La-Z-Boy recliners are a must-have for everyone who wants to feel comfortable in their home. There is nothing better than sitting in your La-Z-Boy recliner after a long day’s work. But when it starts to malfunction, do you know how to repair your La-Z-Boy recliner mechanism and bring it back to its old glory?
I get that not everyone is that handy, and in case you are not, you might be thinking that your only choice is to buy a new recliner or maybe have someone else try to save it. These are both good options, but fixing a La-Z-Boy recliner mechanism is not all that difficult. I tried to do it myself and was shocked by how quick and easy it all was!
If you want to fix your La-Z-Boy recliner mechanism by yourself, you have come to the right place. Read this guide carefully, and by the end, you will know exactly what you need to do. With that being said, let’s get right into the guide, shall we?
What Is A La-Z-Boy Recliner?
La-Z-Boy recliners are well-known in the US because of their long tradition and amazing quality. Having been on the market for nearly a century, engineers at La-Z-Boy have been able to create quite a lot of amazing designs that people have enjoyed.
Aside from the recliner chairs, you can also find a wide variety of recliner couches, power recliners, and other pieces of furniture that the company sells. What sets their recliners aside from others is the mechanism they use – using a lever or a button, you raise a leg rest and make the chair that much more comfortable!
Even though there are a lot of recliners on the market right now, none are as good as La-Z-Boy’s recliners. These recliners not only offer the perfect resting place for your feet, but they also provide you with great back support as well as good headrests and armrests.
How To Fix A La-Z-Boy Recliner Mechanism
With them being one of the best recliners on the market, La-Z-Boy recliners are quite durable and will not malfunction quickly. It might even be years before any problems start to emerge. Once you do see that there is a problem with it, you can easily fix it on your own!
I will give you a thorough guide that will explain all the things you need to do to repair your La-Z-Boy recliner. Hopefully, after reading it, you will be able to fix the recliner mechanism on your own and without any bigger problems!
Step 1. Disassemble The Chair And Remove The Mechanism
First of all, you cannot fix the chair as it is. You will have to disassemble some of the parts to be able to get to the mechanism and check to see what is wrong with it.
For this step, you will need a screwdriver to be able to easily unscrew some of the parts. Do not rush; spend as much time as you need to remove the parts and pay close attention so that you do not damage anything while unscrewing. If you are successful at disassembling the recliner, you should get to the mechanism and remove it easily.
Step 2. Inspect The Mechanism And Fix What Is Broken
Once you have the mechanism in your hands, you should inspect it and see what is broken or not working. You might not need to replace everything as the problem might be just one little screw, but you should check everything just to be safe.
If there are some broken parts, you can go to the nearest La-Z-Boy store and purchase replacement parts. You can also check in other stores for separate parts that you can use at this point.
Before moving on to the next step, I recommend double-checking if anything else needs repairing or replacement because you do not want to go back later and spend that much time on something that can be fixed quickly and easily.
Step 3. Make Repairs And Replacements
Most often, the malfunctioning of a La-Z-Boy recliner mechanism is due to a problem with the screws, springs, or maybe the recliner’s tension. You should check and tighten all screws and springs at this point, making sure that everything is working properly.
If you use the recliner often, chances are that it has been under some pressure that has caused it to malfunction. You should decrease the tension in the backrest, armrests, and footrest. If that does not seem to fix the problem, check to see if maybe any of these parts might need an increase in tension.
You can decrease and increase tension in the recliner using the thumbwheels. You can adjust the tension on both sides of the recliner using nothing but your fingers. Going in with a screwdriver or something stronger can cause damage to the thumbwheels, so you do not want to do that.
You should rotate the thumbwheels and see where they need to be so that the recliner mechanism works properly. After adjusting the thumbscrews, regular screws, and springs, I think that you will find the recliner mechanism working properly.
Step 4. Test The Mechanism
Finally, I recommend that you test the mechanism to see if everything is working properly. If there is not a big problem with the recliner, all the adjustments you made should be enough to fix it. However, if there is some other bigger problem lurking, you might need the help of a professional repair person to get the recliner working again.
If I were to focus on the best-case scenario (which is you fixing the mechanism without needing further help), I would only add that you should reassemble everything as it was and go back to enjoying your La-Z-Boy recliner.
La-Z-Boy Recliner Mechanism Frequently Asked Questions
The above-mentioned guide should be enough to tell you how to fix the La-Z-Boy mechanism quickly and easily. Hopefully, when you try it out, you will be able to repair your recliner without any problems.
Before wrapping this guide up, I want to share some additional information regarding the mechanism on La-Z-Boy recliners. I think this information will come in handy at some point!
How long should a La-Z-Boy recliner last?
Some of the best La-Z-Boy recliners are known to last longer than a decade without ever having any problems. If you do not use the recliner that often, it might even last longer.
With that being said, it is a good idea to purchase a quality recliner to begin with. The more expensive ones are usually better quality and made from better materials, so they will also last longer.
How do you fix a recliner that won’t recline?
Usually, the reason why a recliner will not recline is a simple one. There is a cable in the mechanism that connects the lever to the footrest and backrest. The cable can easily get disconnected and cause the recliner not to recline.
So I recommend that you get to that cable and check to see if it is properly connected. If you see that it is disconnected, you should reconnect it and test the recliner to see if everything is working properly.
How do I get my recliner back further?
If you want your recliner backrest to tilt further back, you can easily adjust and fix that. You need to get to the springs that hold the backrest and release the tension in them. Releasing the tension will make the backrest go further back.
During the adjustment, I recommend that you have someone test the recliner out to see how much tension should be released. If you go overboard with the tension release, you might not feel comfortable sitting in your recliner afterward, so you should always be careful and test everything out before wrapping up the adjustments.
That’s How You Repair A La-Z-Boy Recliner Mechanism!
I hope that this guide helped you learn more about the La-Z-Boy mechanism and how you can easily repair it in a few short steps. The process is pretty straight forward, but if you do not manage to fix everything by yourself, you can contact the company for help or have someone help you out.
Let me know if the guide helped you fix your recliner mechanism or if you had difficulties with the repair. I would love to know more about your experience, so I look forward to reading all your comments!
