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Hey jeep, thanks for nothing with the JKU's rear seat

36K views 59 replies 37 participants last post by  ajgeorge 
#1 ·
I mean seriously.

The 2 door's rear seat does a quick jiggle and wiggle and boom, its removed in a few seconds. I mean even a stubborn hateful person who uses Windows XP and watches over-the-air basic tv could love that rear seat.

For some reason the 4 door's rear seat contains about 10 bolts and nuts, some torqued to about 150ft-lbs, and has to come out in two sections. If wanting to leave one side in you don't have a choice which one. It has to be the passenger side. And good luck trying to quickly reinstall the seats for passengers to use. I hope they aren't standing there waiting.

Jeep, could you make it more obvious that the 4 door was a quick after-thought that some young hot-shot product manager threw out there just to impress upper management?

Ok im done.
 
#2 ·
They aren't designed to be removed quickly. The thought is why would you have a 4 door if you don't want back seats. They fold down flat for more storage room. I assume you were trying to remove them to line-x (or some other similar product) the tub?

And why does this indicate the four door was an afterthought? Just curious :thumb:
 
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#3 ·
Ya, if you remove them you have an uneven big indention in your back area.
Seats fold flat in about 5 seconds and give you a huge area.

Now, if you were taking then out to rhino/linex, then yes, I feel your pain! Was difficult to get them out, even more difficult to put them back in if I remember correctly.
 
#4 ·
Did you remove just the one side? Can you post pics leaving in just the passenger? I would actually consider that as an option. I rarely need the rears for actual passengers(mostly room for dogs and gear). But I would like a "third seat" for occasional use. There is a member on here that removed them and then had a custom built back area with storage that was flat.
 
#5 ·
It is always nice to be able to remove a rear seat, when the need arises for extra hauling capacity.
I believe that the valid point that he is making is, why did Chrysler make it so difficult to remove the rear seat? Why not make it simple like the two door JK?
 
#6 ·
Maybe for safety reasons? That's about the only thing I can think of. Or it was just plain easier?
 
#7 ·
even then, removing a rear seat on a JKU makes no sense. You won't gain much more room anyway other than that recessed area behind the front seats. If they are desperate to haul that much more, save yourself a headache and get a hitch and small trailer or better yet, a hitch carrier or safari rack. Removing rear seats on a JKU? I don't see an advantage. :confused:
 
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#21 ·
Putting lockable storage in that space is infinitely more useful than the back seats are, so for me, it would be a huge improvement. Plus, as mentioned, the headrests mess up the backs of the front seats when folded and take up space that makes sleeping in back uncomfortable.

I think there are a lot more people who find the rear seats nothing but a nuisance than people realize.
 
#10 ·
Well, I agree it seems counterproductive at first. But 95% of the time, mine are folded down. So my thought is that I could reastically get rid of one and use the other side for additional storage. Check this thread out by moabite... http://www.wranglerforum.com/f33/custom-jk-storage-deck-floor-230185.html
Pretty neat, but a headache once and wicked storage ever after!

You guys are right actually, you don't gain much more cargo space. The seats fold completely flat. My complaint is because I never have passengers so it doesnt make sense to haul around 70lbs+ of something I'll never use. Also its leather and will be better off wrapped up in the garage rather than sitting in the sun with the top removed.

Also, my little dogs can jump in with the seats removed :) They couldn't make it up to the top of the folded down seats.

Yes, keeping passenger side (which includes the center section) and removing only the driver side is an option. It works quite well and makes it a nice mini-van style setup. You can climb in easily from the driver side and slide into the rear passenger seat. It's a good option for old people passengers who would otherwise have trouble climbing into the back.

I guess I was just a little shocked at the 20 seconds it took to remove my wife's JK rear seat and the 1.5 hours it took to remove my JKU rear seat.

I guess what matters in the end is that if Jeep came to me right now and said "OK we read your post and we'll give you a refund and take the jeep back" I'd tell them not a chance!!! :dance:
I can understand that and that does make a little more sense. Maybe fab some type of storage like above and just keep one seat? Best of both worlds!
 
