Topic: Rear Seat Turned Around

[AGUHR]

Has anyone ever turned their rear seat to face the back?  before you as WTF and why - for those that don't have passangers and would like to park the jeep and sit andwatcha drive in movie or like last night it would have been cool to see the fireworks.  Just curious if its possible, I think the ability to swing it back and forth would be a great option if needed.

[aka-justin]

Wouldn't seem impossible; I just recently had to reinforce my front seats and they’re only attached to the floor pan of the body.  I would assume the bench is no more different.  I would guess the two hardest things would be the fold and tumble locking pins and the sholder part of the seat belts would be the biggest headaches (in a Wrangler that is).  A guy in my Jeep club put a third seat in his Cherokee.  He just used big fender washers through the floor.

If you do this, some pictures would be nice.  

In newer Wranglers, they make a bracket to add a JK bench seat to the unlimitied edition.  This looks like the easiest solution with some lap belts.  http://www.teraflex.biz/products/jk-wrangler-3rd-seat-bracket-kit.html

[AGUHR]

Interesting, I'll take a longer look at how the bench is bolted to the floor and see what needs to be done to swap it back ans forth went wanted, If it ouwl be as easy to rig it wil some bolts you can pull that would be cool - then it could be donw on the trail if needed. For what reason no idea - but you never know.

[aka-justin]

I understand the need.  I parked last night for the fireworks, and it would have been nice if I could have folded the windshield.  I didn't have time to unbolt the front roll bar and windshield brackets, not to mention my lights.  We still had an awesome view, just would have been a bit sweeter.  I need to plan that for next 4th. 

[sharpxmen]

you'll probably need to remove the gastank in order to bolt the front brackets to the floor, rear locking brackets are on the wheel-wells

should work, you could probably leave the current brackets bolted on and have another set bolted for rear mounting then you don't need to worry about taking them on and off (offset the whole thing towards the back 1 to 2 inches so it clears the bench in either direction.

one issue i can see with it is that you won't have enough legroom in the rear facing mounting position

[AGUHR]

I think the tailgate would have to be open. I couldn't see anyone really riding in the jeep this way. Wouldn't be safe, and I really don't want to mess with the seatbelts and relocating them each time. But just adding a second set of mounting plates and locks would  be an easier solution. Plus if it faces backwards I would have more room upfront whent he seat would be tumbled to the cooler to be closer to me, for soda of course. 

[Jeffy]

Why not pull the mini sofa out and just sit on it?  You would have to drill new holes into the floor and that would require you to drop the gas tank.  You would also want to reinforce the floor so you're not pulling the bolts though when you lean back.

Kind of useless since you would need to remove teh seat completely to be able to use the rear space otherwise.  You won't be able to flip up the seat out of the way since it will now be in the middle of the floor.  A better idea would be to drop the windshield.

[AGUHR]

I think I may fab a quick latch of some sort to hold the seat from falling backwards all together and keep the oem mounts where they are. I can see this as a useful idea since we are on the beach all the time.

Foront window wont go down, snorkel offroad lights and Farm Jack on the hood.

[jfrabat]

I'm pretty sure on the YJ you can just bolt it on backwards.  Dont know how you would keep the back in place, though, as the catch is on the wheel well, but you can probably lean into the front seats.  I agree with Jeffy, though, that the best choice is probably just dropping the windshield, and if you cant (like on mine because of the snorkel), then just unbolt the rear bench and use it on the floor...  Or simply go to Wally World, buy some cheapo picnic chairs, and use that...

[sharpxmen]

I'm pretty sure on the YJ you can just bolt it on backwards.  Dont know how you would keep the back in place, though, as the catch is on the wheel well, but you can probably lean into the front seats.  I agree with Jeffy, though, that the best choice is probably just dropping the windshield, and if you cant (like on mine because of the snorkel), then just unbolt the rear bench and use it on the floor...  Or simply go to Wally World, buy some cheapo picnic chairs, and use that...

you don't need to latch it if you don't drive with it like that, the latch is only so the backrest wont fall forward, you can lean on it no problem and won't fall backwards

[Torch_Ind]

is there a pic of it turned around?

[AGUHR]

Not yet - let me see if I can get aroudn to it this weekend.