Hello,
I just bought an 06’ CRV EX 5MT, I love the car so far but really wish it had folding armrests. I have read all about the lack of mounting bracket on at least the drivers seat. Not certain if the passenger seat has the bracket or not.
Anyone know if I can swap in an auto trans seat frame into my MT chassis and use my seat cover and foam? Open to suggestions and I can fabricate a bracket if needed.
Update!
After some deliberation, some procrastination, and ultimately having around 32 hours before departure on a road trip with the family I have ironed out the armrest dilemma on my 5 speed manual CRV!
Solution was stupid simple, as many good solutions are.
I simply snagged a pair of OEM armrests off an automatic 02’ V I found in a local junkyard. Grabbed the armrests themselves, the bolt on brackets, all the hardware and then proceeded to cannabalize the seatback rails for the elusive welded on bracket that all the manual CRV’s are missing.
I found that the 02’ donor vehicle seat was a perfect Siamese match to my seat, after undoing the J channel at the rear bottom of my seats and unzipping the OEM seat upholstery on both sides of the seat; I simply cut the radii off both the fore and aft section of seatback rail and bolted it to my driver seatback rail using four M6 bolts, all of which were placed through factory holes. No drilling, no welding. From there I installed the donor armrest pivot bracket on to my seat rail and put all the upholstery back.
By replacing the seat cover was able to clearly see the armrest pivot bracket pressing against my OEM seat cover which told me where to slot the fabric. Naturally I did so using a hobby style exacto knife that literally would struggle to cut styrofoam. After a reasonable amount of struggle and grunting I was ready to bolt on my armrest!! It works perfectly, is factory located and functions just as designed. The 4 bolt method is probably overkill as 2 bolts had the bracket rock solid.
The donor passenger seat was not an exact Siamese duplicate of my 06’. However it was close enough, after trimming the excess material off the section of seat rail from the donor car and sliding it against my seatback rail (like a doubler plate) I was only able to affix it with two OEM holes. Luckily there is a large stamped hole on both seatback rails that locates the section at the proper height, after that, the holes I utilized indexed the armrest just as Honda had it from the factory.
Now I wait for my tan leather armrest covers and when they arrive it’ll be finished!
Before, no arm rest for those who have manual transmission’s.
![]()
Four hole armrest bracket that was welded to the seatback rail. The actual armrest pivot bracket bolts to this bracket, with two M6 bolts.
![]()
This is the section I cut off the donor seatback.
[ATTACH166262[/ATTACH]
This is looking at my seat from behind, the section shown in the prior photo is bolted to the seat from the outside. I pulled the foam away from my original seatback rail and slid the sectioned seat rail portion in between the foam and the original seat rail.
![Image]()
Makes it very easy to see where to slit the upholstery to allow the pivot post and the armrest travel stops through the cover.
![Image]()
Pro tip, use a sharp knife. Not a utility knife that’s duller than a short order prison shank.
![Image]()
All done, works great. It is extremely comfortable. It doesn’t block the cup holder either which is a plus. I basically leave it down all the time and just tip it up 30 degrees to make my seat belt easier to buckle. Maybe next I’ll fix the gutter on my garage? 😁
![Image]()
Grand total of $63 for everything, including the leather armrest covers. I couldn’t be happier.
Lastly, these armrests had some wear on them. Some discoloration and foam wear too, I just flipped both of the armrests over and put the drivers side on the pax side and the pax side on the drivers side. Perfect upholstery and foam.
![Image]()
I just bought an 06’ CRV EX 5MT, I love the car so far but really wish it had folding armrests. I have read all about the lack of mounting bracket on at least the drivers seat. Not certain if the passenger seat has the bracket or not.
Anyone know if I can swap in an auto trans seat frame into my MT chassis and use my seat cover and foam? Open to suggestions and I can fabricate a bracket if needed.
Update!
After some deliberation, some procrastination, and ultimately having around 32 hours before departure on a road trip with the family I have ironed out the armrest dilemma on my 5 speed manual CRV!
Solution was stupid simple, as many good solutions are.
I simply snagged a pair of OEM armrests off an automatic 02’ V I found in a local junkyard. Grabbed the armrests themselves, the bolt on brackets, all the hardware and then proceeded to cannabalize the seatback rails for the elusive welded on bracket that all the manual CRV’s are missing.
I found that the 02’ donor vehicle seat was a perfect Siamese match to my seat, after undoing the J channel at the rear bottom of my seats and unzipping the OEM seat upholstery on both sides of the seat; I simply cut the radii off both the fore and aft section of seatback rail and bolted it to my driver seatback rail using four M6 bolts, all of which were placed through factory holes. No drilling, no welding. From there I installed the donor armrest pivot bracket on to my seat rail and put all the upholstery back.
By replacing the seat cover was able to clearly see the armrest pivot bracket pressing against my OEM seat cover which told me where to slot the fabric. Naturally I did so using a hobby style exacto knife that literally would struggle to cut styrofoam. After a reasonable amount of struggle and grunting I was ready to bolt on my armrest!! It works perfectly, is factory located and functions just as designed. The 4 bolt method is probably overkill as 2 bolts had the bracket rock solid.
The donor passenger seat was not an exact Siamese duplicate of my 06’. However it was close enough, after trimming the excess material off the section of seat rail from the donor car and sliding it against my seatback rail (like a doubler plate) I was only able to affix it with two OEM holes. Luckily there is a large stamped hole on both seatback rails that locates the section at the proper height, after that, the holes I utilized indexed the armrest just as Honda had it from the factory.
Now I wait for my tan leather armrest covers and when they arrive it’ll be finished!
Before, no arm rest for those who have manual transmission’s.
Four hole armrest bracket that was welded to the seatback rail. The actual armrest pivot bracket bolts to this bracket, with two M6 bolts.
This is the section I cut off the donor seatback.
[ATTACH166262[/ATTACH]
This is looking at my seat from behind, the section shown in the prior photo is bolted to the seat from the outside. I pulled the foam away from my original seatback rail and slid the sectioned seat rail portion in between the foam and the original seat rail.
Makes it very easy to see where to slit the upholstery to allow the pivot post and the armrest travel stops through the cover.
Pro tip, use a sharp knife. Not a utility knife that’s duller than a short order prison shank.
All done, works great. It is extremely comfortable. It doesn’t block the cup holder either which is a plus. I basically leave it down all the time and just tip it up 30 degrees to make my seat belt easier to buckle. Maybe next I’ll fix the gutter on my garage? 😁
Grand total of $63 for everything, including the leather armrest covers. I couldn’t be happier.
Lastly, these armrests had some wear on them. Some discoloration and foam wear too, I just flipped both of the armrests over and put the drivers side on the pax side and the pax side on the drivers side. Perfect upholstery and foam.
