Updated Arm Rest with opening Console

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gmarcucio

Well-known member
Joined
May 15, 2013
Messages
91
Location
Hagaman, New York
Well I finally settled on this for my arm rest with opening console. I purchased it from Amazon.com and installed it today. It wasn't a perfect fit I had to buy longer screws and some spacers from Home Depot.













 
Once I figured out what I needed to do and had all of the things I needed such as the spacers and the longer bolts it took me about 30 minutes to drill the holes in the side of my console and install it. I just moved both of my front seats forward all of the way to gain access to the side of my original console. What took the longest was trying to install the bolts and hold a wing nut up under the factory console. I did not remove my console I just took the one screw out of the back and one screw under the little panel located by the shifter and lifted up on the console to get my hands under it to hold the wing nut. In addition to the padded lid opening up you can also fold the entire unit straight up in between the seats out of the way. it's pretty cool. it's just the right height for my arm too.
 
gmarcucio, that's very nice and thank you for sharing. Two questions:

1) Do the side arms rub appreciably on the seat brackets - especially as the seats are moved fore-aft?
2) Looks as though the armrest sits down on our existing cupholder. If I wanted to move the armrest higher to match my resting elbow, could its height be controlled by where the mounting holes are drilled and would it then be too wobbly?
 
Thank you for the info. Is the one you have pictured the grey one or darker model ? Trying to get the right color match with dasbord and central,console.
 
Looking at the pictures on Amazon, it looks like the mounting bracket is adjustable for height - Even after you have it 'firmly' bolted to the existing console, you can still raise it to suit your preference. I say 'firmly' because the existing console is actually pretty wobbly and I can't picture it making for a firm base for the console *unless* the console is pretty tightly pinched between the front seats

I'm wondering if the seats couldn't be removed and the mounting holes redrilled outward half an inch or so? - This would give you an extra inch between the front seats, which I think they really need. I'd like to get 2 inches, but even one would be a big help

Don
 
Don said:
Looking at the pictures on Amazon, it looks like the mounting bracket is adjustable for height - Even after you have it 'firmly' bolted to the existing console, you can still raise it to suit your preference. I say 'firmly' because the existing console is actually pretty wobbly and I can't picture it making for a firm base for the console *unless* the console is pretty tightly pinched between the front seats...
Don, thank you for noticing that.
Don said:
...I'm wondering if the seats couldn't be removed and the mounting holes redrilled outward half an inch or so? - This would give you an extra inch between the front seats, which I think they really need. I'd like to get 2 inches, but even one would be a big help...
Ouch, altering seat mountings would I suspect have serious safety implications... :cry: Besides, if it had been easy then I think Mitsu would have done it already instead of leaving it alone for the US market. Those are studs sticking up from the floor in the front to which the seat rails bolt, and isn't the battery pack underneath that?
 
JoeS said:
gmarcucio, that's very nice and thank you for sharing. Two questions:

1) Do the side arms rub appreciably on the seat brackets - especially as the seats are moved fore-aft?
2) Looks as though the armrest sits down on our existing cupholder. If I wanted to move the armrest higher to match my resting elbow, could its height be controlled by where the mounting holes are drilled and would it then be too wobbly?

1) Yes the mounting screw heads do rub on the seat side brackets when the seats are moved. if the seats are going to be constantly moved fore-aft than maybe you want to reconsider doing this modification. My wife and I are the only drivers with the same seat position so moving the seats will be limited for my purposes. Maybe installing a strip of electrical tape on the side seat brackets will reduce any wear from occasional seat adjustment. Also, depending how much of a broad shoulder person you are before fastening the armrest make sure you make complete revolutions of your steering wheel to make sure your elbow doesn't hit the arm rest when turning the wheel. You might have to adjust the arm rest back towards the rear more.
2) The armrest comes with extra brackets if you want to install it higher upwards. I would imagine the higher you go the more wobbly it will be. despite our original console being wobbly I'm surprised how stable my armrest is.
 
Llecentaur said:
Thank you for the info. Is the one you have pictured the grey one or darker model ? Trying to get the right color match with dasbord and central,console.

Mine is black or maybe they call it dark grey. But it looks black to me.
 
Yes, that's the same one

A good alternative for those in Canada since the Amazon seller evidently won't ship to there

Don
 
Yeh, I ordered from Amazon and paid a few bucks more because I didn't want to wait 15 - 29 days shipping or whatever it was from Hong Kong on ebay. I'm happy with it. Everyone says it looks like it would be a factory unit. When I tell people it didn't come with an armrest they can't believe I installed it.
 
I ordered & received my center armrest from E bay.
I found the mounting system too wide for our car soooo
I'm fooling around experimenting with a different mounting method that I've MacGyvered,
I'll do several days of trial's and share my experience.
 
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