Folding down rear seat with ebay/Amazon dual 10" sub box...

So, I removed the rear seats and set the box in place. I reinstalled my rear seats and discovered that when I try to flip the seats down, they physically hit the sub. This is a 2011 double cab.

Is there a way to keep the seats operational so that they can flip down?

 

So I am assuming you removed the plastic cubby's?

Did you bang down or cut off the protruding clips that the cubby's bold onto?

 

Pics

 

Yes, I removed the plastic storage bins completely. Then, I simply set the box in place.

I did NOT remove/cut/bend anything --- other than the mounting bolts and the little press-in tabs that locked the storage bins in place.

Sorry --- this box:

 

With that box, no you can not fold the seats down, plastics on the back of them or not, without hitting the subs. I had to build a custom box to accomplish this.

 

FUDGE...

Here is what I'm talking about:


Please excuse the mess of wires. This is where I knocked off for the day.

 

I was hoping somebody could speak to slightly raising the rear seat and sliding it forward. I can fab/weld new brackets...

 

Yup. You can take the plastics off the rear of the seats and it will still have the same issues.

Someone moved the seats forwards about 1 inch to get more clearance so I know it can be done. Not sure if there is a write up on here on how to do it but it is possible.

 

I have a single 10" sub behind my seats. When the seats are folded down, the plastic on the seats touch the surround, but not the cone. When the seats are folded up they don't touch any part of the sub or sub box. I figured it was fine since I never keep the seats folded down. If your seats don't touch the speaker when they're up, I'd say to just leave it all alone. The minimal amount of pushing on the speaker done by the seat is likely much less than the amount they move when you're listening to music.

 

Oh yeah, I agree. With the seat backs upright, I have decent clearance and I doubt these JL's have enough excursion to make contact with the plastic seat backs.

I'm just going for a more "finished" look where everything works as it should.

 

Gotcha. I totally understand that. I went out to look at mine to see if I could come up with any other ideas for you. I noticed that the plastic doesn't actually touch the sub. Its the fabric below the plastic that does. And you have to get right on top of it to notice that it even touches.



Its kind of hard to tell in the picture below, but there is a gap between the seat plastic and the sub.



I don't know how willing you would be to buy a new box, but I have one from Super Crew Sound. Granted its only for a single sub, but I would imagine the dual sub box isn't any deeper (a quick email to them could confirm this). It also looks like we have the same subs too. So if you don't mind a slight touch but you want it to look good, consider getting a new box since you really have to get right on top of it all and look straight down to notice the seat touching the sub.
This is the box for you if you wanted to buy a new one. I kind of doubt you'd want to buy new one, but I just thought I'd give you another option to consider.

 

any one have any info on the seat brackets that move it for a little more clearance?

 

I designed my box to allow the seats to fold and full excursion to not touch the seats. What a stupid idea and waste of space. I never use the function because anything put on the seats risks sliding into the speaker and damaging them. Your mission is a fools folly. You wont use the folding function so don't make a box to accommodate it. Enjoy your extra cubic inches of box volume.

 

Thanks Riverdog - the feedback on the spacing helps, and we apparently have the same JL's, too.

I will admit that I am good at fool's follies - I've restored several old cars I've searched for hours now trying to find threads or projects where people have moved their seats. I've found a few where people have used washers for fine adjustments (fractions of inches).

It looks like I just need to shave off a few millimeters where ever I can. Then, perhaps some fine adjustments with a few washers as spacers. The way it is now, I can just see my kids trying to force the seats down

 

Well good luck with whatever you end up doing. You obviously have excellent judgement when it comes to subs so I'm sure you'll end up with the perfect setup

 

I noticed my sub box from MrMarv does this same thing, The fabric hits the sub but it totally doesn't matter when the seat is up because that fabric moves down and forward, away from the sub. This is just maximizing on the space available. It should not negatively affect performance in any way.

I agree with the guys saying to go for the biggest box you can. Your storage space is gone one way or another.

 

Are you still having the problem folding the seat? I was going to buy that box and I also want to be able to use my seat folded down

 

I did play with the box a bit more. I don't think I had it in there completely square and true. I can now fold the seat down, just like Riverdog's photo shows. The seat foam clearly is touching the sub's surround, but no big deal in my opinion. I did not have to cut or bend any of the brackets on the back wall of the cab, either.

I still intend to shim the bottom of the seat back forward a little (with washers) and see if I can gain a little more clearance. I have not had the time to play with it though...

With the seat back up and locked, there is plenty of room for the woofer.

 

Just remove the seat backs. Problem solved.

 

The prefab boxes won't allow you to use the subs with the seats down unless you use something like the Type-R shallow which comes built with a guard to protect the cone/surround. Even then I wouldn't suggest playing the sub with the seats down.