GQ Patrol broken seat frame/base

[Ezookiel]

According to www.gqpatrol.com (or some url like it) one of the common problems to look for in secondhand gq's is a broken seat base/mount.
Mine has given up the ghost, and I'm wondering what options there are?
I'd love to be able to pull the whole thing out and throw in a recaro or the like, but that's just not going to get past the bank manager or minister of finance just at the moment.
* So, do I have to replace the whole seat, or just the frame it sits on?
* What sort of costs are involved (obviously just ball-park figures)
* If I replace the frame/seat with one from a wreckers, is there a way of preventing it happening again since it's apparently a common problem?
* Any other ideas or suggestions?
* Don't know what the previous owner weighed, but not impressed that someone who weighs only 82kgs could break a seat that is obviously a known issue anyway and should be fixed by Nissan as a design fault.

[gqtrol]

the broken seat mount that people talk about isnt actually the seat base is actually the mounting bracket under the carpet both of mine where broken when i picked up my car and i got 2nd hand ones from the wrecker for $15 dollars each now i don't know your case it could be the seat base that is broken on yours which also happened to mine one day on a big forby trip and i took my seat out and welded it back together have a look and get some prices from a wrecker you might find it to be rather cheap [/i]

[bogged]

According to www.gqpatrol.com (or some url like it)

and what a fuckin sweet site it is....

[Tiny]

According to www.gqpatrol.com (or some url like it)

and what a ***** sweet site it is....

bwaahaha

If you want a recaro or similar consider an autotechnica, they are much cheaper, go down to the local auto barn and have alook at what they have and prices, you proly nned to spen $400 by te time you buy a seat and adaptor, they end quite high which can be an issue if you are tall like me but yours is a hgh roof so should be fine any way.

other option go the wreckers and get seats from say a celica or suberu, I had a liberty seat in my dak dak that was good, depending on the vechile and age second hand seats can be good value, the GQ oned do tend to die and a second hand one may not be far away + they are not real comfortable

[BIG GQ]

Yes the autotechnica seats do sit very high once you mount them. I'm only 5 foot 7" and I'm fine for clearance until I put my helmet on then only just clear the roll cage. The biggest problem I found is that even their wide version is still very narrow. Doesn't bother me as the are only in my comp truck but really are more of a race seat than a daily driver seat.

Go to an importer with you rail measurements in hand and find a seat that you like from any of the many import cars.

[chimpboy]

I had a broken rail, not one of the mounts on the floor.

I welded it. Then I welded it some more. No problem since.

I would at least take it out and have a good look at it before thinking about replacing it with something else; swapping in seats is a shitty job.

[dwaynes]

yeah mines the same as chimpboy it was broken when i got and it looks to have been welded before i just need to get motivated to reweld.

The other thing with your seats is to get them re-trimed. I just had mine done for $200 per seat this included complete new trim as well as new foam with extra moulding.

[chimpboy]

yeah mines the same as chimpboy it was broken when i got and it looks to have been welded before i just need to get motivated to reweld.

The other thing with your seats is to get them re-trimed. I just had mine done for $200 per seat this included complete new trim as well as new foam with extra moulding.

Interesting. Mine have good upholstery but the foam within is a bit shagged; I was thinking about taking the cloth off, adding some new foam by simply cutting foam sheets and gluing them on, then putting the original cloth back on. Just because I am a cheapskate. But I haven't gotten around to this either

[bogged]

other option go the wreckers and get seats from say a celica or suberu,

Nissan Maxima seats are very comfortable.. might be an easier fit from similar yr model

[Ezookiel]

I had a broken rail, not one of the mounts on the floor.

I welded it. Then I welded it some more. No problem since.

I would at least take it out and have a good look at it before thinking about replacing it with something else; swapping in seats is a shitty job.

I've never held a welder in my life, but my Father-in-law has a welder, so last time I was in Bega my dodgy-bros father-in-law did just this. He pulled the whole seat out, and in order to weld where it had given way (on one of the rails) dismantled the entire rail, and then couldn't put it back together due to what was required to dismantle it, then instead of welding some extra re-inforcing onto it, just simply tried to weld it as it was.
The result that it broke again before I hit the Mountain on the trip home, and the dismantling meant that it no longer slides back and forth, so have to sit a bit far back for my wife's liking.

The rail not being able to be dismantled without all but wrecking it, is what made me ask if I need to get the whole seat, or just the rails that the seat sits on, and if it was easier just to go the whole new recaro/paratus/autotechnica/whatever seats.
I believe it can be a real PITA making other cars' seats fit into models they didn't come from, hence the question.

Thanks heaps for all the advice.
It's given me something to go on.
As a temporary fix I might see what wreckers have to suggest.

Zook

[Ezookiel]

Oh, and the other thing is this is the Ti model, so it's seats are actually quite comfortable, just the base they sit on leaves a lot to be desired when one side of your seat slides back and forth a few mm with each climb and descent of a hill.

[chimpboy]

I am a really cr@p welder, but I managed to weld mine without dismantling it and it held for about two years before I sold that vehicle.

I just laid a LOT of weld down on the outside, effectively making new, thicker metal.

It's definitely doable... or maybe it depends on exactly where it broke.

[Ezookiel]

Where it broke was the worst possible place, made it impossible to put weld on the outside without having to remove the rail, and there in required the dismantling. Couldn't reinforce the outside with much as it would have obstructed something, I can't remember what, I think some part of the seat release for moving the seat from memory.
I'll put up a photo or two when I get around to, and the $$$ to afford to, do something about it.

[matthewK]

i also had a busted seat in many different places i used old pair of overalls damp with water , placed it over the base as to slow down the spatter and burning of my seat and managed to weld it all up, run your tack a little hotter then useual shouldnt have any problems

matt