Broken arm rest

I took my broken arm rest, put some reinforcing tape and some wire mesh to reinforce the split plastic area, and epoxied it back together. It's worked great ever since.

Or you can check the junk yards for a good unit.

Richard Grimes

Forgive the multiple post, it's getting late. I epoxied the plastic today and bought two metal strips to use as braces for the arm. I'll let you know how this turns out late Saturday or Monday. That ought to let the epoxy cure a little.

Richard

PVC cement will literally *weld* the hard plastic sections back together. It's the only type of cement that will actually "eat" into the plastic on both sides and then dry. That's why it works so well with pipes.

And to keep it from breaking again (or in the first place), put your owner's manual under it for support.

Dan

1994 Explorer

Richard

VERY good idea!

/richard

Richard

I wish I had thought of that before the epoxy. Oh well there is always next time! My son and I will probably drill the braces after his friends leave tomorrow. If it looks OK and works well I will do a final post on the results. Thanks/

Richard

Richard Grimes

Final post on this thread.

My son and I finished the repair this morning. We had made a new tab to release the hinge lock yesterday and the epoxy worked fine. We cut two 1/8 x

3/4 x 11 inches long flat steel stock. Drilled them for the first four holes and were done. It doesn't look bad at all, matter of fact it looks "factory" until the arm is raised. It seems more sturdy than stock also, we shall see. Except for the epoxy drying it was about an hour to finish. Thanks for all of the posts.

Richard Grimes

Hey, some epoxies work well, too. But try PVC cement on a sample piece of any plastic you need to bond. Chances are pretty good that a PVC cement bond is as strong or stronger than the material itself!