# Car front seats: What holds them up?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-front-seats-what-holds-them-up/16297>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [April 24, 2000, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-front-seats-what-holds-them-up/16297 "2000-04-24T00:41:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\
**Post date:** [April 24, 2000, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-front-seats-what-holds-them-up/16297/1 "2000-04-24T00:41:00Z")

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I drive an '84 T-bird whose driver’s seat has lost its support; that is, the backrest no longer stands up; I brace it from behind with a heavy plastic chest on the back seat. Where is the mechanism that is supposed to support the backrest located?

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**Author:** ![Sentinel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Sentinel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sentinel)\
**Post date:** [April 24, 2000, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-front-seats-what-holds-them-up/16297/2 "2000-04-24T02:30:00Z")

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Locate the release lever. It usually has a steel arm going through the base of the seat. In the back, in the base will be one or two steel pins that lock into openings in the seat back. The arm might have come loose and needs to be reset – which you can do, or the retaining clips in the back of the seat might have broken out.

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