Breaking the Captains Chairs Barrier

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SNBI07

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With the family growing to 5 kids now, we were really feeling the inconvenience of not having quick pass through to the third row. We had been making due with having the kids in the 3rd row climb over the folded center seat, but add backpacks or anything else to the equation and that becomes a much more tedious task. After looking at parts diagrams it seemed that the center back rest should have an easy enough time coming off and that was validated after about 30 minutes of playing around with disassembling various parts until the whole piece slid out.

IMG_8762.jpeg


Of course why stop there, the bottom panel under the middle row seemed to be a separate piece from the main unit, so a little prying and removal of screws showed that to be true.

IMG_8764.jpeg


The steel structure clearly goes all the way over both the center and outside seat, but the cushion and leather could easily be played with/cut/modified to just cover the outside seat.

IMG_8765.jpeg


So where should I go from here? Retreat and reassemble the bottom and keep the whole bench and just take the added benefit of removing the backrest? Or should I continue the surgery and cut the frame under the middle seat, clean up the exposed areas with some abs plastic and get true walk-through access? Im not worried about losing structural rigidity because there is another large frame piece running north to south in the same direction as the outermost rube (can be seen just under the cushion in the shot above).

I love the idea of keeping full seat functionality with this route (side airbag, tumble forward/back/ slide forward/back), even if its means not necessarily having totally symmetrical seats on each side, but I don't want to end up creating a giant mess either. Thanks in advance for any advice/insights I could use before proceeding any further.
 
If it were me, and this was the car that I hauled my five-kid-family around in, I’d reassemble the seat immediately and sell the LC while prices are still parabolic.

The current model Sequoia has second row captains chairs and more storage. Maybe that would be a better fit for a big family? I think the 200’s rear jump seats are nice in a pinch, but I wouldn’t want to deal with the access hassle (on a daily basis) or have to amputate the second row bench; this is going to hurt resale value and like you said, probably be a mess in the end - unless you pay a pro upholstery shop some serious coin to do it right.

This is probably an unpopular opinion on this part of IH8Mud, but, IMO, a good course of action.
 
I’d be pretty sketched out about cutting a seat unless you are a good welder and plan to make it as strong as it was pre mods. Not sure where the car seat clips and the seat belt buckle attach to…and does it compromise the clamps that attach it back to the floor.

I think taking out the middle back rest a cool idea and can work.

I’ve got 3 kids and wonder if I’ll have to worry about this too when they get bigger.

I may steal this idea in the future. But I would not cut up the second row. Plus god Forbid you have to sell the greatest car known to man in the future to fund your unicorn start up company…that would scare off a lot of buyers and replacement second row seat would be $$$$$ or hard to find.
 
Yea, that'd be a big NO from me. Rock it with the center seat back removed or reassemble and sell/trade for a Sequoia.
 
yonah said:
If it were me, and this was the car that I hauled my five-kid-family around in, I’d reassemble the seat immediately and sell the LC while prices are still parabolic.

The current model Sequoia has second row captains chairs and more storage. Maybe that would be a better fit for a big family? I think the 200’s rear jump seats are nice in a pinch, but I wouldn’t want to deal with the access hassle (on a daily basis) or have to amputate the second row bench; this is going to hurt resale value and like you said, probably be a mess in the end - unless you pay a pro upholstery shop some serious coin to do it right.

This is probably an unpopular opinion on this part of IH8Mud, but, IMO, a good course of action.
Click to expand...
We have a sequoia TRD pro so we can attest to that thing being so much better of a family hauler and it means the LC doesn’t have to spend primary duty in that regard. However, if I can scqueeze a bit more practicality out of the LC I’m all for it. But based on my wife’s reaction to the possibility of departing with the cruiser, that thing will be the last vehicle to ever get cleared to leave the fleet. Didn’t see that reaction coming…
 
If you are in the kid hauling business, I can’t see the value in removing a seating position in the vehicle. If easy access to the back is what is most important though, wouldn’t it be easier to just remove the PS rear seat? Assuming some of the clan is small enough that the 60% side of the DS seat will hold two of your brood.
 
WCDAVE said:
If you are in the kid hauling business, I can’t see the value in removing a seating position in the vehicle. If easy access to the back is what is most important though, wouldn’t it be easier to just remove the PS rear seat? Assuming some of the clan is small enough that the 60% side of the DS seat will hold two of your brood.
Click to expand...
We actually have used this configuration by removing the 40% PS rear seat. It makes reaching/placing/strapping a the kid in the center seat a bit harder, esp. when the height challenged wife has to do it and also that middle seat is very narrow and you lose a lot more seat when pulling the 40% PS seat out of the car. Car seats also tend to slide off the side of that narrow seat during hard turns because that seat bottom is completely flat with no contours for the car seat to settle into, which has made for some amusing but really not safe instances for a few trips so we’ve stopped running that configuration.
 
04UZJ100 said:
Yeah but they’re easy enough to replace….
Click to expand...
Easy to replace a 2nd row??

I’ve seen a lot of 3rd rows on sale for people installing drawers in the back. But I’ve never see a 2nd row for sale. Prob only if it’s a wrecked car being parted out.
 
82SC said:
Easy to replace a 2nd row??

I’ve seen a lot of 3rd rows on sale for people installing drawers in the back. But I’ve never see a 2nd row for sale. Prob only if it’s a wrecked car being parted out.
Click to expand...
Yes. It’s a bolt on part. Easy to replace.
 
Yes easy to install. Probably very hard to find.

Since you have a sequoia I wonder if the capt chairs are swappable.

THEN….you could source capt chairs from the sequoia and replace the LC seats.
 
82SC said:
Yes easy to install. Probably very hard to find.

Since you have a sequoia I wonder if the capt chairs are swappable.

THEN….you could source capt chairs from the sequoia and replace the LC seats.
Click to expand...

For funsies:
Annotation 2021-07-14 110651.webp


40 side is still purchasable, $2k.
 
You might consider sourcing some Toyota Sienna center buckets, I understand they fully recline. Get them upholstered to match your current LC interior and slap them in? Access and utility to match.

1626275921920.webp


When the kids are old enough to drive, you and the Mrs. will be sitting pretty... :rofl:
 
That is the backseat of the Sequoia? Holy s*** that is nice.
 
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