Lubricating seat rails on 05 Ram.
 

I'll be damned if I can figure out how to get at the area of the rails which never are exposed when the seat is all the way forward or backward. There appears to be a travel stop pin that I tried to remove with no luck. It's not a hex head, or any head for that matter. Just what looks like a round plug.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Scott

Unbolt the seat and remove it.

But the rails are still on the seat, and still limited to the travel provided from the factory. Not sure how removing the seats entirely will provide me any benefit.

S.C.

would it not allow you easier access for lubrication if its out and on a workbench.

What problem are you having. Not sure what your trying to do here....never had a need to lubricate seat rails.

I have plenty of access to most of the travel of the rails without removing the seats. Unless there is some very specific thing that I am not aware of which would require me to remove the seats for this service, I see no reason to do so. The only real issue is figuring out how to get the seat to move further than the prescribed distance that it moves from the factory. This is where I'd have to assume there is some travel limiter that I could remove to give me this extra range of motion, which would then allow me to gain access to the part of the rails which is not exposed during normal, limited travel.

The reason I am doing this is because the seat no longer slides easily on the rails. After years of living down a dirt road, pet hair, etc, it's become a bit of a mess. I have cleaned up and lubed the rails in the areas that are exposed when I slide the seat all the way forward and all the way back. But there's about a six inch section of the rails which is never exposed in the travel of the seat which still needs attention.

S.C.

manual or power seat?

still not clear on what your trying to do:
1- your trying to extend the normal range of movement
2- the seat does not move the normal range and your trying to get it to do this

Manual seat.

Imagine if you will, the rails on which the seat slides. There is more or less a male and female rail, so they fit together and slide back and forth. The rails are each of a certain length; let's say 18 inches for the bottom and top rails. Bottom rail being attached to the floor of the truck and the top attached to the seat. The seat moves back and forth maybe a total of ten inches.

This means that no matter where the seat is positioned, there will always be a certain amount of the rails that are never exposed to the open air where I can get at them to clean and lube them.

Over the years, dirt, dust and whatever else has managed to get into the rails, causing them to no longer easily slide back and forth. I want to get a that area where the dirt and such has accumulated and is within the range of the top and bottom rails that is never exposed. In order to do this, the top and bottom rail need to be either completely separated from each other, or I need a way to just slide the seat further back or forth a few more inches to get at the area that is never exposed. This is where I think these "travel limiters" are key.

Something is keeping the seat from moving too far back or forth to the point that it slides right off the rails, no differently than a kitchen drawer stops traveling out at some point. I would like to know what that thing is which limits travel, remove it if possible, and clean/lube the rails where I currently can't get at them.

S.C.

Scott,
its best to pull the seat assembly. this will allow you to set the seat assem on its back so the rail can be cleaned-----then lubricated. just greasing or oiling without cleaning creates a grinding paste

The point everyone seems to be missing, is that even if the seats were out, there is a section of the rails that is never exposed, whether the seat is all the way forward or backward on the rails. I need to gain access to this area.


Unless someone knows a way to get the travel of the seat on the rails to go past the normal distance (thus allowing me access to the area on the rails I can't currently get), I don't see a reason to remove the seat.


And I know removal is very easy. Four floor bolts and a couple for the center console. I just don't see what benefit there is in removing the seat if I still am not able to move the seat on the rails further back or forth.


S.C.