I bought the Rear Seat Arm Rest for my C30 and am trying to install it.

I can't imagine why they don't install this as a standard item!

In order to install this you must completely remove the rear seats. OK, that sounds simple, but I am having trouble with getting the back rests out. The instructions show removing a bolt on the outside edge and the plastic liner that goes with it. Then it shows pulling the outside edge toward the center of the car and finally the inside edge up and out of the bracket that holds it in place. The problem is, it won't budge. I've tried with some degree of force pulling up and pulling sideways and it will not budge! I don't want to damage anything and am wondering what the trick is in getting the seat back out!

Thanks in advance.

 

OK, so it turns out that getting the seat backs out is really a matter of brute force. They are just put in there really tight and the force needed to pull them free is significant!

I will give this piece of advice for anyone thinking of getting this arm rest, the directions that come with it are seriously lacking. If you want to know the details, give a reply here and I'd be glad to post some pictures and give you some advice about what you will encounter when trying to install.

Combined with the hard cover for luggage area, it really does look great, and finishes off the rear seat nicely. It also it provides the rear passenger a nice cushion for their arm when it is down. Installing the hard cover is a snap, it just pops right in. I also recommend the rear window screens. They are black and are cut to fit the lift gate and side windows perfectly. They also snap right in and from the outside you can't tell the difference between them and window tinting - much less expensive and they are removable.

Cheers!

 

I have seen these installed before and they are a royal pain Ive heard, but i did not want to reply because i was not sure. Brute force, yeah, you need it a lot on these things. Looks good fyi Oh yea, might i recommend some battery post washers for this car...

 

Devotion right there. Congrats.

 

That does look more finished.
Is the armrest available as a factory or dealer installed option?
Also, anyone know what the soft load cover looks like?

 

1000th view on this thread!

 

Thanks FlameOrange. The Volvo instructions for accessories are stunningly poor. The instructions for a bike rack I bought from Volvo were a joke. I just went on the Thule site and used their instructions, since it's really a Thule item. What a relief! I am now going to go to the garage and wrestle with my back seat. Might need a sledge hammer.

 

two and a half years later I am stuck in the same place- can NOT get the seat back out as depicted in the instructions. I do not think I can pull any harder- what did you use? Is there a safe point to use a lever? I gotta do this twice? (each side)
Thanks.

 

Trebla,

I don't have an answer for you, but can relay my experience and give you one bit of advice.

Re: getting the back seats out, it isn't easy but it is doable. I had given up and the armrest had been sitting in my garage for over a year. But the next time I took the car in for a service, I had the guys at the Volvo dealership take the seat out. It took them a while, but they did it. It can be done. And at least if it broke it would be their fault. I can't remember the trick, but there was a technique. I'd suggest you get them to do it.

Next, once the seats were out, it was still very difficult to install the arm rest. After much cursing and violence I got it "kind of" installed. I'm not sure it is installed correctly, but it kind of works. That was good enough for me.

I feel for you. I know from my experience with the Volvo bike rack I bought that the instructions that come with these Volvo accessories are worse than unclear. They can be totally wrong!

Good luck.

Bemaselli

 

The next step:
At 6'2" 190 lbs I could not remove the seat backs even with max grunt. Based on your encouragement I used a Fungo bat as a lever to push the outboard hinge of the seat back out. But then- assembly of the new armrest hardware on the existing mounting brackets just did not make sense. No matter what combination of parts chosen none allowed the armrest bracket to fit firmly on the brace AND allow the seat back spindle to fit securely. I ended up just pushing hard & accepting the imperfect fit. The getting the outboard hinge back in place took a mighty blow.
But, the armrest seems to fit & work without a rattle.

I have a picture but this site does not enable mounting from the desktop.

 

Flame orange....got the armrest and cannot get back rest out. Can you please email me at lac64@hotmail.com with advice!!!!

QUOTE=FlameOrange;222076]OK, so it turns out that getting the seat backs out is really a matter of brute force. They are just put in there really tight and the force needed to pull them free is significant!

I will give this piece of advice for anyone thinking of getting this arm rest, the directions that come with it are seriously lacking. If you want to know the details, give a reply here and I'd be glad to post some pictures and give you some advice about what you will encounter when trying to install.

Combined with the hard cover for luggage area, it really does look great, and finishes off the rear seat nicely. It also it provides the rear passenger a nice cushion for their arm when it is down. Installing the hard cover is a snap, it just pops right in. I also recommend the rear window screens. They are black and are cut to fit the lift gate and side windows perfectly. They also snap right in and from the outside you can't tell the difference between them and window tinting - much less expensive and they are removable.

Cheers![/QUOTE]

 

I was trying to install an isofix bracket butI just couldn't figure out how to do it so I had to Google. It looked pretty straightforward but Lord it was difficult to get the back rest loose!?? Why would anyone design stuff like this? Any way I saw a Youtube video where the guy used a strap to lever it out but I figured being a big guy I could just rip it off. But it wasn't easy let me tell you that. The back rest should be down and you have to have a good position since it's going to need quite a bit of force. So I was completely inside the car behind the front seat and I grabbed the (passenger side) back rest from the left side (while the rest was down) with both hands and I tugged with extensive force towards the right - and voilá! It snapped out of the pushing! What a terrible, terrible design! It's a lot easier to put back in since you know how it goes and you can use the force more easily. Hope this helps someone