Mystery bracket

The bracket shown in the picture fell out from somewhere under my 2016 1794 drivers seat. It must have had something to do with holding the side panel with the seat controls in place since it is now loose. I’ve searched for cutaway views of the seat parts, but no luck yet. Any ideas braintrust?

 

This just happened to me a couple of weeks ago.
I wish I would have taken pics when I fixed it..
That piece came loose before it fell out and I heard it moving when I got in and out of the seat.
I thought the frame was broken.

That piece goes behind the front of the side panel of the driver's seat.
If you grab that side panel, the front of it is probably loose.
There is a clip on the panel and a screw that holds the frame to the panel from the inside, that's the single hole on top.
The other 2 holes bolt to the frame.
There are 2 small bolts/screws that hold that to the seat frame from the inside.

What I found was those 2 screws snapped in 2 at the heads.
I found the threaded pieces still in the seat frame.

I removed the seat bolts, leaned the seat back and I could see the problem.
I used needle-nosed vice grips to turn the broken screws out.
I had one screw laying around that fit.
I had to go to lowes to find another one.
I wish I'd kept the size of it.

I actually have some leftover I can send you if you want.
Or I can run up to Lowes and get you the size.




EDIT:
After looking at your pic again, it looks like you might still have the bolt(s).
If you need the size or need one of mine, let me know..

 

Thanks for the quick feedback (from 1 Texan to another .) If I understand correctly, I can remove the 4 bolts holding the seat down, then lean it back to get at the bracket placement? I don’t want to screw something up by inadvertently pulling any of the wiring loose.

 

Yes.
Take the seat bolts out and lean it back.
I think they are 14MM.
Having a double cab it helped to put the rear seat up and remove the headrest to lean it back more.
There should be enough slack in the wiring to lean it back a bit so you can see what you're doing..

I just took these to show where it goes.
You can see my new screws into the frame and where it screws into the trim piece...



I can't tell if your screws just came loose or if 1 or 2 broke as mine did.
Hopefully your just came loose and fell out.

I had to remove that trim piece to fix mine.
It was the only way I could get to the broken screws and get the vice grips on them to turn them out.

If you need to remove that trim;
You can do it with the seat in the truck, you'll just need to lift the trim upwards and work it loose, then just push it out of the way.
You might need to unplug the switches in your trim panel to move it up and out of the way....

Obviously, that front screw is already out, then there is a rear screw on the back of the trim at an upward angle.
You'll see how to work it loose and just let it sit there while you tend to the frame piece.

This is a long video about replacing seat covers but I started it on the spot to show how they removed that trim piece.

https://youtu.be/cwmjuVwXYvU?t=229

This shows them putting the trim piece back on.
You can see your part that came off at the front, and the clips on the trim.
There is a push clip in the middle of the trim and the front and rear have a clip that needs to be pushed downward to clip onto the frame tube pieces.

https://youtu.be/cwmjuVwXYvU?t=2593

Hope that helps.
Good luck..

 

Also to add, I put blue Loctite on the 2 frame screws when I put them in..
That trim piece is under a lot of pressure and flex with me getting in and out of the truck..

I tend to slide in and out of the seat..

 

Thanks for a great write up. You are spot on with the description of the issue and what I need to do. We have nasty weather moving in tomorrow, so I’ll tackle it Tuesday. I really appreciate the effort you made in helping me out.

 

A Tip O’ The Hat to 1lowlife. His description of the fix was very detailed and accurate. I did make one change and that was to replace the 2 broken bolts with hardened Allen head bolts in the hope they won’t break. The 2 broken (in the seat frame) were 5mm. A screw was used to attach the bracket to the plastic side panel. I may have to revisit that soon, it will probably give way again.
Again, thanks for the help, life will be good to you.