Finally decided to take a hacksaw to my new truck. Yes, it’s the fold-down back seat modification!
I decided to cut off the hooks rather than put in the spacers because I didn’t need to remove the seat and it was probably a faster method. Also, the seat remains the normal height off the floor. Finally, there is no safety compromise by cutting off the hooks that I could see as only about one-third of the hook is being cutoff. When the seat is in its usual position there is still plenty of hook holding the seat to the back wall.
Tools
18mm socket
Socket wrench (longer handle is better)
Tape measure
Hacksaw
You might want or need:
Pry bar
Shop vac
The procedure is:
1. Remove the seat bottom bolts. (I was able to leave one loosened bolt in place and didn’t need to remove the seat from the interior.)
2. Lift up the seat bottom while lifting and jiggling the seat back until you get it unhooked from the back wall. Fold it forward revealing the hooks.
3. Using hacksaw cutoff 5/8” of the hook. File the ends round and smooth.
4. Replace the bolts. Learn how to find the sweet spot and unhook and fold the back seat down.
5. Enjoy newly accessible storage space.
The bolts holding down the back seat bottom are 18mm. Naturally, the basic metric socket set I bought 20 years ago ends at 17mm so I had to go buy an 18mm socket. Wal Mart to the rescue, and it was only $1.48. While there I bought a digital tire pressure gauge.
I have a Big Horn so I’ve got the fold-flat floor with the split back seat. Therefore, there are six bolts to loosen/remove. If you have a rear bench seat you only have four bolts to worry about.
First thing I did was remove the two headrests from the seat back(s). Push in the button at the base of the headrest shaft housing and lift the headrest off the seat. I left the center one in place as it wouldn’t be bothersome.
I had a decent length 3/8” drive socket wrench. Still, the bolts were pretty tight. I’m thinking it would take some muscle to loosen them with the typical 8” long handle on the basic socket wrench. One bolt in the back of each side of the split seat has a seat belt connected to it. Either take a pic or remember the orientation of the seat belt receptacle.
I did the smaller driver’s side portion of the split seat first. I tried to loosen all four bolts almost to the point of taking them out but I couldn’t get the back of the seat to come off the hooks holding it to the back wall so I removed three of the four bolts. I used a pry bar to pry the bottom seat bracket upwards. Then I simultaneously lifted the seat bottom and pulled up and forward on the seat back until the hooks came undone from the back wall brackets. I ended up not needing to remove the seat from the vehicle.
Previous descriptions of cutting the hooks suggest cutting off 5/8” which is exactly the point where the metal portion of the clip ends. I went with this advice.
Cutting the metal portion of the clip with the hacksaw was fairly easy. I put some tape down around my cutting area to catch and prevent metal filings from getting embedded in the upholstery and I had a shop vac handy to vacuum up the particles before they could find a home in my interior.
I was careful as I reached the end of my cut not to let the blade crash through the metal and break the plastic tab next to the metal clip. Once the metal part was cut off I used finger and thumb to hold the plastic clip tight against the metal and used the hacksaw to finish off the job by cutting through the plastic. Then I used a file and filed down the metal edges and I also filed down and rounded the plastic portion.
I replaced the bolts. When tightening the bolt(s) with the seat belt attached to it, be careful it doesn’t twist and get seated on the bolt incorrectly. I held onto the seat belt to make sure it didn’t move as I tightened the bolt.
When everything was back in place I gave it a try. It took me a while to find the sweet spot where the seat back can be lifted and pulled forward with ease, but now that I know approximately where that point is it’s pretty easy to fold the seat back forward. And don’t worry, there’s plenty of hook left grabbing the bracket on the back wall of the cabin. The seat back is very secure even though the hooks have been cut off. And you can move the seat bottom up and down just as you could before the back seat mod was done. No one will know you’ve done the mod unless you show them, or they know about it beforehand.
I repeated the same procedure on the other side (larger portion) of the split seat. All told, from the point I first put a socket on the first seat bolt until I was completely done, it took me a little over an hour. But I’m a slow, methodical worker, double checking things, and I took some pictures. I could probably do it again in less than 40 minutes. The longest part of the job is loosening the seat bolts. Takes longer to loosen one bolt than it does to cut through the hook on the back of the seat.
Is there a lot of storage space back there? No, not a lot, but I think enough is there to want to utilize it. There is more down near the floor area. I plan on putting an amp back there. I can also see jumper cables going there, a small tool box, maybe an umbrella, bungee cords, winter hat and gloves (during spring/summer/fall). Some guys put a gun back there. I’d be interested to perhaps block one of the ventilation areas in the winter to see if it helps keeping the cabin warmer. With easy access to this area I can do all these things.
Here's a pic of the material removed. This is from two clips (or hooks) from one seat of the two seats in the split seat setup.
