Seat removal

[Farkey]

I have a number of wires on the drivers side under the dash of my 2002 Monaco 40 foot Diplomat that I intend to remove or return them from where they came from.

The biggest and probably the only problem, is me. I'm not the smallest guy on the planet and to get comfortably under the dash so I could work freely, I will need to remove the driver's seat.

I have not really spent any time looking at how easy/difficult this could be, but I'm hoping that someone here has some real information about the seat.

Right now it is really cold around here -25C according to my outdoor thermometer.........brrrrrrrrrrrr. But I figure if I start the engine and turn on the heat it will be quite comfortable to work on.

Plus I have a lot of time to spare right now.

[8.3Oilbuner]

Hi Farkey; Most Monaco seats are attached with 4 nuts on studs from the coach floor. Just a matter of removing the 4 nuts and lifting the chair and base off the studs. If you seat is electric you need to disconnect the harness before removal. Lots of owners remove the passenger seat to remove the old Norcold refer through the front door and install a residential refer in their coach. Yes, I am small, I think I am, and it is a bear to get under the dash to do anything. Hope this info is useful and man, that's cold outside.

[windsorbill]

Originally Posted by Farkey

I have a number of wires on the drivers side under the dash of my 2002 Monaco 40 foot Diplomat that I intend to remove or return them from where they came from.

The biggest and probably the only problem, is me. I'm not the smallest guy on the planet and to get comfortably under the dash so I could work freely, I will need to remove the driver's seat.

I have not really spent any time looking at how easy/difficult this could be, but I'm hoping that someone here has some real information about the seat.

Right now it is really cold around here -25C according to my outdoor thermometer.........brrrrrrrrrrrr. But I figure if I start the engine and turn on the heat it will be quite comfortable to work on.

Plus I have a lot of time to spare right now.

-25C, brrr is right.. It was 70F today here.

What was said above is correct. Only think I can add is when you move the chair around, be aware of the wires. It's easy to set the chair on them and do some damage.

[l1v3fr33ord1]

Farkey-

There are two places to detach the seat. The first is the floor bolts, as recommended above. The second is at the top of the pedestal.

On our coach, it's difficult to access the underside of the floor bolts. And, they are big.

Instead, I remove the four nuts that hold the seat to the top of the pedestal. That does leave the pedestal in place. It's not hard to work around.

Remember to unclip any wires or controls that run between the floor and the bottom of the seat, before removing the seat from the pedestal.

On the wiring cleanup, best wishes. I did this both under and inside the dash. I suggest that you not remove wiring the factory installed, even if its current use is unclear. You may need it later.

[distaff]

First time I pulled my driver's seat (bolts down through the floor to nuts welded to the steel plate under the floor) I needed a breaker bar and a 2 foot steel tube over the breaker bar to give me 3 feet of leverage.

I don't know what was used, but I am guessing it was some type of thread locking compound and every turn of the bolt required a huge effort - but it could also have been corrosion as the bolt threads hung down in the stream of road filth coming off the front tires. They didn't spin freely after I broke them free, in fact I bought a big impact driver (110V and 1/2 inch) and it stalled on the bolts.

I'm not kidding, I'm a big guy and can put a lot of torque on a lever, but even with a 3 foot lever I was sweating. If you have bolts instead of nuts exposed at the base of your seat I suggest you do as Mark proposed and leave the pedestal in place.