Dodge Ram (2nd gen) seat recline lever, may fit others.

prusaprinters

<p>Like it says in the intro. . . The powertrain and basic sheetmetal of Dodge/Ram vehicles tend to outlast the plastic components. &nbsp;Having a ready source of replacements is key to really racking up the miles. . . .</p><p>The “Repair” contest seemed like a good reason to try my hand at replacing the driver's seat recline lever, because I'd been babying mine along for a while, and the the amount of my time needed to get to a store that might carry them (or find them, order online and hope they fit), the fuel/shipping costs, plus the cost of the actual replacements, compares poorly with a few minutes in CAD, a few grams of filament and a little printer time (while I do other things!) . . . with the bonus availability of almost any color I could wish for.&nbsp;</p><p>And now there's no need to do the CAD, ever again!&nbsp;</p><p>I DO recommend printing the fit test part first to make sure your printer and your truck agree on the definition of a millimeter, the number of teeth in the spline, and to give you a test part to work out the best way to clean the screw counterbore. &nbsp;The fit test is not the same over-all depth as the lever, so don't panic over the size differences between the fit test and the worn lever.</p><p>Clean all the lint and worn plastic out of the splines and screw threads in the shaft; the screw should run free for all but the last 3mm or so before you do the trial fit. The part should slip into place with finger pressure/force, but no slop, and should bottom on the screw shoulder JUST before the splines jam on the shaft. &nbsp;<strong>Note that the splines are ‘keyed’ and only assemble in one orientation. </strong>This model fits seat shafts with a 16-groove, skip-tooth-top, 12mm nominal shaft:&nbsp;</p><p><img src="https://media.printables.com/media/prints/300238/rich_content/2045ccef-baca-4f4e-9d95-5595e1d22428/20221023_033218.jpg#%7B%22uuid%22%3A%22f4d75c0d-b6fc-4a54-b8cd-ac070cc3cd00%22%2C%22w%22%3A1118%2C%22h%22%3A1166%7D"></p><p>(note skipped groove, blue arrow)</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Probably best to print these with the spud pointed up for minimizing how much trouble the overhangs inside the hole will cause. The included gcode files use that orientation. There will probably still be some fuzz in the hole unless you've REALLY dialed in your bridging, but the part fits and operates correctly if you just spend a couple seconds cleaning it before putting it in service. &nbsp;</p><p>The final product might be nicer on the hand if you can print it the other way up with (soluble) supports-- I haven't tried that, so someone else gets to experiment; I certainly will try some of the reusable, insertable support tricks if I make multiples.</p><p>It's a fairly high-stress part around those splines, so be generous with the perimeters if you reslice it. You will need a moderately well-tuned printer to do the seat lever without supports (which are going to cause trouble in the screw hole), or if you DO use supports, a fair amount of handwork to get a good fit and finish. (Those of you with MMUs and soluble supports can stop gloating now. )&nbsp;</p><p>I printed these in cheap PETG per the files presented; 6 perimeters, spud side up, no supports and 15% honeycomb infill, on a satin powdercoat sheet. &nbsp;I was pleasantly surprised how well the first part worked on the truck after 10 sec of cleanup, and now wish I'd used a lighter shade of filament, textured build surface and the fuzzy-skin mode to really dial in the appearance. &nbsp;Ah, well: I can have another one with all those refinements in less than 3 hours. . . I might even redo the lever in ASA or glass-filled nylon; it's an automotive in-cabin part, after all. &nbsp; I'll upload additional files if so, or if I refine the shape more.</p><p>.STEPs included for any remixers.&nbsp;</p><p>.SLDPRTs &nbsp;available on request.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p>