replacement vectrix seat spring

Hi,
Don't worry.
Just get rid of that annoying spring.
I hate it. It doesn't let the seat to be fully open (well, a little bit more) and each time I touch it it traps my hand. I'm going to replace it anyway...
I'll give you mine, for free!

in the US the spring is a "Seadog" item, any chandler will supply them

Wow. It seems V-UK are offering superb service! I'm glad we can rely on them to get replacement parts...

Hi,
Don't worry.
Just get rid of that annoying spring.
I hate it. It doesn't let the seat to be fully open (well, a little bit more) and each time I touch it it traps my hand. I'm going to replace it anyway...
I'll give you mine, for free!

I hate that spring too, it has done what it was supposed to do about 20 times or so, and then let me (and the seat) down.
Has anyone found a better solution? even if it's just an idea, I'll fabricate it myself..

My 07 had a weak spring from day one. I just cut a light wooden dowel (about the thickness of a pencil) long enough to hold the seat at it's normal open height with one end slipped into one of the recesses in the base and the other end wedged in the underside of the seatpan. Stored the dowel in the seat storage area.

Thought about trying to do something fancy with a hinged cabinet catch or a retractable stick, but sometimes I catch myself trying to over-engineer the simple stuff! ;-)

My 08 has never had an issue with the spring, but if it ever does, I'll just pull the dowel out of my tool box and put it back into service! ;-)

I know that some will criticise me for always being positive about the Vectrix, but I can honestly say my seat spring has worked well for two years!

Keep it shiny side up!

Hubcap

Ahhhh seat springs..... Provided they do not have a kink in them somewhere around the mid-point they just go weak. A simple fix is to allow the spring to 'relax'. Grab your Philips screwdriver, open the trunk, support the seat with your arm/shoulder/or what have you and remove the two screws (bottom one first) at the base of the spring. Just before the second screw comes completely loose, hold the bracket with your spare hand and as the screw does come loose you will find the spring will unwind itself. Let it go round to where it is 'happy' then re-attach to the mounting point. There you have it a non-saggy spring which will hold the seat up.

As I said earlier, if there is a kink this won't work as the spring has likely been forced at some point (someone pushing the seat down rather than nudging the spring to the side). I hope this puts some smiles on some faces out there!!

Cheers!!!

Have one in stock if you can let me know more details - like where to send it? info [at] greentransportsolutions.co.uk

Ahhhh seat springs..... Provided they do not have a kink in them somewhere around the mid-point they just go weak. A simple fix is to allow the spring to 'relax'. Grab your Philips screwdriver, open the trunk, support the seat with your arm/shoulder/or what have you and remove the two screws (bottom one first) at the base of the spring. Just before the second screw comes completely loose, hold the bracket with your spare hand and as the screw does come loose you will find the spring will unwind itself. Let it go round to where it is 'happy' then re-attach to the mounting point. There you have it a non-saggy spring which will hold the seat up.

As I said earlier, if there is a kink this won't work as the spring has likely been forced at some point (someone pushing the seat down rather than nudging the spring to the side). I hope this puts some smiles on some faces out there!!

Cheers!!!

I'll certainly try that, it sounds logical!
Cheers m8!

I had the same problem with mine after about 8 months and was about to disconnect it to allow the spring to relax. Instead, I gave it a quick shot of WD-40 where the spring attaches to the seat, and that fixed the problem. It's been fine for the last 5 months.

@ Winged racer

I did what you suggested:
I loosened the screws, and the spring turned around twice (full 720°), screwed it back, and it performes as new!

It certainly did bring a big smile on my face; kudos m8!

this should be in the collaborative handbook, if it isn't yet.

After putting a big old kink in mine, I was able to replace the original Sea Dog 8-3/4" hatch spring with a 10" spring from West Marine (Model 4914750 from SeaFit).

The trick was the L-shaped lower mounting bracket, which is necessary to extend pass the edge of the trunk lid. I had to grind off the head of the L-bracket, drill a hole in the end, and use a self-tapping screw to hold on the new spring.

Everything seems quite sturdy, and it's nice to have a little more working room now under the trunk hatch.

Have to say Steve and his UK Care Machine is another of the reasons I've not lost faith with Vectrix. He also arrange to let me exchange the front shocks on my VX1 under warranty. As for the pring, actually, I prefer it - I have three bikes, one with a dampened ram, the VX1 spring and one with nothing. The Vectrix one remains my favourite as it does the job, and providing nobody tries to be silly and PUSH the seat closed (forcing a kink), It'll last as long as the battery pack.....!

So what should show up on my doorstep yesterday but a replacement trunk spring, a gift from Dana DeCosta. This guy rocks!

After 3 years of use, my spring broke at the bottom base, where it hooks around that little stick. Basically, the hook broke away from the spring part. The only thing holding things together is the middle wire.

Is it still possible to get a free spring? ;-)

If not, where can I order one from? The nearest dealer?