Re: broken sun visor mount

T <[email protected]> wrote:

> 2006 Forrester
> 
> My driver's side sun visor mount is cracked.  I asked
> the dealership for a replacement.  They wanted to sell
> me a whole new sun visor for ONE HUNDRED SIXTY
> U.S. DOLLARS.    YIKES !!!!
> 
> I told him I would try super glue first.
> 
> Anyone know where I an get a replacement mount?  Or
> a cheaper solution?

They probably don't have the components of a sun visor to sell to you.
They have parts that are assemblies.  Just like they don't have parts to
repair a broken ignition switch, but have to replace the entire
switching assembly that mounts on the steering column.

I wouldn't use superglue to repair the cracked mount which is probably
metal.  I'd use JB Weld steel-reinforced cold weld epoxy.  When cured,
that stuff is as hard as metal.  I've drained an oil pan, use a
drill-mounted wire brush to clean around a hole in the pan, sanded
around the hole to provide a rough surface for grip, and use JB Weld to
fill the hole and blend onto the surface around the hole to fix an oil
leak in a pencil-sized hole (was for someone's car, and figured they
repeatedly drove the car over something that kept scraping the oil pan).
The stuff became metal when it cured.  No more leak.  Never came loose.
I've used it to repair other metal breaks.  That stuff gets HARD.  It's
a 2-part epoxy, but with metal slivers to provide the adhesiveness of
the expoxy with the strength of steel.  Costs $5.

You'll some way to pull on the mount to open the crack, make sure it is
clean, and squeeze in some steel epoxy into the crack, and then a way
(like a clamp) to close the crack and let the epoxy cure (15-24 hours).
Of course, you could just crack it apart, clean the edges, apply the
steel epoxy, and then clamp together to let cure.

The above assumes the mount is made of metal.  The steel epoxy is
supposed to work on metal, wood, plastic, tile, fiberglass, concrete,
and more materials.  I've only used it for metal repair.


In my area, there is a salvage yard that lets you come in to remove
parts, and they're cheap (you do the labor).  That place is only for 20+
year old cars.  They don't allow power tools in the yard (a liability
issue).  The have a web site where you can check their car inventory,
but you may need to find a year model that is close to yours instead of
an exact match since parts are used over several year-models.

There is another salvage dealer that doesn't let you in their yard.
They scrap the vehicle for parts, and you buy the parts they salvaged.
The parts cost more because they did the labor to sell them separately.
They have a 90-day warranty, so if you happen to get one that is
defective then you can return it to swap for another.