#9 ·
You guys are right actually, you don't gain much more cargo space. The seats fold completely flat. My complaint is because I never have passengers so it doesnt make sense to haul around 70lbs+ of something I'll never use. Also its leather and will be better off wrapped up in the garage rather than sitting in the sun with the top removed.

Also, my little dogs can jump in with the seats removed :) They couldn't make it up to the top of the folded down seats.

Yes, keeping passenger side (which includes the center section) and removing only the driver side is an option. It works quite well and makes it a nice mini-van style setup. You can climb in easily from the driver side and slide into the rear passenger seat. It's a good option for old people passengers who would otherwise have trouble climbing into the back.

I guess I was just a little shocked at the 20 seconds it took to remove my wife's JK rear seat and the 1.5 hours it took to remove my JKU rear seat.

I guess what matters in the end is that if Jeep came to me right now and said "OK we read your post and we'll give you a refund and take the jeep back" I'd tell them not a chance!!! :dance:
 
#11 ·
FWIW, here's why I want to remove my JKUR's rear seats:

I'm 6' tall and I keep my driver's seat all the way back. When I fold the rear seat in my JKUR flat, the headrest mashes against the back of the driver's seat (and passenger seat if it's all the way back too). I don't want to deform the rear seat headrests or the front seatback pockets so that's one reason I want to remove the rear seats.

I also want to make a flat platform in the back of the JKUR so I can sleep back there.

I want to make storage compartments where the rear seat goes.

And I want to delete 80+ lbs. of steel, foam and "pleather."

It would be AWESOME to be able to remove the rear seats in 15 minutes and re-install them in 15 minutes.
 
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#12 ·
FWIW, here's why I want to remove my JKUR's rear seats: I'm 6' tall and I keep my driver's seat all the way back. When I fold the rear seat in my JKUR flat, the headrest mashes against the back of the driver's seat (and passenger seat if it's all the way back too). I don't want to deform the rear seat headrests or the front seatback pockets so that's one reason I want to remove the rear seats. I also want to make a flat platform in the back of the JKUR so I can sleep back there. I want to make storage compartments where the rear seat goes. And I want to delete 80+ lbs. of steel, foam and "pleather." It would be AWESOME to be able to remove the rear seats in 15 minutes and re-install them in 15 minutes.
you could just remove the head rest couldnt you? I did in my mothers 07 took like 30 mins to remove . And when the seats are up you can see alot better
 
#13 ·
I mean seriously.

I mean even a stubborn hateful person who uses Windows XP and watches over-the-air basic tv could love that rear seat.

Ok im done.

Hey,, I use XP and have OTA TV, but I'm not hateful or stubborn :lmao:

"Also, my little dogs can jump in with the seats removed :) They couldn't make it up to the top of the folded down seats."

You need taller dogs :whistling:
 
#14 ·
I have the "jump" seat (behind the driver) out all the time. I put my tools in that space. I have also had both pieces out, my biggest problem with that is my dog does not have somewhere to sit. It is a little bit of a weight saving and if you are into saving weight, removing the seats is one good way to do it.
 
#15 ·
I removed the rear seats in my 2012 JKU today. What a major PITA. There are nine 18mm bolts and two 18mm nuts. After the bolts and nuts are removed the seat can be pulled out through either door as one piece but you have to be careful not to bend the components where the shorter seat attaches to the longer seat. The bolts themselves (as others have said) are a bitch to remove. I used an 25" breaker bar, an 18" breaker/ratchet bar, a standard ratchet, my torque driver and a lot of bad words. The torque driver would not break any of the bolts free. I mostly used that to remove the bolts after they broke free and to reinstall them after the seat was removed. Most of the bolts were in awkward/confined locations which required using socket extensions on the breaker bars which makes them harder to use. I actually twisted the head off of one of my socket extensions using the 25" bar. That says a lot for how tight the bolts are originally installed. Once I unbolted the four front bolts I folded the seats down and removed the rear bolts and nuts. Then I folded the seats up (top and bottom and used cargo straps to hold them up. I then (with a lot of effort) removed the remaining front bolts from under the seats. After everything was unbolted I strapped all of the seats together (from end-to-end) and slid them out the door. I was originally running with the seats folded down but now I definitely have a lot more room. I can also move my front seats a bit further back which is nice. My plan is too figure out a panel to cover the hump and flatten out the floor but I'm not in any rush on that piece.
 
