How to Repair a Droopy Sun Visor in a Car

Sun visors do more than block the sun on the driver side and passenger side these days, with the added weight of GPS units and CD cases weighing them down and eventually causing them to droop. This looseness is a fairly simple issue and you can usually fix it in a matter of minutes with basic hand tools like a screwdriver.

Typical Construction

Sun visors are generally flat pieces of fiberboard wrapped in vinyl, plastic, or other material. headliner visors are attached to the interior roof of your vehicle at two mounting points. One is a fixed mount where the visor snaps in and out of place and the other is a swivel mount that allows the movement when you raise or lower the visor or move it to shade the side window. The mounts are nearly always the culprits of a droopy sun visor or broken sun visor.

The Swivel Mount

The swivel mount is the most common cause of car sun visor sag because it experiences the most movement and wear and tear. First, tighten all screws that secure the mount itself to the roof. Next, check closely for a smaller screw near where the floppy sun visor connects to the swivel mount. This screw, if present, directly adjusts the tightness of the sun visor's up and down movement and commonly loosens with time and use. Turn the screw clockwise to tighten it and check the visor's movement. You don't want it extremely tight or it will be too difficult to move the visor. Once you've adjusted the screw, you just may have resolved the sagging issue. The screw will tend to loosen as you use the visor, so a more permanent fix involves removing the screw entirely and coating it with thread sealer and reinstalling it. Then simply adjust it again for proper tightness.

The Fixed Mount

The fixed mount is simpler than the swivel mount and usually does not contribute significantly to a drooping visor, but there are a few areas you can check to be certain. Just as with the swivel mount at the end of the visor, begin by tightening all screws that attach the fixed mount to the roof. The only other consideration is where the visor itself snaps in and out place. Check to make sure that it fits securely in the fixed mount when it's snapped into place. If it doesn't, you can replace the tips of the mounting bar from the visor or add small rubber caps to them to increase the thickness, thus giving a tighter fit with the mount.

Sunvisor Replacement

If the loose sun visor is damaged or beyond repair, replace it with a new sun visor. Depending on your vehicle, this may be a very simple cheap fix or a highly demanding one. However, the principle is always the same: remove the mounts from the interior of the roof, disconnect all electrical wires and velcro, and install the new visor. automotive visors and sun visor repair kits are generally not found at auto parts stores, so you will have to be source one from a salvage yard, dealer, ebay or off amazon.

Video: DIY Video to Fix a Floppy Sun Visor

Helpful Comments from the Video:

• This video is the perfect description of “not all heroes wear capes”. Thanks a million, this totally fixed both my sun visors on a Sonata 2008 and spared me a few bucks - total cost 4 $ and that’s just because i bought 2x 100 pieces bags of different sizes
• Thanks for posting this Trevor. What an excellent DIY fix that worked well for my vintage 1990s Toyota. It just took some patience and 3 zip-ties to gain sufficient friction. But since I bought 20 for under $5 bucks there's now plenty leftover to tie off uncooperative TV cables and in case I need to occasionally add one to the visor. BTW, velcro didn't work and electical tape didn't hold, and now I don't have to pay $60 for a new visor or lose 3 hours of precious weekend time hunting through an auto junkyard.
• Thank you! Great video and just fixed my exact same problem. I had tried the tape and velcro fixes seen on other videos but it didn't work for me, but this one works great! Keeps everything nice and tight.