Rear Facing Back Seat??

[Michael Brady]

What are the pros and cons of having a rear facing back seat? Is it safe?

My Cruiser came with some super rusty, hacked up jump seats that I started fixing, but am abondoning at this point. The PO cut a chunck out of the back rest to fit around the roll bar, which I was going to repair but once I startied looking at what spacing the seats out from the roll bar would look like combined with the rough shape of the seats already, I've decided against this plan. After searching and reading about the jump seats, aside from the look they are not very safe or practical.

I want a rear seat option, but it has to be accessible due to my front bench seat. Thoughts?

 

[White Stripe]

I've never seen rear facing. This is mine:
Land Rover jump seats

And some rare factory seats:
LX rear seats

 

[Michael Brady]

I've never seen rear facing. This is mine:
Land Rover jump seats

And some rare factory seats:
LX rear seats

Me either - what im wondering is if there is a reason not to? If I was to buy a folding bench seat for the back, why not face it backwards so you access it from the rear? Wondering if its unsafe or just not what most people want.

 

[steffan]

quite a few cars have had rear facing seats for third row seating. i think even a recent model: mazda? i think it has more to do with comfort: people want to look where they are going/ motion sickness etc

 

[DSRTRDR]

how often really do you take more than 1 passenger ?

 

[Michael Brady]

how often really do you take more than 1 passenger ?

Yeah thats true - I like the idea of the option, but probably not priority #1

 

[bikersmurf]

quite a few cars have had rear facing seats for third row seating. i think even a recent model: mazda? i think it has more to do with comfort: people want to look where they are going/ motion sickness etc

x2

I've got captains chairs that rotate in my other rig... my daughter likes to face rearwards because there are more windows in thee back, but my son gets motion sickness.

I've got third row seats out of a mitsubishi that face forwards but fold up to the side like jump seats when not in use. I've not found the time to modify and install them. I'm hoping to set them up to fit three across. Two rear passengers is a regular occurrence in our household.

YJ or Suzuki fold and tumble seats would be where I'd start looking.

The other option would be a different roll bar so you can use your long jump seats and fit 4 rear pasengers. Do you have a troopy or a stretched 40?

 

[4x4veteran]

Over the years my Cruiser has gone through many phases. One of the first things I did to the interior was get rid of the bench seat in front and put in some buckets. I didn't like the side seats in the back so took them out and used one for a forward facing rear seat. My son rode there from the time he was about three until he hit his teens and didn't want to be seen with his parents. I later put in two rear facing buckets. It was easier for adults to climb in the back when the top was on. Even later when my godson was a baby I bolted in some brackets to the floor board to hold a car seat in place. I had cops check me out several times when they would see a baby's head barely showing above the rear window. I would say frontwards or backwards is dictated by what you like. I had a 60 Chevy wagon when I was in the navy. It had the regular front and back seat. I would normally run with the back seat down and the twin bed mattress laid out flat. In the very back of the car the lid that covered the spare tire could be propped up and the mattress would make like a recliner facing the rear window. On the occasion that I loaded up with extra people, instead of calling shotgun they would call for the recliner.

 

[White Stripe]

I considered rear facing, but my bucket seats recline and I didn't want the rear seats getting in the way of that.

 

[AKAIE15]

This is a good question... I imagine rear facing is safer (they keep increasing the age to keep kids rear facing --- it's safer- at least for a head on collision-- kid's heads are huge relative to their body and there ligaments between the head and neck aren't very big). NTSA may have some data on this.

That being said, safety is probably not the only consideration. If it was, you'd probably select a modern vehicle.

 

[Northbound]

Here's my rear facing seat in a '69 in 1984. No that's not a pvc toolbar - the rig came with the rollbar, plow and the rear facing wooden kitchen seat when I bought it.

We used to pass out beers on the highway on the way to the beach to other cars and to passengers in motorcycles.

 

[cruiserkev]

Just a thought but has anyone ever transplanted rear seats from an 80's Subaru Brat into a 40 series? A friend of mine had a bench seat in his 78 and wanted to try this but ended up finding an old Con-Fer bench instead. He did end up mounting it backwards and it worked well for kids.

 

[redrock]

The 1st is a seat I added for the kids.
The 2nd is not mine, but was nicely made from a matched set of original jump seats. Since yours are already cut, this would be a good option, either rear or forward facing.

 

[Ocho77]

Here's my rear facing seat in a '69 in 1984. No that's not a pvc toolbar - the rig came with the rollbar, plow and the rear facing wooden kitchen seat when I bought it.

We used to pass out beers on the highway on the way to the beach to other cars and to passengers in motorcycles. View attachment 1511922

That. Is. Awesome.