handyandy

Hi all, wondering if anyone has any experience with having their seat backs get "sloppy"? I have a 97 Trans Am with the stock TA leather bucket seats, and the seat backs of both front seats seem to have some sloppiness or looseness. I can grab the seat back and push it forward a small amount, maybe a quarter of an inch, but it's enough that when I hit bumps the passenger seat back kind of rattles fore and aft. And if I slam on the brakes hard my driver's seat back tips forward ever so slightly, just enough to give you a momentary uneasy feeling.

Is this a common issue? Wondering if there are any DIY's or details out there on what specifically gets sloppy in these seats, and if I can repair them? Thanks in advance.

wssix99

iTrader: (5)

This is normal from the factory. The seat back doesn't hard latch in position. You shouldn't be able to move it further than that small amount without pulling on the lever though.

When you brake hard, your body should come off the seat, so you shouldn't feel the seat move. Could it be "sticking" in the forward position, so when your body snaps back, you touch the "stuck" up seat back and then fall back in to place with it? If so, maybe the hinges are gummed up and just need to be cleaned and lubed?

handyandy

My buddy has a Firebird with the base cloth seats, and his seat backs don't have any slop - is this just something designed into the leathers? And what would the purpose of this even be? Seems like an odd design.

Also not to try and turn this into a physics debate, but when you brake hard the seat moves forward faster than your body usually, because your body tenses up and resists moving forward, whereas the seat has no resistance. As your body moves forward your natural reaction is to tense up your muscles and stay in the position you're in, but the seat almost acts as another force trying to push my body forward. It's hard to describe, but under normal conditions I'm leaning back and pushing the seat back until it stops, so it has a firm feeling. Under heavy braking my body moves a bit forward, but the seat back is also pushing forward and pushing against my back, so it has an uneasy 'floating' feeling where for a split second it seems like the seat isn't solidly mounted anymore.

wssix99

iTrader: (5)

There are different types of seats and some don't move. You'd have to check the latching mechanism to see if they are the same. The one we are talking about is, indeed, weird. (uncommon)


That's impossible, because physics are not debatable!

As you decipher what you are feeling, you should keep in mind the various masses at play:
- The 2 Ton car
- The several hundred pound human body
- The 20 pound seat back

The seat is the weakling in this battle of masses and the car has the energy to throw our bodies around like rag dolls...

Under light braking, you could stay in the same position and press the seat back into it's normal position and feel nothing abnormal. Under full braking, you would come completely off the seat and not be able to keep your back against it.

It sounds like you are describing something in between where you and the seat back come forward together. You can apply enough force to push your back against the seat back and get a "feel" for it while you are braking, but not enough to push your mass and it's mass back in the normal position. As a result, both your body and the seat back "pop" back in place when braking is over.

I think you'll feel better if you stop the motion of your body forward. Have you tried tilting the entire seat back? (You would then tilt the back up to keep the same torso position.) This should help hold on to your butt a little better and keep you from slipping and sliding on the fake leather. ^ This is how I have my seat set, so the front of the seat is just barely off my hamstrings.