Having issues doing the rear seat fold down mod in my DC

i am desperate to mod the rear seats of my 2012 double cab. ive searched every site, and every video, and im still confused. they budge but wont lift up. i can feel them wiggle (as well as the overly unnecessary, long hooks). i must be missing a bolt, ive seen the photos on various forums but they're so close up i cant tell which ones to get. im 60% there. i cant manage to loosen one of the bolts on the floor center using my impact driver. im hoping to just be able to mod the driver side rear seat to fold down. i must be missing something. if anyone of you wonderful people could help me i wouldn't be able to appreciate my gratitude enough! thanks again and please help me friends!

how do i break that bolt giving me trouble?

anyone have photos from a bit farther away of the bolts needed to be removed?

do i need to remove those seatbelt retractors aswell behind the storage box?

im a handy guy im just really stumped

im a new member, and tundra owner! and apologize if this is in the wrong section, and im still new to the tundra world

 

This covers everything. I've done the mod so, if you don't find what you need, hit me up, and I'll try and figure out the missing info.

https://www.tundras.com/threads/rear-seat-fold-down-mod.8153/

 

The only bolts you loosen are under the seat, so the seat can loosen, lift a bit. But, when you activate the latch that allows you to "lift" the bottom seat portion up (raise at the front), as that raises, the back support portion of the seat also raises a bit.

With the bolts loose under the seat, you can continue this "lifting" of the back support portion so it lifts the brackets (located inside the seat back, a few inches below the top back edge) straight up off the metal hoops affixed to the inside rear wall of the cab. Basically, you're lifting your seat completely out. Then the back support position folds forward and you can see and remove the brackets.

Then you cut or grind down the brackets so the long edge that fits into the metal hoops on the back wall is shorter..., as pictured in that ^ thread.

 

so nothing is loosened along the back wall or the seatbelt "rollers"?
approx how many bolts do i need to remove for one side? i believe its single stuck bolt holding me up because i can almost get it. any suggestions how to get er out

 

No, nothing on the back wall is loosened. What secures the back of the seat to the back wall of the cab are metal hooks (back side of seat back) that drop in to metal loops welded to the back wall of the cab. Essentially, the way the mod works is, you'll grind the hooks so they're not as long, making it so that, when the seat back lifts a bit, the metal hook will clear the metal loop and allow the seat to fold forward-- but when you push the seatback back toward that back wall, that same slight lift will allow you to set the metal hook on the seatback back into the metal loop on the back wall, securing your seats again. There are no bolts on the back wall to deal with, only the bolts that attach the seat to the floor.

Once you loosen the bolts under the seat and lift the as-manufactured full-length hooks (seatback) out of the metal loops (back wall), then you'll allow the seatback to fall forward so you can view the back side of the seatback... and you'll then unbolt those metal hooks so you can cut/ grind them (unless you're a risk-taking badass like Joon and get your torch on inside your truck!). But those bolts are not a factour until you get the seat unfastened.

I'm not a visual person so, when I did this mod, I took pics from farther back because I also didn't really understand 'til I had it done. But then I felt like a fool adding pics, when hundreds of people (including me) got through with the close-ups already posted. I think I've since deleted my pics. I'll try to get to my truck to refresh my memory. About what bold could be hanging you up.

Edit: IDEA! It may be that you think you're hung up on a still-fastened bolt when, in fact, you just need to wrestle that seat up 1 1/2" higher than you think you do, so the bottom edge of the full-length hook (seatback) clears the metal loop on the back of the cab. It's got to come up that far to clear....

 

yeah i understand the mod of the hooks that seems like the easy part. now i have all 3 or 4 bolts which hold the seat bracket to the floor undone. i was able to unhook the hook closest to the driver door, and can now kind of pry it back to peek my head back there to see whats going on.

for some reason however, i cant seem to get that second hook to slip up high enough. does the seat need to be up, down, halfway. ive tried em all, and ive seen all the videos and read all the threads i just cant get er unhooked on the centermost bracket

 

If I recall correctly there are 4 bolts holding the seat down, two on the floor and two on the back wall maybe 6 inches up. I had to remove all 4 completely.

