Driver's Side Seat-Mount Broken!

The original owner of my truck was ........ ahem:undecided ........ let's just say... a LARGE man. Several days ago, I got in and the front right-side of the driver's seat collapsed due to the riser bracket shearing off. I don't even know how to go about replacing/fixing this little nugget.:crazy: It's a power seat and the part which specifically broke was the part which attaches to the horizontal crossbar on the front of the seat. Anyone have any experience with this situation?

..... the front right-side of the driver's seat collapsed due to the riser bracket shearing off..... It's a power seat and the part which specifically broke was the part which attaches to the horizontal crossbar on the front of the seat. Anyone have any experience with this situation?

I have a little experience with auto upholstery but I cannot visualize what piece is broken ( My TB does not have power seats.)
If it is a non-moving part just remove it from the seat and weld or braze it back together, perhaps with some reinforcement.

If it is one of the many parts that makes the seat move you are going to have to spend more money. Your choices from good to worse are: 1) Find a matching Trailvoy seat at a junk yard and swap out the unit. 2) Get a Trailvoy seat with different upholstery from a junk yard or e-bay, swap the seat covers, and install the replacement unit. 3) Same as #2 except you pay an upholstery shop to do the work. 4) Coax the seat into a comfortable position for you, disconnect the wiring so nobody can change the adjustment of the seat, and jam a piece of wood under the broken part so nothing on the right front side moves. 5) Go to the dealer.

But you all ready knew that didn't you?

There is a front seat bracket on Ebay right now

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2002-2004-GMC-ENVOY-6-WAY-POWEWR-DRIVERS-SEAT-TRACK_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33701QQihZ010QQit emZ200049512680QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

is this what you are looking for?

The original owner of my truck was ........ ahem:undecided ........ let's just say... a LARGE man. Several days ago, I got in and the front right-side of the driver's seat collapsed due to the riser bracket shearing off. I don't even know how to go about replacing/fixing this little nugget.:crazy: It's a power seat and the part which specifically broke was the part which attaches to the horizontal crossbar on the front of the seat. Anyone have any experience with this situation?

Hi i have the same problem i have an 03 trailblazer and just this morning i noticed that my seat was broken. I was wondering if you have fixed yours and how you did it.

My left-side bracket on the front underside of my driver's seat is broken also...I did a search last week and found a thread somewhere on the site that the particular piece can be welded and reinforced to make the fix...I discussed this with one of my plumbing/mechanical/welder friends and they believe that they MAY be able to clamp the 2 broken parts together, tack weld them, then mig-weld across both sides for reinforcement...I've also read somewhere here on TrailVoy that it takes longer to get the seat out than to do the actual welding fix...We believe that we can save the trouble and time of seat removal by doing the fix in-place...That's right, in place...I have 9x12x half inch thick flexible ceramic heat protection blankets that are good up to 2500 degrees farenheit to protect the flammable areas surrounding the repair area...I will report my repair attempt to the forum as soon as I can get my truck to his shop, until then, I have a 3 inch long piece of 2x4 lumber under there for support of the left-hand side of the seat cushion...We shall see...Wish me luck!

Well I just got back from my friend's shop...First he took a good look under the front left portion of my driver's seat...He told me that the metal bracket which broke acted like a "cam" to raise/lower and adjust seat pitch to the seat pad where my fat butt resides...The right side looked good, so he fired up the mig welder,ground a small section where he was going to tack and went to town...No clamping or other restraint was necessary, he just held the part in place a bit away from the area to be welded with a heat-proof glove, and he was done in a couple of minutes...He only had to use one of the 9" x 12" flexible ceramic fiber thermal shields to protect the flammable areas surrounding the weld section...After he was done, I tested all my power seat controls just to make sure that they were operational...All worked fine until I pushed the seat forward/backward control and UH-OH!!!, it didn't move forward or backward...We figure that at some point since my seat broke and me jamming the piece of 2x4 block underneath, I either pinched a wire to that control or dislodged a connection...Soooo, my seat is stronger than ever but won't move ahead or back...Sheesh!!! :worried: No wires were cooked by him doing the repair, that we are certain of...Currently, the seat is at a pretty comfortable distance for me and my GF, so an immediate fix is not necessary...Once again, all power seat controls are fully functional EXCEPT the seat forward/backward control...I DO remember that the minute I drove my TB into his garage bay, he asked me to pop the hood, so that he could connect some gizmo to the battery terminals to protect the modules and other sensitive circuitry in the vehicle, so I am leaning away from any sort of electrical damage to the seat motor function, etc. that the mig welding machine could have caused...I'm gonna' take the cover off the control panel on the side of my seat and check all the wiring concealed behind it tomorrow morning when I have sufficient light...In the meantime, has anyone here experienced anything like this??? ANY suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!! Thanks ahead of time...Kinda' happy it's mechanically fixed, but now I'm electrically puzzled, as it's not one of my stronger points! :confused:

Anyone got any ideas,without me performing surgery on my power-seat control panel...We are getting a lot of snow here and I don't exactly have a nice,warm garage to get to the bottom of the problem...:no: Any replies will be considered at this point in time, as it will give me ideas to ponder when I do get a chance to investigate further...

TBlazeruss44, a few questions:

Does anything happen when you push the forward/backward buttons? A click, pop, crackle, anything?

Do you have access to a DMM or a test light?

I'm pulling out my seats real soon (waiting on package:)), while Im in there I can get familiar with the horizontal motors circuits to help you out if you need it

TBlazeruss44, a few questions:

Does anything happen when you push the forward/backward buttons? A click, pop, crackle, anything?

Do you have access to a DMM or a test light?

I'm pulling out my seats real soon (waiting on package:)), while Im in there I can get familiar with the horizontal motors circuits to help you out if you need it
Hey there MAY03LT...As far as I can tell, there is no audible pop or crackle...In regards to the click, well , I believe that I hear a click when I push the forward/backward long button on the side control panel, but to me it sounds like a normal mechanical click...ie;one click like it is "making" and then when I do it in reverse, I get another one-time click...I have a multi-meter down at my plumbing shop but won't get a chance to do much with it until I get the side control panel off to access the leads near the switches themselves...Patience is a virtue!!! Thanks for the response man and reply back what you may find out with your seat...:thumbsup:

Coach Steve,
I have a 2005 Envoy and had the same problem in same location, "front right-side of the driver's seat collapsed due to the riser bracket shearing off on electric seat." What broke on mine was the spot welds on the bracket, what a bad design. GM needs to recall this problem since many of us are having the same problem.

To fix it I took the seat out, that was easy, one bolt, three nuts and two electical connectors. Then my neighbor rewelded the spot welds on the bracket.

Another issue:
I bought the Envoy used from Greenbrier GMC in Chesapeake, Virginia 12 months ago. We noticed the seat was broken soon after we brought it home. I am sure it was broken when we drove it off the lot. Greenbrier said it wasn't covered under the 100,000 mile powertrain warranty that it has and they wanted to charge me $600 to replace the seat. Since this is the fourth vehicle that I bought from them I was expecting a little more. I gave them an earful about their sorry service, their inability to fix (they only want to replace parts) and their inability to take care of repeat customers.

I will never enter Greenbrier GMC's lot in Chesapeake, Virginia again! And I recommend that everyone of you stay clear of Greenbrier GMC.

Know this is an old thread, but I've had the same issue - driver's seat, outside cam bracket. Also welded it in place - not the greatest job, hope it holds.

Anyone have pics of how to reinforce this?