Got out of the truck last night with my hands full and tore the plastic side trim from the seat with my not so big ass. Bits of plastic flying and now a tear down the side by the seatback hinge. Is this piece replaceable or is it a Krazy glue repair job? If replaceable, how's it done?
Replaced the panel. 15 minute job. Tools used: - phillips driver, wide flat driver, two (2) slim terminal drivers. Procedure: - Wedge wide driver behind the seat back adjustment handle. Looking behind it you will see that the handle is held on with a wire clip. With the terminal drivers push the ends of the wire clip sideways and off the handle. Pull the handle off, find the clip and slip it back into the groove on the handle. Remove the cover surrounding the seat belt, prying the retaining wedge with the terminal driver. There are two (2) phillips screws. One is awkward to get at behind the belt plate but it will come using the driver at an angle. Behind the seat in the rear footwell there are two (2) more phillips screws holding the rear end of the panel. remove these and pull the panel off. Installing the new panel is a reverse procedure. To refit the handle just tap it over the shaft. QED.
Last edited by jhnhopkins; 10-15-2010 at 01:50 PM.
Replaced the panel. 15 minute job. Tools used: - phillips driver, wide flat driver, two (2) slim terminal drivers. Procedure: - Wedge wide driver behind the seat back adjustment handle. Looking behind it you will see that the handle is held on with a wire clip. With the terminal drivers push the ends of the wire clip sideways and off the handle. Pull the handle off, find the clip and slip it back into the groove on the handle. Remove the cover surrounding the seat belt, prying the retaining wedge with the terminal driver. There are two (2) phillips screws. One is awkward to get at behind the belt plate but it will come using the driver at an angle. Behind the seat in the rear footwell there are two (2) more phillips screws holding the rear end of the panel. remove these and pull the panel off. Installing the new panel is a reverse procedure. To refit the handle just tap it over the shaft. QED.
Thanks for the update! One question however is the part number and cost, since this has happened to several others here.
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Rick
Nitro Year: 2007 (1 of 113,000 sold)
Nitro Model: R/T 4X4 Stone White
CAT-BACK Exhaust, CAI, Projector Head Lamps
Fully-Equipped w/all factory options
My Nitro is an 07 SXT build date 03/15/07, part # for my application (driver side, slate grey, non power) is "1PL971DV-AA SHIELD 23-034-122", but the vehicle VIN # is required by the parts manager to reference. Price was $55.55 CDN + tax. As it seems I'm not alone here, I'll mention it, one more thing I did before install was to drill a small hole next to the front plastic lug. Once the panel (shield) was installed, I ran a #12x1" long sheet metal screw through into the fixing clip mounted in the side of the seat, with a black plactic cover to give extra strength and help prevent further recurrence. This was previously done as a temporary fix at both lugs so I know it works well and stiffens up the panel. This can be repeated the same on the passenger side to match and prevent that panel from being ripped off as well.
Last edited by jhnhopkins; 10-16-2010 at 07:01 AM.
Well since you need the VIN number that tells me that there was a production change in the design of this part. I would have never thought it would have been expensive to replace this plastic item, but when you compare replacement prices for plastic headlamp, tail lamps and grilles I guess it shouldn't be a shock. Thanks again for your insight to modify, and good luck with replacement part that was poorly designed originally, but now should last for the life of your Nitro.
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Rick
Nitro Year: 2007 (1 of 113,000 sold)
Nitro Model: R/T 4X4 Stone White
CAT-BACK Exhaust, CAI, Projector Head Lamps
Fully-Equipped w/all factory options
When I purchased my Nitro, I had the choice of 2 Heat's, neither with a power driver's seat. This is the first vehicle I have driven in over 20 years without one. I always put the seat all the way up, tilted slightly down at the rear. As I have a spinal chord injury (2 cervical fusions), I have to sit up straight when I drive. I have been searching, to no avail, just to find the powered seat base, or a used seat just for the base. A new seat lists for over $900.00. So, today, I came up with an idea. I removed one of the seat mounting bolts to see how long they were. I went to the hardware store and purchased four nuts, the hole just big enough to slide over the bolts without actually threading them on to the bolts. These nuts are a little over 1/2" thick. I removed all 4 bolts, and slipped the nuts under the frame, one in each corner, thus raising the seat a little over 1/2". It's a miracle! Perfect for me - so more strain on my spine. Just out of curiosity, can someone tell me the range of travel (up and down) on their powered seat? I would think that the non powered seat would be fixed at the midpoint of the range of travel, but I could be wrong. I still might have to continue my search, but this fix will hold me over for the short term. Thanks for reading.
My Wife broke my outer seat passenger seat shield (Right Side)
Just ordered a replacement OE part from Factory Mopar.com at the cost of around $36.00. Their illustrations below may help in defining seat parts components used on the NITRO.
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Rick
Nitro Year: 2007 (1 of 113,000 sold)
Nitro Model: R/T 4X4 Stone White
CAT-BACK Exhaust, CAI, Projector Head Lamps
Fully-Equipped w/all factory options
Rick. Thanks for the pictorials. These always come in handy. Can you measure your seat travel from all the way down to all the way up? Maybe you could measure from the top of the seat cushion to the carpet, unless there is a more precise way of doing this. I just want to know if I need to keep searching for a powered base/complete seat. Possibly what I have done already raised my seat as high as the powered seat will go. Thanks for all of your posts.
BTW, the Jeep Commander is noted for having these plastic seat side panels break/fail also. So, we Nitro owners are not alone!
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Power Seat
Linear Mode
