ecohauler
New member
Several members here, myself included, have expressed an interest in changing the driver seat armrest out for something that's either more useful or less obtrusive. I've got a few ideas, and I'd like to put together the best solution I can to this problem, so I'd really like some feedback from you guys.
Swivel Bracket
I took my armrest off and took some measurements, and I made a CAD drawing of a replacement bracket with eMachineShop (pics below). If at least 20 people are interested, I can get them machined from 6061 aluminum and have them sent out in about 7-8 weeks (21 days for a prototype, a few days for shipping and testing, and another 21 days for the production batch) for $30 apiece. This design has mounting holes in a 55mm square, and they're tapped M6x1.0. I can also have them machined in HDPE or pretty much any material you want, but the cost will be higher for anything but those two and aluminum is considerably stronger.
Armrest Console
What I'm thinking is I'll probably end up getting a bunch of those made as well as some mold pieces to make a full HDPE console body, which will take more time to design and create. The bracket will be used to mount my console design, so I can stock and sell those without having to do something special.
One thing I'm noticing about the layout of the Sonic and from other people's comments is that there's not a whole lot of room for this thing. The space between the seats is only ~5.5" at the closest point. If it goes much below the current armrest bottom, it's going to get in the way of a typical drink in the cup holders, and a lot of shorter owners are already complaining about the armrest being too high. What that leaves us with is probably a console that is only wider than the current armrest, but not taller. Slightly longer is possible, but only by maybe an inch or two before it gets in the way of shifting. It would be enough storage space for a few CDs or some standard size pieces of paper folded vertically. Making these would be a process that involves having brackets machined, having mold pieces machined, building a heater to melt enough plastic to fill the mold, and figuring out what material to use to make a padded top that doesn't look like trash. The price per unit would probably be in the $100-200 range.
Delete Kit
Another idea I've played around with a little bit is a delete kit, which would just be a cover bracket, probably HDPE, to hide the ugly piece of metal that is exposed when you remove the armrest. The added thickness necessary to cover the slider nub would actually make this much more expensive (CNC retooling charge) to have machined than the other bracket, so I would either need a very large order or I would have to mold them by hand. If there's a lot of demand for this, I'll look further into options for it. I haven't checked out any local machine shops yet.
Extended Armrest (addition to poll pending)
Just an armrest, wider and longer than stock. This would be upholstered to look like the the stock armrest. Similar in structure as well, but with added support and obviously more foam. From the limited space between the seats, it looks like it would be an inch wider and an inch longer than stock.
Swivel Bracket
I took my armrest off and took some measurements, and I made a CAD drawing of a replacement bracket with eMachineShop (pics below). If at least 20 people are interested, I can get them machined from 6061 aluminum and have them sent out in about 7-8 weeks (21 days for a prototype, a few days for shipping and testing, and another 21 days for the production batch) for $30 apiece. This design has mounting holes in a 55mm square, and they're tapped M6x1.0. I can also have them machined in HDPE or pretty much any material you want, but the cost will be higher for anything but those two and aluminum is considerably stronger.
Armrest Console
What I'm thinking is I'll probably end up getting a bunch of those made as well as some mold pieces to make a full HDPE console body, which will take more time to design and create. The bracket will be used to mount my console design, so I can stock and sell those without having to do something special.
One thing I'm noticing about the layout of the Sonic and from other people's comments is that there's not a whole lot of room for this thing. The space between the seats is only ~5.5" at the closest point. If it goes much below the current armrest bottom, it's going to get in the way of a typical drink in the cup holders, and a lot of shorter owners are already complaining about the armrest being too high. What that leaves us with is probably a console that is only wider than the current armrest, but not taller. Slightly longer is possible, but only by maybe an inch or two before it gets in the way of shifting. It would be enough storage space for a few CDs or some standard size pieces of paper folded vertically. Making these would be a process that involves having brackets machined, having mold pieces machined, building a heater to melt enough plastic to fill the mold, and figuring out what material to use to make a padded top that doesn't look like trash. The price per unit would probably be in the $100-200 range.
Delete Kit
Another idea I've played around with a little bit is a delete kit, which would just be a cover bracket, probably HDPE, to hide the ugly piece of metal that is exposed when you remove the armrest. The added thickness necessary to cover the slider nub would actually make this much more expensive (CNC retooling charge) to have machined than the other bracket, so I would either need a very large order or I would have to mold them by hand. If there's a lot of demand for this, I'll look further into options for it. I haven't checked out any local machine shops yet.
Extended Armrest (addition to poll pending)
Just an armrest, wider and longer than stock. This would be upholstered to look like the the stock armrest. Similar in structure as well, but with added support and obviously more foam. From the limited space between the seats, it looks like it would be an inch wider and an inch longer than stock.
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