#16 ·
Ah, you make it sound so much easier to remove the rear seat than I thought it would be :pulling hair:

Just another improvement Jeep needs to make on future model(s). Pathetic really considering how utilitarian the Jeep is (ought to be).
 
#17 ·
I'm convinced I'm going to remove the rear seats.

I measured the rear seats and they're easily 4' x 2' x 1' = 8 cubic feet of additional storage space which is something most JKU owners could use!

Just would like more info and pics on how others did it but I'll find a way to do without the pics :bop:
 
#18 ·
Have any of you ever removed the back seats out of any other 4 doors SUV? I can imagine its probably just as bad if not worse. Most people who buy a 4 door SUVs don't remove the seats. On the 2 door Jeep its useful to add cargo space and would probably be done a lot more often, plus there is no 60/40 split. I wouldn't be surprised that in the design for an easily removable 60/40 splitting seat would take more and cost more than we realize. All for a small subset of people who would actually use it.
 
#20 ·
I took the seat out our JKU to make room for our two Rhodesian Ridgebacks. A PITA for sure, especially accessing the bolts. The bolts are also lock-tighted as well. I coated them with Never-Seize before re-installing them and found some carpet to match so the hole cut-outs would not be there. Not intending to put it back until trade-in time.
 
#22 ·
Honestly never occurred to me to remove the rear seats in my JKURHR.
Yes, my 2dr(s) I have and do to gain space but w/the 4dr that space is already there.
Anyway, I don't believe a rear seat in a 4dr vehicle is an afterthought and I doubt the engineers spend much time (read-zero) designing in a removal feature.
I never really have gotten too focused on the design aspects of the Jeep.
It is a quirky vehicle that has gained icon status largely because of that fact IMO.
 
#23 ·
Although you can do it, I hated the fold-down-forward engineering of the 2014 JK. Ours kept flipping backwards with every acceleration. Our dogs hated it. I was elated when I saw how they engineered the 2017 JKU fold-down function (though I don't need to fold them down any more for our dogs.) Do you really get that much more space by removing as opposed to fold-down?
 
#24 ·
Isn't it the same system they've been using for the 2 door back seat for the last few decades? The YJ and TJ folded forward too. Did they stop shipping it with a nylon strap?

And yes, there is a lot more potential storage space as well as the fact it doesn't mess up the seat backs of the fronts.
 
#34 ·
nevermind...
 
#37 ·
When my dog was a pup, he chewed through the seat belts in the back of my JK X so it occurred to me that I might as well take out the back seat since no one could (legally) sit there. At first I was kind of bummed, but then I realized how much more space I had and ended up liking it so much that the first mod I'm going to do when my JK Willy arrives is to remove the back seat. Less weight, more storage, and my now grown up dog and I can continue to play chase the ball as we motor down the road.

If I have more than one passenger, which is rare, I take my wife's Honda.
 
#38 ·
I just tried to get the 40% side out. The front bolts I was able to easily brake loose with my 1/2" ratchet with an 18mm socket. The center ones I can get the socket on but because of the angle there is no way to ratchet. I tried an 18mm wrench but then again no room to move it.
Any body have any ideas on what tool to use to get in there to actually turn the center bolts?
Getting just the 40% side out would give so much more room.
 
#40 ·
I haven't done it yet, but I watched a YouTube video for the rear seat recline installation.

In the video, they loosened the rear bolts, took out the front bolts, then folded the bottom of the seat up and held it in place with the seatbelt. Looked like ready access for the bolts in the middle of the seat.

My recline kit should be here today, and I plan to install it this weekend. If it comes in, and I do the install, I'll report back to this thread on how it goes.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk
 
#42 ·
This may be the video, it is for a 2012 but should be no different for JKU's through 2017.
Being able to lift the seat part up to access the middle bolts should really help.
I haven't been back out to look at mine but in the video it looks like there are only 3 back bolts instead of 4 in the back. If so the whole 60-40 seat must be somewhat 1 unit and not be able to take just one section out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOvYETa8e5I
 
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