Truck: Remove Rear Seat

I removed the rear seats in my '99 Ford Supercab - they weigh a little, but also occupy a lot of the volume of the space even when down. In the '99, the seat back folds down leaving a level shelf.

I just removed the rear seats on my 2015 Ford Supercab, but there are some issues on the later model truck. I have the Lariat, which has a 60/40 seat and it folds up, not down. Under the 40 side behind the driver there is a subwoofer, it could be relocated to the rear wall but the wiring would have to be extended. After removing it all, I ended up putting the 40 side back in, it covers the subwoofer without much wasted space, and would allow carrying one passenger there if we ever did.

The seat back is a bit tricky to remove (there are three hidden spring clips that must be released). After removing it, I discovered that the flow through vents in the back of the cab allow in a substantial amount of wind/road noise whenever the flaps open - which is anytime the climate control fan is on. Verified by switching to recirculation, they snap shut and instantly the noise goes away. You do not hear it with the seat back in place because it acts as a baffle. On the '99, with nearly identical vents, the sound proofing on the back cab wall has sound baffling in it, also it is noisy enough maybe you just don't notice. I considered recreating the '99 sound baffling but in the end reinstalled the seat back. There are several other things behind it on the '15 that are not removable (rear window motor, middle seat shoulder belt tower) that the seat back also covers, so the volume taken by the seat back doesn't subtract as much as you thought. I ended up with only the 60% side seat bottom removed, which is a lot of space. You will have to find another place to put the jack and tire change tools which mount on the passenger side seat bracket.

I met Henrik Hofvander at the Overland Expo in Flagstaff several years ago. He camped with us in the truck camper area and demonstrated his line of modular storage systems that fit onto the REAR WALL of an extended cab truck. Not the floor.

He had traveled through Latin America and designed it for fellow truck campers. Its called the clickUFYT System. I do not know if they are still available.

Here is what I did. Have had no problems with it. Great for Boondocking.

Took a 2 month trip and it sure helped getting the coolers out of the camper.

Eventually got a second Yeti. Those coolers are amazing.

http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/25788233/gotomsg/26692036.cfm#26692036

Been there, done that. Removed rear seat and built a platform with drawers on each side that holds lots more than the folded down seats.The bare floor with seat removed is not all that useful. We needed more room for trip to Alaska.

Drawers were simple units from Wally World but are REALLY convenient for installation,

Photos, etc. here.

Ford Super Cabs have a flat load floor under the rear seats. I'm not sure about the upcoming aluminum cab.

Our Ford F350 had a bench seat in the rear.
We removed it when the truck was brand new and re-installed it when we traded the truck/camper. We installed bicycle fork mounts through the floor and carried our bikes in that space. They were decent bikes we did not want to risk getting stolen and also kept them out of the weather. Worked great for us and easy to do.

As others said, you will not gain much as far as weight savings goes.

I agree. 50lbs on an F350 is splitting hairs, and if it's going to make or break you, you've got bigger problems. I'm one of those guys who thinks that if the camping stuff starts intruding into the cab, I'm bringing too much along and really should rethink what I bring.

I'm just a weekend, 4 days max, type of camper, though. There are people who set out for weeks at a time and it just isn't practical to cram everything into the camper.

Pulling the seats will give you quite a bit more space, but beware of the "hump." The floor under the seat isn't flat, so you will either need the exact right "stuff" to give you a full-width flat area, or you'll need to build a platform.

I removed mine - needed the storage space. I added a shelf too.

Steve.

TARZANSEAL wrote:
I have a Ford 2006 F350 extended cab. I'm thinking of removing the rear seats. I'm hoping to reduce some weight. Plus add space for chairs, ice chest, fishing gear. Has anyone done this or is this a bad idea.

I don't necessarily see it as a bad idea, but do have to ask why. Weight wise, I think maybe you are splitting hairs. On the other hand, if the loss of 50 to 60 pounds is that important, maybe you are overloaded or overly concerned. If you simply want the additional space for more stuff, then it makes sense to me.

Wayne

I did link