Folding front seat forward

sealica · Post by **sealica** » Fri Nov 18, 2016 6:29 pm

Just wondering if anyone had any insight on the following modification to the L300 front seats. I can't seem to recover my account for that website ...

http://www.mdocuk.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?p=335849

-disadvantages?
-any impact on seat

I really dig the added space when you're settling down for a day or two ..

motorang · Post by **motorang** » Fri Nov 18, 2016 10:23 pm

HI,
I have modified my seat like that and it works like a charm.

Andy

ChuckBlack · Post by **ChuckBlack** » Fri Nov 18, 2016 11:21 pm

Gotta wonder in the event of a rear or frontal impact if that seat will actually stay upright?

Post by **Growlerbearnz** » Sun Nov 20, 2016 1:19 pm

ChuckBlack wrote:Gotta wonder in the event of a rear or frontal impact if that seat will actually stay upright?

That's my thought too- that seat hinge has a lot of cyclic stress on it, and hacking a big chunk out of it would introduce a big stress raiser. Being stabbed in the kidney by a snapped-off piece of seatback would suck.

If I was doing this modification I'd at least make the cutout smooth and clean to eliminate starting points for a fatigue crack, and I might even weld or press a small flange onto the cutout edge to put some of the strength back.

ChuckBlack · Post by **ChuckBlack** » Thu Nov 24, 2016 7:42 pm

I was just doing some preventive maintenance this past wee and I had both of my front seats removed and a brilliant idea came alive. I think I'm going to try to find seats that would fit in instead of the OEM ones. I found that the DVR seat I'll never move it forward of back and that it's seat is somehow uncomfortable during long drive. Anyway I'll see what I'll come by this year! I've also found a couple of front Chevy seats which have integrated seat belts in them. I've been thinking of replacing the rear middle seat for sometimes now and this year i'll start making a custom rail which will adapt to my van... To follow!!!!

philmeup1 · Post by **philmeup1** » Wed Aug 16, 2017 7:53 am

I've been trying to come up with some creative ways to get a ltitle more room outta my van when I came across this post. The idea of being able to get the passenger seat to fold flat is brilliant, but as it's been suggested, I'm not so sure about this modification. Plus it's hard to tell from the pics what exactly has been done as not all the steps were photographed.

I took the side cover off my seat to have a look, but couldn't really make the connection between what metal has to be removed in order for this to work.

Has anyone done this mod or something even better successfully since this post? I'd be interested in seeing what you've done. I miss my Westfailia seats that used to swivel when camping.

Cheers, Phil