Chevy & GMC Vans

I know this has been asked and answered on the old board. I did the search and what came up was to put the armrest upright, push hard on the pivot point and to the back and it will go a little further back and come off. Well, I tried that on my '97 and other than feeling like I have tried to push the van over all by myself, they did not come off.

So, are the armrests different in the new model vans, and how do I get them off?

Jim i've heard they are diffent than the older ones . but i've never dealt with the newer seats , but i'm sure somebody has . peter has a 97 & i know lockdoc put a set 0f 97 seats in his van. maybe they can help you.

I hope so. I have some seat covers that I want to put on, but no way to do so

Jim, you have the right idea, but there maybe a small plastic tube per say stopping you. The arm rides in a slot, then it has a keyhole design where it comes off. My 95 had two plastic pieces of tube in the larger keyhole to prevent it from going back far enough to pop off. Hopefully you got small fingers to reach up under the rear part and try to pull those things out. Then you can lift arm all the way up, push pretty hard inwards, then push back a little farther and they will come off. I fought with mine for days off/on unitl I found those plastic pieces in there.

-OR-
get out the sawzall and start choppin

I dunno about your panels but on mine, the armrest and panel are one and the same. Actually, this is the case with any of the higher end option groups, because all my service trucks have removable armrests.
Myself, I'm still waiting for details on a possible fix from a certain member who'll remain anonymous for now. I refuse to mention that his name is James and his user name here is v8famvan. Why? Because I don't want him to feel uncomfortable about having made me wait all this time.
Yeah, I know. I'm some kinda guy...

peter you dope , hes talking about the arm rests on the seats not the doors .

in my best mencia voice ; dee da dee

Yup, it is the armrests on the seat, not the one on the door. I will have to see if the plastic pieces are there.

Yeah, well I knew that. Really, I did. I was just...ahhh, I was just makin' small talk is all

peter wrote:Yeah, well I knew that. Really, I did. I was just...ahhh, I was just makin' small talk is all

No, you just were not paying attention thats all, I think your
fixation with the CN TOWER is whats distracting you, LOL

BLAZER wrote:Jim, you have the right idea, but there maybe a small plastic tube per say stopping you. The arm rides in a slot, then it has a keyhole design where it comes off. My 95 had two plastic pieces of tube in the larger keyhole to prevent it from going back far enough to pop off. Hopefully you got small fingers to reach up under the rear part and try to pull those things out. Then you can lift arm all the way up, push pretty hard inwards, then push back a little farther and they will come off. I fought with mine for days off/on unitl I found those plastic pieces in there.

So, if I understand you correctly, in the channel that a post is in that the arm rest goes up and down along, there is a plastic plug down in the bottom of the channel that results in me not being able to push it in? I tried to see it, but I couldn't. I can lift the are all the way up as far as I can see. I will get back to it after I get the brakes done on my wife's car.

Yeah, well I have a funny feeling that after yiou've "fixed" the wife's brakes, you'll be able to afford having someone else wrench on your truck...
I have my eye on you, Riley

The arm rest actually floats on two different bolts per say, it pivots on the one and the other rides in a slot that keeps the arm in alignment. This slot has the keyhole in it ( located toward the back of the arm). All I can say is you have to reach your hand up there and feel for it. The little plastic retainer/hose thingy sits in that larger keyhole and prevents the arm from going backwards enough to come off. Like I said, I fought for mine for days until I found that litle piece of plastic in there. Once I got it out, I was able to lift arm all the way up, push really hard inward, then pivot arm more so it would come off. Wished I had taken pics for ya.

I will have a look. Hopefully my fingers are small enough.

peter wrote:Yeah, well I have a funny feeling that after yiou've "fixed" the wife's brakes, you'll be able to afford having someone else wrench on your truck...
I have my eye on you, Riley

I'm rooting for you. I hope you don't give up like I was inclined to many times during my trans swap, and pay someone else to wrench on your truck.

And Peter that funny feeling you have probably has something to do with " that gang of gay vampire boys that spanked you with wet poodles!!"