It goes without saying, the design of the twins' extended cab rear seats leave a lot to be desired. Personally, I find the most valuable real estate in the back to be the large cupholders. The underseat storage is underwhelming and unless you're putting tiny passengers in the rear seats, they don't have a whole lot of utility. If you're tall like me and have the driver's seat nearly all the way back, no human being is going to fit behind you anyway. So why have seats at all?
After all, they take up space where tools, luggage, or groceries could go. You may ask why not sit groceries on top of the rear seats? Well grocery bags don't stay put. They tend to roll back into the crevice between the seat and back cushions and also into the space where the cupholder and seat belt buckle are housed, or they just fall forward onto the floor.
So how do I go about removing the rear seats? What's underneath them? Will they look ugly if removed? I decided to seek these very answers today.
After opening the driver side front door, and then the corresponding driver side rear door. I went toward the base of the rear seat.
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I found a rubber covering over a connection point.
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After simply lifting off the rubber cover to remove it, I found a 18mm hex nut underneath. I noted it held both the seat cushion and the seat belt harness in place.
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Next, I went over to the jack cover, which is located in the center between the rear seat cushions.
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I removed the jack cover by pulling the bottom forward.
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I now had access to another 18mm hex bolt.
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I removed the bolt as well as the first bolt I had found on the other side of the seat (not pictured).
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The seat cushion was now freed and could be lifted up and out.
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I repeated the process above for the other seat. However, once I took the seat cushion out, I replaced this hex bolt on each side to hold the seat belt harness in place, because I decided not to remove the seat belt. See my next post for more info and pictures.
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Once both seat cushions were removed, I next removed the tool bag cover. A good illustration of this is provided in the owner's manual on page 10-64.
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Turn the wingnut counterclockwise and then remove tool bag.
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I next removed the hex bolt inside each of the two rubber seat bumpers.
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Here's a closer look at the nuts and bolts.
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What's left of the rear seat now is the plastic housing. The only trick for removing it is to pull the front bottom around the metal piece that held the toolbag holder. Then it comes free and can be lifted out.
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Removing the plastic housing reveals a metal beam on the floor that spans across of the rear seating area. I considered leaving it and possibly installing some cargo netting. I think it's conceivable to custom build something over it. I am not that handy, so I would have to really plan that one out in the future.
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The beam is attached directly to the chassis of the truck through an area where carpet has been cut and removed. Other than this area on either side of the rear floor, carpeting covers the entire usable area.
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Each side of the beam is held solidly in place by a T-50 torx screw
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I removed both torx screws and then removed the beam.
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A closer look at the torx screw shows traces of some kind of loctite compound.
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One problem with taking the screws out is that you're left with two holes in the floor of the truck. Through the holes, I could see the asphalt of my parking spot under the truck.
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I reinstalled the torx screws.
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Now all that's needed is a good vacuuming, but otherwise, it's done. The rear seat has been removed in about 15 minutes while taking pictures, so I think a good estimate is it should take about 10 minutes.
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Here's a look at the larger components. I estimate the total weight of all these pieces combined at around 20 pounds (8 for each seat, 2 for the plastic housing and 2 for the beam).
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Here's a look at how far back I keep the driver's seat and how much room I now have behind it.
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You'll notice that while I did remove the headrests, I did not remove the seat back cushion nor did I remove the seat belt harness--I only removed the seat belt buckle. So as mentioned above, I did reinstall one hex nut on each side to hold the seat belt in place on the floor. See my next post for further info.
After all, they take up space where tools, luggage, or groceries could go. You may ask why not sit groceries on top of the rear seats? Well grocery bags don't stay put. They tend to roll back into the crevice between the seat and back cushions and also into the space where the cupholder and seat belt buckle are housed, or they just fall forward onto the floor.
So how do I go about removing the rear seats? What's underneath them? Will they look ugly if removed? I decided to seek these very answers today.
After opening the driver side front door, and then the corresponding driver side rear door. I went toward the base of the rear seat.
I found a rubber covering over a connection point.
After simply lifting off the rubber cover to remove it, I found a 18mm hex nut underneath. I noted it held both the seat cushion and the seat belt harness in place.
Next, I went over to the jack cover, which is located in the center between the rear seat cushions.
I removed the jack cover by pulling the bottom forward.
I now had access to another 18mm hex bolt.
I removed the bolt as well as the first bolt I had found on the other side of the seat (not pictured).
The seat cushion was now freed and could be lifted up and out.
I repeated the process above for the other seat. However, once I took the seat cushion out, I replaced this hex bolt on each side to hold the seat belt harness in place, because I decided not to remove the seat belt. See my next post for more info and pictures.
Once both seat cushions were removed, I next removed the tool bag cover. A good illustration of this is provided in the owner's manual on page 10-64.
Turn the wingnut counterclockwise and then remove tool bag.
I next removed the hex bolt inside each of the two rubber seat bumpers.
Here's a closer look at the nuts and bolts.
What's left of the rear seat now is the plastic housing. The only trick for removing it is to pull the front bottom around the metal piece that held the toolbag holder. Then it comes free and can be lifted out.
Removing the plastic housing reveals a metal beam on the floor that spans across of the rear seating area. I considered leaving it and possibly installing some cargo netting. I think it's conceivable to custom build something over it. I am not that handy, so I would have to really plan that one out in the future.
The beam is attached directly to the chassis of the truck through an area where carpet has been cut and removed. Other than this area on either side of the rear floor, carpeting covers the entire usable area.
Each side of the beam is held solidly in place by a T-50 torx screw
I removed both torx screws and then removed the beam.
A closer look at the torx screw shows traces of some kind of loctite compound.
One problem with taking the screws out is that you're left with two holes in the floor of the truck. Through the holes, I could see the asphalt of my parking spot under the truck.
I reinstalled the torx screws.
Now all that's needed is a good vacuuming, but otherwise, it's done. The rear seat has been removed in about 15 minutes while taking pictures, so I think a good estimate is it should take about 10 minutes.
Here's a look at the larger components. I estimate the total weight of all these pieces combined at around 20 pounds (8 for each seat, 2 for the plastic housing and 2 for the beam).
Here's a look at how far back I keep the driver's seat and how much room I now have behind it.
You'll notice that while I did remove the headrests, I did not remove the seat back cushion nor did I remove the seat belt harness--I only removed the seat belt buckle. So as mentioned above, I did reinstall one hex nut on each side to hold the seat belt in place on the floor. See my next post for further info.
