[EldRick]

Does anyone know how to remove the center armrest?

When I hold the wheel near the bottom, the armrest is right where my elbow needs to be - drives me crazy.

I've got it slid all the way aft, but it's still too far forward, and looks dumb with it open at 90-degrees waiting for a hard stop to fall forward and guillotine something.

If I can get the darn thing off, I'll make a thin cover to replace it, but I took out all six visible screws on the bottom of it, and nothing comes loose.

Any ideas how it comes off? I'd rather not remove it with a hacksaw...

 

[Sean Nelson]

Sorry, can't give you any advice on how to remove the armrest. But I'm wondering if you've tried raising your seat and tilting the steering wheel up?

 

[EldRick]

I've got the seat all the way up, and the armrest is still in the way.

 

[specialed]

I hold the steering wheel at 10 and 2 like I have done with every car I've driven for more than 40 years. I never touch the center console except to open it.

Ed

 

[DaV8or]

I can't speak to the Bolt because I don't have one yet and I don't have the service manual, but typically in modern cars, the actual mounting is underneath plastic covers, probably in the rear. You usually pop the cover off to reveal the actual mounting screws/bolts.

My suggestion would be to go to either your dealer's service department, or the parts department and ask to see the exploded drawings of the arm rest. The service manual should give explicit instructions on how to remove it and the parts diagrams will show exploded views that should make it obvious how it comes apart. If you explain what you are doing, most dealers will be helpful in this. It will likely be awhile before those on the internet can help you because you're going first!

 

[Bazinga]

Don't think anyone on this forum has tried removing the arm rest yet, so you're going to be the first one to try. Maybe Chevy mounts all arm rests the same way across their lineup and the same method for removal would work for the Bolt too?

Unless you can get your hands on the service manual.

 

[AZBolter]

Sorry to necro an old thread, but I just removed the center armrest from my new Bolt, and thought I might share, since it's actually quite easy if you know how. I didn't going in, which is why I spent an hour and a half disassembling the entire armrest before I figured it out .

The first step is to pull back the trim panel on the back of the center console. Sitting in the back seat, gently work a thin prying tool into the gap between the console and the back trim panel, just below the armrest. Go back and forth between sides, and it will eventually pop back, revealing the metal hinge.

Lift up the armrest, and there should now be five screws visible at the hinge, three large head and two small. You'll need a set of star/security bits for a screwdriver to remove these. Unscrew all five, being careful not to let them fall, and the armrest can now be easily removed from the console. I screwed the five screws back into their holes on the console for safekeeping. Pop the trim panel back into place, and you're done!

Covers up fairly neat, though you of course now have a storage compartment hole where your armrest used to be. Not sure yet what we're going to put on there so it's comfortable.

 

[GJETSON]

A picture might help too.

https://www.gmpartscenter.net/auto-.../electric-engine/body-cat/center-console-scat

 

[kls629]

A picture might help too.

https://www.gmpartscenter.net/auto-.../electric-engine/body-cat/center-console-scat

wow this is a great webpage with a lot of components

can aftermarket an LT to Premier options for cheaper

 

[HCPD134]

wow this is a great webpage with a lot of components

can aftermarket an LT to Premier options for cheaper

I'm working on some of that right now. My biggest headache so far is in figuring out how to take the dashboard apart, specifically to get to the back of the 10" center screen stereo unit.


Has anyone tried that yet?

 

[18Azul]

Hello Everyone,

I'm new to the forum and recently bought a blue 2018 Chevy Bolt Premier. So far I'm thrilled with this car and really enjoying the benefits of not having to spend time at the gas station. I bought the car used and so far it has been without issue. The only thing I noticed recently was a slight mechanical sound coming from the armrest. I traced it to the spring for the latch and decided to go do something about it. Needless to say, I embarked on a slightly more complicated journey than what I anticipated, so posting here for the benefit of everyone. Below are pictures of how I ended up removing the armrest, details of how to take it apart and what I ended up doing to remove the noise.

1) Armrest removal:

Start from the back seats and pry the back cover gently. I used a plastic pry tool to help get started. There are 4 clips on each side holding as can be seen from the pictures below:

Once you remove it, you can unclip the USB connector if you have a Premier version like mine.

2) Detach armrest from center console:

Once you remove the back covet, lift the armrest to reveal the hinge. You'll need a Torx bit to remove the 3 main screws plus 2 support screws.

3) Take apart armrest to reveal latch:

After removing the armrest, use the same Torx bits to remove 4 screws. The pry tool will come in handy here as the plastic cover is held by tabs. Work your way around this slowly. The final step is to remove the hinge cover, which also snaps out. You'll need to remove the hinge cover completely. This was a tricky step but you have to bend the hinge to slide it out. Once the cover is out, you can remove the hinge.

4) Slider piece bracket/roller removal:

The slider piece is held in place by a 4 screws that hold a bracket and 2 gear rollers. Remove the screws, brackets and lift out the gear rollers:

5) Remove slider piece:

Once you have the gear rollers, you can slide out the sliding piece out to reveal the latch and spring. Below is a picture of all pieces, the hinge, the cover, the slider and the upholstered armrest for reference:

6) Final Fix

The final fix was to add some felt strips under the spring for the latch. You can see this below:

Done! Hope you find this useful and happy noise cancelling.

 

[John Woods]

Thanks, thanks, thanks for this thread, link, and for sure 18Azul's post and pics.


JMO the entire center console is a total waste of GM's and my money and tops my list of worst things about the Bolt.

Rather have better seats.

One of my first visits back to the dealer was to pick up the parts diagram for the center console with hope of figuring out how to remove the whole thing down to the floorboard and then build something better to hold the shifter.

So far only driving with the lid open because of having no idea until now what is the first step to remove it and a tech at the dealer told me not to take out the whole thing because of the air bags.

Are there air bags inside the center console?

 

[18Azul]

Hi John,

No airbags that I'm aware of... You might find this post helpful as well... Console Removal

Cheers