make rear seats fold flat

scarletbegonias · **Posted:** Mon Jul 07, 2008 9:44 pm

has anyone found a way to make the rear seats in the 02-07's fold flat? as u all know they stick up about 20deg or more and it's sometimes a pain. i was thinking maybe if u can go from underneath and cleanly remove some of the padding, this could allow for a couple extra inches to fold down almost flat.. anyone attempted this yet or do u have any other tricks for achieving this?

DryBones · **Posted:** Mon Jul 07, 2008 9:49 pm

"without knowing Scarlet reopens the REMOVE YOUR BACKSEAT COMPLETELY AND BUILD IN A DECK discussion"

Now back to your regularly scheduled program... :lol:

scarletbegonias · **Posted:** Mon Jul 07, 2008 9:53 pm

aaah! i know, ive seen that. and it looks reeeally great. it's just that somtimes i have to have passengers, so removing the back seats aren't an option. believe me...if i could i would..that looks awesome! moving on.....

jsc7002 · **Posted:** Mon Jul 07, 2008 10:05 pm

idk but Ive been wondering about it too be sure to let me know if you figure any thing out

Dave08 · **Joined:** Fri Nov 02, 2007 4:17 pm **Posts:** 250

My dads 06's CRD folds flat, however it's no where near as comfortable to sit there for any amount of time.

Guest · **Posted:** Tue Jul 08, 2008 2:57 am

I've never really been bothered by my seats not folding completely flat...but I've been toying about with deleting the back seat. Doesn't get used anyway

Fulltimer · **Posted:** Tue Jul 08, 2008 4:08 am

Have you taken off the head rests and folded them down? It's easy to take them off and put back on.

Terry

Tokyojoe · **Posted:** Tue Jul 08, 2008 8:20 am

The "newer KJ's fold flat (not perfectly flat but a whole lot more than the older KJ's). I wonder if you can replace the older seats with newer ones?

bthomas · **Posted:** Tue Jul 08, 2008 1:31 pm

Ah, a chance to speculate in something I know very little about. Just adding two cents, because I fold down the seat flat to sleep with midnight arrivals at the trailhead. Have to remove the cargo gear of course, and the HiLift under the bench seat, and position the vehicle head high in the back to level out the 20 degrees.

If you remove cushion material, your rear passenger's posterior will feel it after a couple hours. Maybe reupholstering with at Tempur-pedic stuff would work. If you shortened the bench legs an inch, the seatback might not catch their latchback, and your passenger's posterior and thighs would notice.

scarletbegonias · **Posted:** Tue Jul 08, 2008 2:34 pm

hmm..maybe if padding was removed, maybe throw a couple seat cushions in the back when the seats are going to be used..could work. I have to check out underneath the seats to see if there's even a clean way to remove material. Anyone ever take this apart?

tommudd · **Posted:** Tue Jul 08, 2008 2:44 pm

I had mine all apart but never took pictures, it all comes out in a couple of pieces, rip it out and see what you think, I would of let mine out but my 76 year old mother and 81 year old step father still like to go out on some old roads etc every now and again :wink:

scarletbegonias · **Posted:** Tue Jul 08, 2008 3:36 pm

the padding pieces u mention, are they stacked on top of each other flat, or chunky sections of pad positioned next to each other?

mrkake · **Posted:** Wed Jul 09, 2008 10:28 pm

Fulltimer wrote:

Have you taken off the head rests and folded them down? It's easy to take them off and put back on.

Terry

That's what I do every time I lay them down now. Since my son and I are the primary passengers in this vehicle and we are both 6 footers the front seats are almost all the way back all the time. pull the headrests and they fold right down, however they still don't go flat. I would say they are at least 10 or 15 degrees off.

tommudd · **Posted:** Wed Jul 09, 2008 10:40 pm

Taking the head rests off, WOW I did that at 10 miles and threw them away, mean we are suppose to put them back on always?? :shock:

Fulltimer · **Posted:** Thu Jul 10, 2008 12:13 am

You would do that Tom! I have my back seats in a storage room. I can take some pictures if the pretty one wants some.

Terry

scarletbegonias · **Posted:** Thu Jul 10, 2008 12:32 am

naaa i tried that a while ago...didn't work.

Dje Ryu · **Posted:** Thu Jul 10, 2008 1:08 am

Just remember that if you go with the lower seat option, you will probably not be able to store a hi-lift under the back seat.

My suggestion: pick up a twin size air mattress, stuff it between the wells, air up to suit and hit the hay.

scoobysnax · **Posted:** Thu Jul 10, 2008 9:27 am

I've never tried this but how about using some ratchet straps? you may have to remove the rear seat and cut a portion of the rear cargo lining to make the full loop but it's worth a try if you really need them flat. You ran a ratchet strap behind the rear seat and then below the rear seat, pull it out the front of the rear seat. When you fold them down just connect the ratchet and use those to keep the seats compressed. When you're not using them just keep them tucked under the seat.

You might want to try using 2 per seat so you don't crack anything within the seat. This also assumes that the seat hinge can fold 90 degrees without cracking and that the only issue is too much padding within the seats themselves.

Make sure you clear out any bulky items from beneath the seat before you fold them flat. I have a oversized bottle jack, tow straps, ratchet straps and jumper cables beneath my seats and they won't fold 45 degrees without moving some of that stuff.

make rear seats fold flat

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