Back seat fold down conversion??

[Alligator John]

Those that did it. Considering that it can't be reversed. Any regrets? Still working well? Anything you would have done different?
TIA

 

[Crusty old shellback]

Been working fine for over a year. And I use it a lot.

 

[phatboy64]

Why is it not reversible? I thought all you did was to stack some washers between the floor and the feet of the seats ?

 

[AH64ID]

Why is it not reversible? I thought all you did was to stack some washers between the floor and the feet of the seats ?

You cut the retaining tabs from what I’ve seen.

 

[phatboy64]

I don’t know if it is different from the Gen 4’s but the way I remember it the back of the back seats have a hook that "hooks" into a loop on the back wall of the truck, when you lift the bottom of the seat it raises the back up, but not enough for the hook to clear the loop, keeping the back from folding down. The fix was to raise the feet of the seats up by stacking washers between the bottom of the feet of the seats and the floor. This would raise it enough so when you lift the seat bottom the hook on the back of the seat would clear the loop allowing the back of the seat to fold down. It has been a awhile but that is the way I remember it.

 

[AH64ID]

I don’t know if it is different from the Gen 4’s but the way I remember it the back of the back seats have a hook that "hooks" into a loop on the back wall of the truck, when you lift the bottom of the seat it raises the back up, but not enough for the hook to clear the loop, keeping the back from folding down. The fix was to raise the feet of the seats up by stacking washers between the bottom of the feet of the seats and the floor. This would raise it enough so when you lift the seat bottom the hook on the back of the seat would clear the loop allowing the back of the seat to fold down. It has been a awhile but that is the way I remember it.

4.5 should be the same as gen 4.

I hadn’t seen that method, all the 4th gen write ups I’ve seen trim the hook.

I wonder what that does for rear seat ergonomics, since you’d have to raise it around 1/2” from what I recall is cut off.

 

[Alligator John]

This one, the guy talks about first trying to raise the seat, but then he had very few bolt threads left holding the seats in, so he instead cut the hooks. He cut flush under the plastic tabs. I saw another video where someone cut 1/8 inch above. I would probably try leaving it as long as possible by cutting as little as possible at a time until it works. I would like to do this, but wanted to make sure there are no horror stories out there of it not working or other problems. Another idea I have might be to add only a couple washers to the mounts and also cut the hooks. Then there would not have to be as much metal cut off the hooks and it would not be enough lift to notice a change to the ergonomics of the seat.

 

[CFE]

This is on my long term project list - knew about the trimming hook method but didn't know about the washer method - might see if i can go that route instead of trimming the hook.

 

[Alligator John]

This is on my long term project list - knew about the trimming hook method but didn't know about the washer method - might see if i can go that route instead of trimming the hook.

In that video he had to raise the seat using washers by over a half inch to get it to work, then he only had a couple threads left on the bolts to hold the seats in. I was thinking of a combination of just a couple washers and cutting, but yet another option one might try is still doing just washers, but replace the bolts with ones 1/2 inch longer.

 

[CFE]

In that video he had to raise the seat using washers by over a half inch to get it to work, then he only had a couple threads left on the bolts to hold the seats in. I was thinking of a combination of just a couple washers and cutting, but yet another option one might try is still doing just washers, but replace the bolts with ones 1/2 inch longer.

Yea- replacing the bolts with 1/2" longer ones and doing the washers then might be the trick.

 

[AH64ID]

If you do raise the set be sure to post about seat comfort.

Raising the seat is a good way to test and see if you like the fold down mod without permanently effecting the truck.

 

[Crusty old shellback]

Look in my build thread for how to cut the minimum off. Pictures are included.
Plenty of the hook to still hold the seat

 

[Linked4door]

If you do raise the set be sure to post about seat comfort.

Raising the seat is a good way to test and see if you like the fold down mod without permanently effecting the truck.

FWIW, I raised my rear seat when I put in my subwoofers. Rear seat comfort hasn't changed other than slightly less head room. I am 5'11" and still fit fine. Any taller you might have issues touching the headliner though. I used some grade 8 bolts that were longer than stock, along with some flat bar aluminum stock as spacers (instead of the wood spacers my sub enclosure came with.)

 

[AH64ID]

FWIW, I raised my rear seat when I put in my subwoofers. Rear seat comfort hasn't changed other than slightly less head room. I am 5'11" and still fit fine. Any taller you might have issues touching the headliner though. I used some grade 8 bolts that were longer than stock, along with some flat bar aluminum stock as spacers (instead of the wood spacers my sub enclosure came with.)

I’m less concerned about head room, and more concerned with people sitting back there for 8 hour days.

 

[Alligator John]

Thanks for the input y'all. I did find a couple posts online where people said they screwed up and cut off too much, but for the most part everyone that did the conversion seems to be happy with it. I am probably going to do a combination of cutting the hooks, but adding some washers so I don't have to cut off as much from the hooks. I will do a post about how I did it when that time comes.

 

[RClark]

Thanks for the input y'all. I did find a couple posts online where people said they screwed up and cut off too much, but for the most part everyone that did the conversion seems to be happy with it. I am probably going to do a combination of cutting the hooks, but adding some washers so I don't have to cut off as much from the hooks. I will do a post about how I did it when that time comes.

I am reading this and I am missing something. Why do you want the back of the seat to fold down on top of the seat bottom? It seems too high to provide any benefit.
I just recently purchased a 2018 Ram crew cab. I previously was driving an '05 quad cab. (engine died) so it's a parts truck. I took the flip over fold flat metal plate out of the '05 and installed it into the '18. Just had to add a self tapping screw to the center mount. No it does not reach out to the front seats, but beats nothing. Works great. Tell me what I'm missing here.

 

[AH64ID]

I am reading this and I am missing something. Why do you want the back of the seat to fold down on top of the seat bottom? It seems too high to provide any benefit.
I just recently purchased a 2018 Ram crew cab. I previously was driving an '05 quad cab. (engine died) so it's a parts truck. I took the flip over fold flat metal plate out of the '05 and installed it into the '18. Just had to add a self tapping screw to the center mount. No it does not reach out to the front seats, but beats nothing. Works great. Tell me what I'm missing here.

Storage behind the seat.

 

[Crusty old shellback]

@Alligator John

Did you look in my build thread. Lots of details, pictures and measurements from when I did the mod.