't stuff just any old wheel bearing grease into the plastic gear box as some greases and grease addtives can damage Delrin/plastics. Krytox grease would be another good choice being essentially inert (won't attack plastics) but it's crazy expensive so not worth it in an application like this IMO. FWIW.

 

[jstew0903]

I just installed the brass replacement gears in my FZJ80. Working great so far. Nice and smooth.

I'm sure alignment and proper lube is key to longevity.

 

[Pineau]

Why reinvent the wheel, those plastic gear failures are due to the plastic centering cap coming lose, and falling off the steel drive shaft. Once that cap falls off the end of that shaft, the shaft has no support.

That will allow the shaft to move off center when the seat is being moved by the motor. Thereby allowing a misalignment between the gears causing the plastic one to strip.

So if you insure that that plastic cap on the end of the steel drive shaft is securely held in place, the chance of the plastic gear failing is GREATLY reduced.

In my case i removed my seat, and pinned my cap in place with a small screw. That mod was done over two years ago, cap hasen't come out, and i haven't had a single problem with my seat gear.

Rifleman, did you just drill a small hole right through the center of the plastic cap and put a metal screw in there? Mine works fine. The cap falls out is all. I thought about using super glue or a screw as you did. If you have a pic, it would be great Thanks!

 

[Rifleman]

A photo is worth a 1000 words, i drilled the hole in the drivers side cap at the interface of where the cap threads into the outer gear housing. One important thing you need to remember, you need to use a screw that's meant to self tap into plastic. Regular screws that are meant for use in wood, or metal, will not hold very well.

 

[Pineau]

A photo is worth a 1000 words, i drilled the hole in the drivers side cap at the interface of where the cap threads into the outer gear housing. One important thing you need to remember, you need to use a screw that's meant to self tap into plastic. Regular screws that are meant for use in wood, or metal, will not hold very well.
View attachment 2443161

Perfect! Thank you so much!!!