[SwedishChef]

Hi all. I've got a '95 LWB and I'm doing a 3rd row seat. I just grabbed a used one from Little Passengers, but one just came up that is a factory 2nd row seat that I'm thinking about putting in back and moving my current 2nd row forward. Will report back as it develops.


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[SwedishChef]

Little update. I practically stole this 3rd row seat. I'm very happy.

Some test fitting pics. 95 LWB

In these pictures the 2nd row is moved forward about 8" and the 3rd row legroom is about 10". The tough thing about this idea is making the latch brackets work to hold the seats upright, but I'm getting creative!

Not sold on anything yet, but thought I'd share my investigation!




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[SwedishChef]

Ok played a little more and found out a few things. On the LWB, the leg and foot room seem to be at the best balance when the 3rd row seat's upper side latch is aligned with the existing 2nd row's upper side latch. This moved the second row forward by 9.5" which sounds crazy, but there's still enough legroom for normal sized adults in both rows.

The trickiest part looks like its going to be fitting the 3rd & 4th upper side latches which will now be used by the 2nd row. I'm going to have a look at what it would take to swap the left & right existing top side latches for the 3rd row to use them, since the receivers are directional.


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[SwedishChef]

Another little update. First of all, in my LWB there's definitely room for the full size 3rd row. It of course impedes the ridiculous amount of legroom, but brings it about the same as a modern RRS legroom, which is just good enough for most adults.

It goes without saying that in order to fit this full size 3rd row I'm removing the left & right rear cubbies that hold the spare and subwoofer. For me it's not a big deal because my bigger tires don't fit in the spare space and my entire audio system is getting rewired anyway. If I want a subwoofer, I'll go aftermarket and put it somewhere else.

The configuration I'm playing with is to have the 2nd & 3rd rows back-to-back. The reason for this is because they won't fit perpendicularly due to the wheel wells, and the 3rd row's headrest doesn't clear the rear glass when facing forward. Another benefit of the back-to-back configuration is the seat folding - my relocation bracket for the 2nd row will allow it to still tumble behind the front seats due to my pivoting bracket, and the 3rd row tumbles up against the tailgate door, leaving tons of room in between the two seats. Here's a rough sketch of the bracket I'll make to relocate the 2nd row. It is 1" round tube which relocates the clamp area forward about 9.5", and pivots where the existing clamps go, allowing it to tumble flat still. Not sure about the safety of this yet, but it will be a primary concern before having anything fabricated. I will be consulting my engineering motorhead friend ;-)

View of underside of seat. Existing design is shown in black. New bracket shown in red. Existing and new bracket points shown in blue.

 

[SwedishChef]

Second set of back seat mounting hardware ordered. If I'm lucky then little modification will be required. Will report back with more test fitting photos when I get the parts.


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[SwedishChef]

Little update.

I did some more test fitting yesterday. Michelle at Little Passengers wanted me to take some measurements for her of the Little Passengers seat I've got. I have to say this thing fits like a glove with the subwoofer and tire cover intact. It's a very quick & dirty way to get 2 more seats in there. I'm still not fully convinced one way or the other whether I'll use the Little Passengers seat or the full size sat.

The downsides of the LP are:
- leather color doesn't match
- doesn't fold
- only 2 more tiny passengers
- costs a small fortune to own
- looks aftermarket IMO

Upside of the LP are:
- easy to fit with little modification

Downsides of the full-size are
- major modification & fabrication required

Upsides of the full-size are:
- cheap as chips
- 3 full size passengers
- seat folds & tumbles
- leather matches
- looks OEM

One of my biggest concerns is about cargo room. Even though the LP is MUCH smaller than the full size, it leaves less cargo room because it doesn't fold. It also bugs me that the leather doesn't match mine.

I'm still waiting for the second set of full size seat brackets to see how much work it's going to be to get that bugger in there. There's certainly enough room for either seat - both leave a reasonable amount of legroom for all.

Anyhow, I'm looking forward to being able to fit my all my staff in my car for lunches, and my family + 4 for long road trips!


Right now I'm leaning towards the full size seat, for a few reasons. It's a lot cheaper to own, looks OEM, and leaves cargo room. Time will tell.

 

[SwedishChef]

Another update. Received the second set of seat mounts today.

View attachment 41290

I pretty much got them for the pin receiving bracket and floor mounts. The more I stare at it all, the more it looks like these tan plastic trims won't get used by me. View attachment 41298

So here are some pics of one side of the fitment I am exploring. It's a back-to-back configuration. Note the tape measure.

In that last picture, note the position of the 3rd row's side pin - it's in the 2nd row's slot! What I'm hoping to do is this:

Use the existing 2nd row's pin retaining bracket to fasten the 3rd row seat, but have the entire piece modified by a fabricator. The modification consists of:

- flipping the orientation of the existing pin retaining bracket to accept a pin from the rear of the vehicle rather than the front
- weld an extension plate coming off that bracket toward the front which will feature my second set of pin retaining brackets fitted to the end of it, to lock the relocated 2nd row's pin. That will connect this gap:

Measurements in this configuration are as follows:

- 3rd row foot room: 11.5"
- 2nd row foot room: 19"
- 2nd row knee room average: 13"

I already outlined how I might relocate the 2nd row forward, but it looks like its only going to move 6.5" rather than the initial 9"


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