Leesa
Member
- Thread starter
- #1
It was easy! (Thank for inspiration from @FooF and guidance via details of 2nd row removal from @Mojave)
I used:
1) Hold open the spring-hinged cover between the 3rd row seats and the spare tire well.
2) Remove the 6ea 10mm bolts. (3 under each half of the cover.)
I removed the one farthest from the hinge with a socket, extension, and ratchet, first.
I left the spare tire well in place. Its lip makes it a fiddley to get to the 2 bolts closest to the hinge, but doable with a box-end. Once you get them a few turns loose, you can do the rest of the way with your fingers. A few of the bolt heads get stuck against the lip of the spare tire well as you back them out. Just keep loosening them all up as much as possible and lifting / wiggling the hinged cover. They will come out.
3) Remove cover.
4) Next remove the 4ea 13mm bolts holding one seat back. They have some sort of lock-tight on them, but a breaker bar did the trick to get them started, then a ratchet was fine.
5) Remove the seat back.
6) Repeat steps 4 & 5 for the other seat back.
7) Remove 6ea 13mm bolts holding in bench seat bottom. They have some sort of lock-tight on them, but a breaker bar did the trick to get them started, then a ratchet was fine. (If you plan on putting these back in, note the 2nd and 5th bolts on the center of each seat are different than those on the outside of each seat.)
8) Remove 2 brackets brackets (one for each seat.)
9) Lift and rotate the back of the seat bottom forward. I had to reach below the female seatbelts and pull the fabric around it.
(This photo taken toward the front of the car)
10) Disconnect the connector (by the “3” in the photo above) by pinching the center of the edge that would normally be toward the front of the car.
11) Remove the bench seat.
12) I wrapped the side of the connector remaining in the car in a plastic bag to prevent water from getting in – just in case.
13) I slipped the connector between the flooring carpet and insulation, to keep it from getting crushed later.
And ta-da! A lower surface! Next, we build drawers with dog crates on top. (The cover to the spare tire well, fits back on fine. I will likely leave mine off.) I was hoping to find some additional tie down points, but found nothing forward of the row of bolts at the back of the 3rd row of seats. (I put the bolts back in for safe keeping.)
I did not disconnect or remove the female side of the seat belts, yet. I will likely do that or tape them down to keep them from rubbing on the bottom of the drawers, but did not have a big enough torx. The car seems thinks there are passengers in the 3rd row without seatbelts, but it did not give me any warnings / errors beyond the red X‘s for a few seconds during a test drive.
I used:
- 10mm standard depth socket, extension, and a ratchet
- 10mm wrench
- 13mm standard depth socket, ratchet, a 16” breaker bar. (I am sure pneumatic or impact drivers would help, but by the time my husband had dragged them over, I had muscled all the bolts loose.)
1) Hold open the spring-hinged cover between the 3rd row seats and the spare tire well.
2) Remove the 6ea 10mm bolts. (3 under each half of the cover.)
I removed the one farthest from the hinge with a socket, extension, and ratchet, first.
I left the spare tire well in place. Its lip makes it a fiddley to get to the 2 bolts closest to the hinge, but doable with a box-end. Once you get them a few turns loose, you can do the rest of the way with your fingers. A few of the bolt heads get stuck against the lip of the spare tire well as you back them out. Just keep loosening them all up as much as possible and lifting / wiggling the hinged cover. They will come out.
3) Remove cover.
4) Next remove the 4ea 13mm bolts holding one seat back. They have some sort of lock-tight on them, but a breaker bar did the trick to get them started, then a ratchet was fine.
5) Remove the seat back.
6) Repeat steps 4 & 5 for the other seat back.
7) Remove 6ea 13mm bolts holding in bench seat bottom. They have some sort of lock-tight on them, but a breaker bar did the trick to get them started, then a ratchet was fine. (If you plan on putting these back in, note the 2nd and 5th bolts on the center of each seat are different than those on the outside of each seat.)
8) Remove 2 brackets brackets (one for each seat.)
9) Lift and rotate the back of the seat bottom forward. I had to reach below the female seatbelts and pull the fabric around it.
(This photo taken toward the front of the car)
10) Disconnect the connector (by the “3” in the photo above) by pinching the center of the edge that would normally be toward the front of the car.
11) Remove the bench seat.
12) I wrapped the side of the connector remaining in the car in a plastic bag to prevent water from getting in – just in case.
13) I slipped the connector between the flooring carpet and insulation, to keep it from getting crushed later.
And ta-da! A lower surface! Next, we build drawers with dog crates on top. (The cover to the spare tire well, fits back on fine. I will likely leave mine off.) I was hoping to find some additional tie down points, but found nothing forward of the row of bolts at the back of the 3rd row of seats. (I put the bolts back in for safe keeping.)
I did not disconnect or remove the female side of the seat belts, yet. I will likely do that or tape them down to keep them from rubbing on the bottom of the drawers, but did not have a big enough torx. The car seems thinks there are passengers in the 3rd row without seatbelts, but it did not give me any warnings / errors beyond the red X‘s for a few seconds during a test drive.
Sponsored
Last edited:
