S/O removing seats from vehicle

jess71903 · Aug 6, 2010

I noticed that the OP in this thread had removed the driver's side outboard seat in her Explorer. On another board, a poster mentioned removing the center seat of her Explorer for easier access to the 3rd row. That got me wondering about the safety of such alterations. I wouldn't think the seat physically being gone would be an issue, but what about the re-installation? Are seats installed with a specified amount of force from a torque wrench or can the car's owner uninstall and reinstall safely?

*I'm not talking about vans and SUVs who have easily removable seats that click in and out. Just the ones that are bolted the the floor of the car.

Pixels · Aug 6, 2010

Yes, reinstallation would need to be done carefully, using the correct torque.

While the seat is gone, the owners need to be sure that they have sealed any openings into the vehicle so that exhaust gases can't get in. On less of a safety note, also so that water can't get in and rust the floorboards.

QuassEE · Aug 6, 2010

There are also some cases where people would remove seatbelts (eg. the old carseat stalks in Volkswagens) and as long as they're reinstalled with the correct ft lbs of torque, it's fine. This is actually the same logic as self-installing a tether anchor in a vehicle with a pre-drill.

Of course...they should really take the hint that it's minivan time

-N.

S/O removing seats from vehicle

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