How To -- Fix for broken lumbar support
 

So the lumbar support is a common breakage item on our cars, which leads to the original plastic seatback clips breaking off causing the seatback to hang loose at its bottom. A4Mods.com had a good write up on replacing the entire lumbar support frame <a href="http://a4mods.com/index.php?page=webcontent/pages/lumbar.html" target="_new">here</a>, but I didn't want to spend $130 for a new one if I could fix what I had. I've seen a post or two in the past on different DIY fixes, but the long-term viability of those fixes seemed suspect to me.

So....here's my DIY fix which I think will hold over time with no foreseeable problems.

Here is a pic of the working area showing the driver-side seatback removed and the lumbar support broken area in yellow.

<img src="http://www.ampproject.com/audi/images/seatback/seatback-01.jpg">

Here is a close-up pic of the broken rod on the lumbar support.

<img src="http://www.ampproject.com/audi/images/seatback/seatback-02.jpg">

From Home Depot, I acquired a grab-bag of hardware items that I felt could provide a long-term viable solution to fix the broken lumbar support rod. My idea was to find a single piece of something that was strong enough and that could bridge the break in the support rod. The ferrule &amp; stop set ($1.48) was found one aisle over from the hardware aisle with the assortment of steel cables. The rod coupling ($0.75) was found hanging in the hardware aisle. And the aluminum spacer ($0.63) was found in the hardware aisle in the pull-out drawers that hold specialty hardware items.

<img src="http://www.ampproject.com/audi/images/seatback/seatback-03.jpg">

The rod coupling and aluminum spacer appeared to be the best solutions. The rod coupling is threaded through its center, and fit somewhat snug over the support rod. The aluminum spacer has a hole through its center that was too small a diameter to fit over the support rod -- putting it in my bench vise and reaming it out with a drill bit brought it to a snug fitting diameter. Either of these items would have made for a clean looking DIY fix, but the problem now was how to keep either piece from moving in either direction on the rod, thus exposing the rod break.

I went with the last item in my grab-bag, a brass 1/4" barb splicer ($2.07) found hanging in the plumbing aisle with all the brass fittings. The barb is a solid piece of brass with a hole in its center, that fit fairly snugly over the support rod.

<img src="http://www.ampproject.com/audi/images/seatback/seatback-04.jpg">

A quick trip to the automotive store yielded me a foot of 7/16" vacuum hose ($1.29). Worm clamp was something I already had.

<img src="http://www.ampproject.com/audi/images/seatback/seatback-05.jpg">

The vacuum hose was a tight fit onto one end of the barb splicer -- the bench vise helped with that.

<img src="http://www.ampproject.com/audi/images/seatback/seatback-06.jpg">

Trimmed the vacuum hose to leave me approx 1/2" from end of barb splicer, slid the worm clamp over the rod and inserted the barb/hose assembly at the rod break. The vacuum hose was slightly larger than the diameter of the support rod. The assembly is pushed as far to the right as possible in the pic (you can see how the exposed part of the barb is pushed up to the where the rod bends) so the only direction it can move is towards the clamp side. Tightened worm clamp over the excess part of the vacuum hose to keep the whole assembly locked in place on the rod. Trimmed excess off the worm clamp with Knipex pliers and picked up the trimmings with a telescoping magnet (both shown).

<img src="http://www.ampproject.com/audi/images/seatback/seatback-07.jpg">

Here's the money shot.....

<img src="http://www.ampproject.com/audi/images/seatback/seatback-08.jpg">

Afterwards, I thought that some kind of drill bit stop-collar in place of the vacuum hose and clamp might make for a cleaner fix.

<img src="http://store.workshopsupply.com/catalogue/images/3094.jpg">

Overall, it ended up being a very cheap fix....

1/4" Brass Barb Splicer: $2.07
7/16" Vacuum Hose: $1.29/LF
Worm Clamp, SAE #4, 1/4"~5/8": FREEBIE

That's a great DIY job!

where were you two weeks ago when I fixed mine? lol, great fix
 

keep us posted on how it holds up.

BTW, you can get the lumbar bracket for @ $80 on Audi Parts Depot

Nice...I gave up on finding a fix and just bought the new piece, but that looks like it would have..
 

been far easier. I think I spent about 8 hours sweating and swearing to get the new one in. FYI I got my new support from GAP for ~$75