My front drivers seat reclines back while driving, I have to put it all the way up as straight as it will go and it will hold and not fall back, well kind of. Anyone figure out a fix for this, they are manual seats and I pulled the seat out to see what appeared to be a sealed unit. Buying a used seat will probably just have the same problem. I see with alot of reading that alot of people have had this problem. The seat isn't sliding back and forth but laying back, just the backrest is what I'm having trouble with, one time I hit the gas and the back rest went back like laying down and I almost lost the steering wheel, hurt my back trying to hang on so I need to fix this.

Thanks rhutson in NC

 

I've had a 97, 99, and 00 dakotas and never had this problem. one even belonged to a verry "large" individual before I got it, So I expect it had been thoroughly tested. I would say replace the seat.

 

Not wanting to contradict the above post, he is right, you don't see many problems with Dodge seats but you might remove the seat and then take a look at the underside of the seat cushion. You might have a broken lever under there that holds the seat back in position after you let go of the adjuster handle. There may be a ratcheting or gear-type mechanism under there that has broken. If there is, you might be able to buy a replacement part at the dealer, or possibly a junk yard. A junk yard won't sell you one off a seat that is in good shape though, they would want to sell the whole good seat as a working part, but they may have a damaged seat that they or you can scavenge the part from.

You may have to unsnap or undo the velcro fasteners on the seat covers, remove the cushions and get into the seat framework to find the broken part, replace it and then put the seat covers and cushions back in place. That's not exactly easy, and I should know-I have done some seat repairs on a Chrysler minivan.

Maybe check into these few things first before buying a new seat. If you do need a new seat, maybe a junk yard might have one in your color and fabric pattern for cheap.

Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

Jimmy

 

Have you tried pushing the handle down to see if its locking the whole way?

 

This may be too llittle, too late, nut my 01 did the same thing. A little roll pin on the seat portion had worked it way out on the door side of the drivers seat. We peeled back the cover for access. Added a little two part epoxy, drove the pin back in and that was 3 years ago. We have kids do the mechanism is used almost every day. Hope this helps

 

My 97 does this and I will check out the above fix. We call it the "AutoPimp" seat

 

same thing with mine, always happens when i launch.

 

I have a 97 Dakota and This has happened to me twice
on my passenger side seat. The dealer fix it the first time. But I need to fix it again now if you find out how to fix it let me know Thanks