 

im starting to wonder if thats the case, i have a 2nd gen btw but the first hook came undone no problem. also theres that liner behind the seat. ive tried peeling them up and looking as fas as i can but none of those fastners appear to be restricting the seat itself

 

Don't you already have reclining rear seats in your 2nd Gen? I thought the mod was for 3rd Gens.

 

I just looked at mine, there are six bolts total. 4 on the small side and 2 on the large side. 3 in the floor and 3 on the back wall down low. I can't get pictures of the ones in the floor,,but these are on the back.

 

I GOT IT! i was missing the two on the back! jeez, not only are these tundras better than my Chevy, but the community is much better. YOUR ALL LIFE SAVERS. i wanted to get this done this week, with your help it happened tonight. now onto the brackets which should be the easier part.

got a few more questions now though....

 

-is there any known way to safely move the seat up just ever so slightly (modified bracket, etc) by up i mean further away from the rear wall. probably not because of the hooks, if you had longer hooks youd still have a huge gap. but like what about sliders? has anyone done this?

i was trying to mount a sub i was CONVINCED would fit when i measured it. and it did. but the stupid safety belt roller is in my way and taking that out is sketchy. ill probably get a smaller box and mount my amp behind my new modded seat.

i wish they made a HALF under seat storage bin ( i could mod mine but im not 16 anymore)

 

Hmmn. I guess you could fab hooks with the inlet spaced so it holds the seatback farther away from the back wall. I mean, make the span of metal larger, between the inlet that holds onto the metal hoop on the back wall, and the edge of the hook that meets the back of the seat.

I'll copy/paste and edit one of Joon's pics to show what I mean....

 

That's a great idea but wouldnt it cause a large gap between the window and seat and look strange lol

 

Well, a gap as big as the extra width of the new modded hooks. It would also make the seatback sit more vertically, maybe not as comfortable. But, since you seem to need to squeeze just a bit more room back there, it's all I can think of. I don't think it's possible to move the base of the seat forward, because the fastening bolts are secured at fixed points. Probably the best idea will be for you to build a new cabinet.

Maybe instead of trying to move the seat, you could post a thread asking for input about what others have done/used to fit speakers into this space.

Good luck.

 

i cant appreciate your input enough. now i just gotta figure out how to get the seat back on. somethings holding me lol ill figure it out. i decided to mount the sub behind the passenger seat. the cab is roomy enough and the box is so shallow that it sits flush with the rear console. ill have quick disconnects in case i gotta take it out and fit a full size man in the back seat

 

Thanks for posting this mod.. just banged it out around the time it took me to finish beer #3. I was sloppy with the cuts with my cut off tool, but made sure I removed 1"... both seats pop forward and lock back when needed. Thanks!! 14mm socket w/ 6" extension and a drill and 1/4" drive set up with a T30 torx is all you need... and the 3 beers of course

 

Dude! No, ugh why me?!? I cant figure it out. I had like 10 bolts out couldn't get en to unhook.

I WANNA DO THIS DAMNMOD I've had every seat out completely at some point theres just SOMETHING holding me to get it to fold down even when halfway released

 

Not exactly sure what you’re saying. Got any pics?

 

Yeah man, not sure why they wouldn't unhook? There are 4 different 14mm bolts on the passenger side rear seat. 2 on the floor and 2 on the back wall under the seat. There are only 2 on the driver side rear seat. 1 on the floor and 1 on the wall. If you take those (6) 14mm bolts out the whole back seats would pop straight up to the roof, unhooking the 4 brackets you need to shave down. If you take a T50 torx into the rear passenger side, you can seperate the 2 seats by taking out the 2 seat connecting bolts. I hope that helped