How to fix a limp sun visor

Tutorial by ScottyMac This is how I got the sun visor on my mothers 2002 Toyota Highlander erect once again. No longer is it limp and constantly flopping down. Due to the super overpriced replacement costs Toyota charges, and there doesnt seem to be any inexpensive after marker versions, I decided to have a go at fixing it. First one to droop was the passenger side visor. In order to fix it I needed to see how the mechanism worked. So I pretty much dissected the thing. After a couple of failed attempts, I found a way that worked and has continued to work for about a year now. Just recently the driver side started to droop too, so I decided to take pictures of the repair process so I could wright this tutorial. I hope this helps others out there with the same problems. I am not skilled at grammar or writing, I did my best writing this so hopefully everyone reading can follow along. **Before you start make sure you are ok with how it will look when done by scrolling down to the bottom and viewing the images of end result. There will be some cosmetic scaring.

Tools and parts needed:

1 hose clamp: diameter size x 5/8 ($0.85 at Home Depot) A Hobby knife Philips screw driver Small flat head screw driver A loaded hot glue gun a piece of sheet Metal or aluminum with an arc in it- should be about an inch long, and be ridged, but also be thin enough to fit between the clamp and the shaft. I used a piece i had in my parts bin that was from a laser pen or something

Illustration

Step 1- remove the visor assembly

1. With a small flathead screwdriver gently pry the screw cover off the mounting bracket to expose the two screws. 2. Using a Philips screw driver, unscrew the two screws. 3. Gently slide the bracket out of the hole to expose the electrical connector. 4. Disconnect the connector by pinching the clasp and gently pulling apart. (be careful not to pull wires out of socket) **Dont let the connector snap back up into the hole once disconnected or you might have a hard time reaching it when reconnecting.

Step 2- Accessing the Shaft

1) Measure 1-1/8 along the seam starting from where the shaft enters the visor and make a mark. Using hobby knife, carefully cut along the seam starting at the mark you made go towards the shaft. This will help you from cutting in too far. Make sure your other hand is not in the path just in case you slip.

2) Spread the flaps and cut away the foam covering the shaft so it is clear up to the grey piece seen in picture below.

Step 3- Setting the clamp

1) Unscrew the clamp and open it wide enough to fit over the shaft. Go ahead and fit it over the shaft and screw back in. As your screwing it in, start working it towards the grey piece. I found it was the easiest to get on the shaft at the elbow.

2) Tighten the clamp so it just starts to clamp down on the shaft. Then back it off a turn. This will help slide it in easier since there is less to get hung up on the foam below the shaft. Slide it all the way up to the grey piece. Now unscrew enough to get the piece of metal stock between it and the shaft/grey piece.

3) Get you piece of metal stock

4) Slide it in so it is in between the clamp and the shaft and on top of the grey piece. Once in position, start tightening it down.

5) Get the small flathead screwdriver and use it to help guide the tail end of the clamp so it stays along the curve of the shaft as you are tightening.

6) It should look something like this once tightened

7) You can reset the flaps to see how it will look. 8) Spread the two flaps and use the hot glue gun to fill where needed. Be generous and fill in around the clamp. It will help hold it in place. Be careful not to burn yourself with the hot glue.

9) As it cools, put pressure on the flaps and help form it until it is set.

10) When done it will look something like this. Its not the prettiest, but no one will be able to see it anyway once installed.

Step 4- Reinstall the visor

1) Just reverse the steps for removing the visor and youre done.

Below are some images of how it looks with the fix.

With the hands free Bluetooth unit clipped on the visor it is still staying up. And when I tested it driving on rough roads, it was like someone had given it the little blue pill.

I hope this tut helped you get your limp visor erect once again. ScottyMac San Diego CA

Any Questions or comments email me at limpvisorfix@gmail.com Ill do my best to answer when I have time.

I found the following links as I was finishing this tutorial. They are to the patent for these visors. Too bad I didnt find these earlier, they would have saved me a lot of time studying how they work. The illustration at the beginning is a modified version of the one of the diagrams found on the site. http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7066522.html http://www.freepatentsonline.com/5280988.pdf