Flip down rear seats done!

[Omicron]

I did my 14 crew cab express today. The drivers side bolts came out fairly easy with alittle muscle. The passenger side was even tighter. Especially the rear. That was the hardest. The torque must be higher on that side of the assembly line.
BUT, it came out awesome. I used 3/4" nuts. 5/8" nuts would probably work but I guessed on the size prior to removing the bolts.


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Very cool, congrats.

 

[Omicron]

This is awesome!! I am going to do this for sure. Might even fabricate some kind of shotgun/rifle rack for back there

That was my thought, but then I filled it with my GHB, a cased PLR16, and some other odds and ends. Still think there's room for at least 1 long gun though.

 

[C120]

I went the slightly less popular route of cutting the tabs back. Being 6'6" I did not want to give up even a hair of head room, not that I sit back there but it's the principle..

Anyway it has been confirmed a cased shotgun will fit back there easily with room for tons of ammo!


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[Omicron]

Anyway it has been confirmed a cased shotgun will fit back there easily with room for tons of ammo!

Man's gotta have his priorities.

 

[dedogg]

I went the slightly less popular route of cutting the tabs back. Being 6'6" I did not want to give up even a hair of head room, not that I sit back there but it's the principle..

Anyway it has been confirmed a cased shotgun will fit back there easily with room for tons of ammo!


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few questions:

1) How did you get the seat down to cut the tabs?

2) How much of the tabs did you cut off?

 

[C120]

I had to remove the 8 bolts that hold the seat in place. These are the same 8 bolts some people add spacers under. I cut off about 5/8" cut right under the plastic sleeve as shown in the picture above.


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[blk00rt]

just finished this modification, very easy with the 3/4" nuts as spacers...why didnt the ram come this way from the factory

 

[dedogg]

I had to remove the 8 bolts that hold the seat in place. These are the same 8 bolts some people add spacers under. I cut off about 5/8" cut right under the plastic sleeve as shown in the picture above.


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Thanks for the info. I assume the seats stay upright until the bottom seat is flipped up correct? Meaning you cant pulled the seats down with the bottom part of the seat in the down position.

 

[HLram]

Mine stay up whether the seat is up or down all the way. Only when it is moved almost all the way up will it fold down in the back. Very secure whether up or down.

 

[JDWISCO]

This might be getting added to the list!

 

[jbsmithram]

I just got my truck so I'm not sure if/when I'll do this (since I don't know what I'd put back there for one). But if I do it, I'll likely span the front and rear bolts with a solid piece of steel...I'm no mechanical/structural engineer (but I know one that used to work for Ford so I might ask), but I'm going to make the assumption (like a previous poster) that the gap, granted only 1/2in or so high would cause some type of problem. If not in every day driving (although a 300lb man sitting back there may cause issue), I'm guessing in an accident wouldn't be the same. Or perhaps the seat back hook is less strong (not strong enough) lower down on the hook (the open end).

So my question after that is - is the floor flat between the bolts, so a flat piece of steel would work?

 

[emjohn4]

I just got my truck so I'm not sure if/when I'll do this (since I don't know what I'd put back there for one). But if I do it, I'll likely span the front and rear bolts with a solid piece of steel...I'm no mechanical/structural engineer (but I know one that used to work for Ford so I might ask), but I'm going to make the assumption (like a previous poster) that the gap, granted only 1/2in or so high would cause some type of problem. If not in every day driving (although a 300lb man sitting back there may cause issue), I'm guessing in an accident wouldn't be the same. Or perhaps the seat back hook is less strong (not strong enough) lower down on the hook (the open end).

So my question after that is - is the floor flat between the bolts, so a flat piece of steel would work?

Solid span more better, no question.

Also - have to wonder how long the bolts are that hold the seats down - and how many threads are engaged after adding a 3/4" spacer.

Solid piece of steel / aluminum span, and 3/4" longer bolts would make the mod much more palatable for me.

Due to the decreased head room with a spacer, I'll likely cut the hooks as shown by others. That's the safest, in my opinion.

 

[jbsmithram]

Solid span more better, no question.

Also - have to wonder how long the bolts are that hold the seats down - and how many threads are engaged after adding a 3/4" spacer.

