Upon receiving my Sprinter (used 2008 170 Cargo) The manual knob for the drivers seat lumbar support would spin freely through its range of motion, but would not notice any effect on the lumber support. The passenger seat worked just fine.
I have basic cloth seats. I am not familiar with all the options out there, so I am not sure how this might apply across the board. I am fairly confident I have a basic seat option available on freightliner cargo's in 2008.
Steps to fix.
You will need to remove the arm rest and side knob.
Pivot the seat back as far forward as is needed to expose the underside to the back of the seat (the crease where it meets with the bottom cushion)
You will notice a couple pieces of plastic running the full width of the cushion.
Upon inspection you can see how these clasp together. Undo the clasp and the seat cover should be free to pull upwards.
Pull the seat cover upwards at least half way and remove the cardboard backer noting its orientation and position in the seat back.This should expose the guts of the seat in the lumbar area.
What you will probably find as I did, is a cable attached to the lumbar adjustment know that should be attached on either side of the seat back frame. However I noticed the cable was not attached on the opposite side of the knob.
I found an S shaped piece of cast aluminum that was snapped in half. This S shape used to go through a hole in the seat frame. As the knob is adjusted, this cable tightens or loosens giving you your lumbar support.
Since I had a bulky chunk of material left at the end of the cable, my simple solution with parts I had available, was to take a stainless steel S hook (used for hanging plants) And close one end around the cable of this mechanism so that it couldn't slip past what remained of the old attachment.
I then fed the other end of the S hook through the appropriate hole and closed it down a bit. You may have to move some seat foam to access the hole.
I then tested operation and reassembled in reverse.
This is a very simple fix. Happy to have my lumbar support now! I might open everything back up and adjust it a bit tighter for even more control. This fix did replicate the support from the factory, I would like to try a little more.
Hope this one helps someone else out.
Erik
I have basic cloth seats. I am not familiar with all the options out there, so I am not sure how this might apply across the board. I am fairly confident I have a basic seat option available on freightliner cargo's in 2008.
Steps to fix.
You will need to remove the arm rest and side knob.
Pivot the seat back as far forward as is needed to expose the underside to the back of the seat (the crease where it meets with the bottom cushion)
You will notice a couple pieces of plastic running the full width of the cushion.
Upon inspection you can see how these clasp together. Undo the clasp and the seat cover should be free to pull upwards.
Pull the seat cover upwards at least half way and remove the cardboard backer noting its orientation and position in the seat back.This should expose the guts of the seat in the lumbar area.
What you will probably find as I did, is a cable attached to the lumbar adjustment know that should be attached on either side of the seat back frame. However I noticed the cable was not attached on the opposite side of the knob.
I found an S shaped piece of cast aluminum that was snapped in half. This S shape used to go through a hole in the seat frame. As the knob is adjusted, this cable tightens or loosens giving you your lumbar support.
Since I had a bulky chunk of material left at the end of the cable, my simple solution with parts I had available, was to take a stainless steel S hook (used for hanging plants) And close one end around the cable of this mechanism so that it couldn't slip past what remained of the old attachment.
I then fed the other end of the S hook through the appropriate hole and closed it down a bit. You may have to move some seat foam to access the hole.
I then tested operation and reassembled in reverse.
This is a very simple fix. Happy to have my lumbar support now! I might open everything back up and adjust it a bit tighter for even more control. This fix did replicate the support from the factory, I would like to try a little more.
Hope this one helps someone else out.
Erik
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