Fix for 1st Gen Armrests

[4.0B2]

Everyone knows that the door armrests on most 1st gens are shot by now.... well me being me and wanting to try to fix something instead of just throw them away and replace them had this thought....

I wish I had before pics... but if you have a first gen you know what I'm talking about... they sag and pull away from the door and all that junk. so this was my first thought... I took some 3m epoxy kind of like this http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/...8FSO6Q3GD3000000_nid=3TKKZLMQ56be7ZMZSJBQRHgl and just filled up the arm rest... worked it the best i could and then sanded it down to the shape i needed it... turned out like this

note: do not get that stuff where you don't want it... it does NOT come up easily. notice i got a little on the outside of my armrest.

on the driver side, the plastic piece broke also.. so this was my fix to that...
first i took it off, and removed the plastic piece.. made a metal piece about the same size and shape of it and drilled the holes where they needed to be.
then filled the armrest up with the epoxy and then put the metal piece on the outside. it worked even better than the passenger side. here's some pics of it

once again, don't make a mess with this stuff....

after I had both sides completed and dry, I redrilled the mounting holes out and bolted them up, they have been fine ever since... its been probably 2 years since I did this.


yeah, its not the cleanest... I could have done it a lot better. Truth is, I didn't honestly think it would work as well as it did. I plan to get some more from a junkyard and redo it cleaner.

don't know if anyone is interested in this or not... but it worked for me and helped me so maybe someone else needs to know it to.

 

[Mark_88]

Actually, it is interesting...mine were the same and I tossed the driver's side because it looked beyond repair...but this may be a great way to restore them...problem is...I haven't seen any in any junkyards that I would want to restore...

I posted pics of my suzuki door handle that I am currently ecstatic about...but I would like to have the original some day...either that or do the door panel mod like someone else posted and just make cutouts for the zuki handle instead of the three point OEM style...

Yeah, lol, it could be a bit cleaner...but I know how that stuff works out from my own experience...maybe put some kind of oil or grease on the areas that you don't want to get that stuff on to prevent it from sticking...and use long handled sticks to avoid contact...

 

[4.0B2]

Also found out that the white windshield sealant that stays somewhat flexible works great for this kind of thing to!

 

[shane96ranger]

My 96 was doing the same thing, and I widdled away at the foam a bit. Then when I had enough of the rubber to accommodate some staples, I did just that with my handheld industrial stapler.

It appeared there was so much foam used that it was causing it to separate. Does it look like that as well on the 1st Gen?

Nice job though. That was a great idea you had Ben!

 

[4.0B2]

On mine it was like the foam had compressed so much it didnt feel the entire space of the arm rest. So there was so much slack in it I needed to fill the rubber somehow. First thing I found that I thought would work was the epoxy.

 

[bobbywalter]

i have been running a piece of romex

 

[4.0B2]

i have been running a piece of romex

i like my option better.

 

[4xranger]

had the same prob with my driverside armrest, was pretty much falling all apart so i took it off pulled everything out of it then filled it with fiberglass resin and redrilled the holes after it set up, worked out great but it's harder than s##t you don't want to rest your elbow on it to long.

 

[4.0B2]

had the same prob with my driverside armrest, was pretty much falling all apart so i took it off pulled everything out of it then filled it with fiberglass resin and redrilled the holes after it set up, worked out great but it's harder than s##t you don't want to rest your elbow on it to long.

That's what's nice about that window sealant stuff... It stays semisoft.
I need to get the name of that stuff.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Somebody could make a killing reproducing these things...

Mine fell apart (like the smaller end was pulled apart so it wasn't attached to the door) I found a more structurally sound set in a junkyard but instead of being tan like mine they have almost faded to white.

 

[Twister]

Hmm didn't know this was a problem with these trucks, on both my bronco II's those things are on there pretty good. Good idea tho