Solid piece of steel / aluminum span, and 3/4" longer bolts would make the mod much more palatable for me.

Due to the decreased head room with a spacer, I'll likely cut the hooks as shown by others. That's the safest, in my opinion.

Your probably right...and I'll probably never take a hack saw to a vehicle i've only owned for less than 2 weeks!

 

[jjc155]

def gonna do this MOD ASAP. perfect place for my work rifles when i have to stop off somewhere on the way to/from work/call outs.

couple of questions?

1) do u put the spacers under the front and rear OR just the rear bolts?
2) If i choose to cut the hooks vs doing the spacers, would I just trim the hooks about 3/4inch to get them to disengage when lifted and still secure when then seat back is in the regular position?

Thanks, really digging the forum.

J-

 

[Donelam304]

Both. And the seat belts. If not, they are really short. I wouldn't recommend cutting the hooks either.

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[jjc155]

Both. And the seat belts. If not, they are really shirt.

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Copy thanks

J-

 

[Omicron]

def gonna do this MOD ASAP. perfect place for my work rifles when i have to stop off somewhere on the way to/from work/call outs.

couple of questions?

1) do u put the spacers under the front and rear OR just the rear bolts?
2) If i choose to cut the hooks vs doing the spacers, would I just trim the hooks about 3/4inch to get them to disengage when lifted and still secure when then seat back is in the regular position?

Thanks, really digging the forum.

J-

Spacers go under front and rear seat bolts. You'll need 8 of them, 4 per seat.

Not sure about cutting the hooks, I did the spacers. But either way, the seat back remains secure and hooked, and will not fold forward until you list the seat bottom part about 3/4 of the way up. This raises the seat back enough for the hooks to lift off of the thing they hook to on the back of the cab.

Also not sure what the next poster means about the seat belts being 'very short' as I've had no problems with mine using the spacers. This mod only lifts the seat about 3/4 of an inch, so I suppose the seatbelt is 3/4" shorter, certainly not much shorter when you consider they're designed to go around car seats and fat people. But if 3/4" is an issue for you, cut the hooks. In hindsight I might have gone that route if it had been done before I added my spacers. The one drawback to the spacers I can see is the flat load floor is slightly angled to the back now instead of completely flat. I don't find it to be a problem, but it is detectable.

Hope this helps.

 

[jjc155]

Thanks omicron

J-

 

[Donelam304]

Also not sure what the next poster means about the seat belts being 'very short' as I've had no problems with mine using the spacers. This mod only lifts the seat about 3/4 of an inch, so I suppose the seatbelt is 3/4" shorter, certainly not much shorter when you consider they're designed to go around car seats and fat people. .

In regards to the previous post about seat belts and putting spacers under them, I was meaning the seat belt buckles. I put them in mine because the buckle part is buried farther in the seat. It's more of a nuisance than anything. And I got tired of having to dig the stupid things out of the seat. And if you put a car seat in the middle of the back seat, it really made it a pain because the buckle is right up against the car seat and being buried in the Crack of the seat. Yeah, it just makes it a lot simpler to put the spacers under them also.

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[nolimits76]

I really like the idea of this mod, as I've had trucks before with flip down seats. I found it odd the Ram seats don't flip down. Given all the other storage they gave us, it makes me curious to the "why" we didn't get this feature from the factory.

Maybe I'm overthinking it, but it makes me wonder if raising the height violates some controlled safety dimension or perhaps it just messes with their marketing strategy of X headroom height in the rear. Did they try a built-in lever or shorter brackets (vs cutting them like we are) and did they fail miserably in a crash test scenario when the truck is subjected to forces we couldn't possibly "test" in our driveway? Or had they given us so much already they felt this wasn't needed, and was out of time anyway?

Anyhow, not trying to scare anyone or anything like that. My mind just works that way. At the very least...I think it would be a good idea to replace the original bolts with 3/4" longer bolts so you don't lose any thread bite. Also, don't forget to use the same (or higher) strength bolt when doing the replacement (especially if for seatbelt bolts).

Bolt Depot - Bolt Grade Markings and Strength Chart