2016 sport rear seat delete

[Mikula]

well here we go. besides the sync 3 still not being any good for my tastes, the one thing that I immediately didn't like about this car was the fact that the rear seats did not completely fold flat. not only that, as an avid drag racer in my old foxbody, one of the first things i bought was a rear seat delete kit. now 12 years later, i figured I can apply this to my new "mommy car". I only care about 2 things, cars, and my dog. with that said there was no way she was getting a front seat, so i've decided to build a platform in the rear.

 

here is the thing... I don't ever carry passengers, but if i do have family in town, i needed it to be easily removable. secondly, with all of the camping/fishing trips we take, i needed it to be sturdy. and lastly, I plan on getting the LMS tune as soon as i pass the 1000 mile mark on the odometer, so i needed it to be lightweight!

 

so, out came the seats. fairly simple task, the bottom of the rear seat comes off by pushing down and rearward, then pulling up on it. next, my seats have the automatic fold down thing going on (which i'd never seen before) so i also had to pop off the connectors. 2 on the driver side, one on the passenger. afterwards, an 18mm socket popped the nuts off and the two sides of the rear seat come out individually (thank god). I really need to weigh them to see what my actual weight savings would be.

 

here is everything removed

 

I had to come up with a way to support the rear of the platform. since i was keeping the stock spare tire cover, my platform had to be built to butt up against it, but it had nothing to support it. So i decided to use the stock seat bolts that remained in the vehicle. I cut a 1" galvanized tube, and welded a flanged nut into it (for it to work on the seat bolt it needs to be 12mm x 1.75). it just so happened that the nut fit almost perfectly inside the tube, and so i hid the nut inside, and welded the flange around the outside...

 

 

i left the tube long to start, so when i test fit the platform, i knew how tall to cut it to make a perfect fit.

 

next i had to measure and make the platform, as well as a cutout for the tunnel in the center. fairly simple there. used some plywood, and some sturdy shelving angles that i found at home depot. they were $1.19ea so i grabbed 4 of them so i could hold the two pieces together at a 90degree angle and let the glue set. here is a shot of the underside of that:

 

 

after test fitting the piece in the truck (without the tubes) i determined the height of the support tubes and cut and installed them on 2 of the seat bolts... they threaded right on with ease, no tools required!

 

 

now i had to make sure the thing didn't slide around under accelerating, turning, and braking. so i decided to use the posts as a "locator" for a "pin" to lock it all into place. kind of like a little nipple so to speak. I used a smaller diameter tube that fit perfectly into the top of the support tubes, and screwed that into the main platform. the easiest way to do that was to put the two pieces together in the vehicle, set the platform on top of it, and then mark the holes. afterwards, just pull the platform back out and screw it in on your marks!

 

 

now i was ready to test fit and everything went well. I went to the fabric store and picked up some outdoor furniture fabric. figured it would hold up to the abuse better than the felt type material they use in the rear hatch area. started in the front and stapled it down, then worked my way to the rear pulling it very tight as i went. the wife was certainly a help during this process. here is 2 shots of it all upholstered.

 

 

finally dropped it in there and everything fit perfect! if i could do it again i would do a few things different. I would probably put a felt type material over the top of the sturdy material (for aesthetic purposes only) and i would go thinner on the plywood. i went 15/32 and probably could have skimped a bit more for better weight savings. currently I do not have any "sides" on it, so you can see all the stuff underneath, but I have 2 reasons for this. 1- it would be a lot more difficult to get in and out without scuffing up your door panels and such, and 2- it acts as an extra storage area, which i eventually plan to use as a long gun storage space.

 

current plan is to just hang some of my extra fabric there so it looks good when the doors are opened, but here is a shot before i do that...

 

 

so that was my fun time this weekend! sorry it was so picture heavy. hope you enjoyed it!

 

[always on edge]

Looks good! I like the fact that it's quickly removable and can be returned to stock in minutes.

 

Curious, did you weigh the rear seats? If so, how much in gross weight savings?

 

FWIW, I've been tuned since 600 miles...why wait 'til 1000? You're missing out!

[Mikula]

the rear bench is 15.2lbs, the passenger side with seat motor is 30.6lbs, and the driver side double seat section is 59lbs. total weight savings in seats alone is 104.8lbs. I've also removed the spare tire and jack, but did not weigh those.

 

so to the guys trying to get into the 12's i sure hope you've taken the seats out!

 

i don't really know why i'm waiting... just pretending its going to matter in the long run! i've also got my lowering springs on order, should be here soon.

 

 

Edit/Update:

 

weight savings:

Spare Tire 39.5lbs

Jack 9.5lbs

Good for almost 155lbs of weight loss

Edited December 18, 2017 by Mikula

[Xtra]

Very rare for me to have more than two people in my car and I think in the one year I have had the car I have only had 3 people in it one time. If I can drop 200 pounds from the car of dead weight it is like adding 30 hp. And I might get better milage .. if I can keep my foot out of it. I have a 7 passenger Explorer for a people mover. So I just might do something like this. I can always put it back at any time and my rear seats will stay like new while in storage. It depends on how difficult it is to remove and replace the seats and how long it takes.

 

In another post Mikula saved over 200 pounds

Passenger seat 52lbs

Spare Tire 39.5lbs

Jack 9.5lbs

Rear Cargo Cover (with foam pieces underneath) 6lbs

Bench of the rear seat 15.2lbs

Passenger rear backrest (has the motor for automatic folding rear seats) 30.6lbs

Driver rear backrest (also with motor) 59lbs

Good for almost 212lbs of weight loss.

I'll take that extra car length all day long... so will I

[Mikula]

It took less than 15 minutes to get the seats out. less than 15 to put them back in. The bench is just hooked on to the backrest, comes off easy, and the rest is just unplugging 2 harnesses and taking off 8 nuts. so simple.

 

One thing you'll notice is the road noise from the back, so after I made my seat delete doggy platform I lined the bottom with soundproofing foam (I have a bunch of it because I have a little home recording studio for musicians) but amazon has it pretty cheap. amazing how much the seats stop the sound from bouncing around back there.

[TangerineDream]

I know this post is ancient but - 

I'm doing something very similar to my '07 Edge.

I got the seat out easy enough but now the car won't start - spins/no start.

I think I need to do something with the wires that were attached to the seatbelt retractor - ???

What did you do with the wires - pictured - on your car ???

Open Question !!!!

If any body knows please chime in !!!!!!

Edited June 14, 2022 by TangerineDream
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