Center Console Armrest Repair

[Rangers Raiders]

We all know what a POS the plastic center consoles are on our trucks. My 2010 Sport has only 43k miles, and the armrest pad already has that annoying collapsed feeling. New replacements are almost impossible to find; 'out of stock'. Decided repairing mine was worth trying. On removal, I found the pad base was cracked longitudinally right down the middle, allowing the pad foam to start breaking up and fall in. How to fix?
First, I reset the broken plastic edges, knitting them back together as close to original position as possible, then laid on some four inch biaxial weave fiberglass tape I happened to have from boat work. I filled the weave with epoxy resin (polyester would work just as well here) and fitted in some 5 5/8"L x 1/4" thick plywood backers across and over the repair, with ends underneath the plastic rim of the base nearest the foam. (I rounded the ends of the backers to make insertion easier.) I tightened up the repair with pieces of epoxy coated tapered shim shingles, cut to length to fit as snug as possible over the backers. After covering the repair area with non-stick parchment paper, I placed a piece of plywood over the entire repair and weighted it down, to compress, forcing the repair and broken plastic snugly against the pad foam.
Next day revealed a not so pretty fix underneath, but the armpad looks and feels almost as good as new from topside.

 

[Ret_Marine2003]

If the bottom bothers you, tape off the area you do not want adhesive on, grab a clean poly-foam place mat that is resonsbly close from Dollar Tree, Walmart, etc. cut it to size, and use 3M spray adhesive on the area you want covered.
The good adhesive spray should do the job, but if it fails, or if you want to be certain it never fails get some small fasteners and carefully drill a small hole or series of holes slightly smaller than the screw you chose or appropriate for the rivet you choose. I had nylon rivets on hand so that is what I used.