Fold Down Passenger Seat Question

Hey all first post. Been all over the place and can't find an answer. Why does Toyota warn against driving the vehicle with the front passenger seat in the folded down tray position? They also go out of their way to make the tray surface crazy slick so items slide around, as if to discourage using it while driving. Is this just a typical hedge against liability? What is the real risk of driving with it down? The only one I can think of is a child passenger in the back seat having debris come through window with nothing to stop it. However thats a risk for all front seat riders in every vehicle on the road.

It's a nice feature to have - makes the interior feel a little more open and is extremely convenient to have kid in the car seat with the tray right there in front of them and next to you. You can reach stuff on the tray with ease and access the child since there's no seat back blocking you. Just can't figure out why Toyota warns against it so aggressively...

 

do you have the statement where they say this?.. I honestly don't think it would be an issue.. government and state officials warn against speeding but ppl still do it... I would say just weigh the options and what /where you are going..

 

Airbags.

 

Which ones though? The seat is folded down so no one can sit there anyway

 

It says it in the owners manual, as well as the sticker on the back of the passenger seat.

Thought about the airbag issue, and is why I thought the warnings were just a CYA on Toyota's part. But a child in the back seat is presumably out of the danger zone since the back seat is farther back than the front seat's rear-most position. The passenger airbag is also easily disabled, which we've done.

I get the warning for warnings sake. Just wish they wouldn't have made the tray surface so slick to discourage its use while driving. I actually put a place-mat on there as a work-around, and am considering something more permanent like athetic tape.

 

They don't want people putting things on there that will become projectiles if you drive around and hit something.

 

Cuz something on the back of the seat that's been folded down is any more of a hazard than anything that isn't secured down anywhere else in the cab??

On the thought of why did they make it so slick though... Some of us use it everywhere else on the truck, but why not pull it off and give it a coating of plasti-dip??

 

well.. maybe I should read my manual.. guess I rely too much on TW..lol

 

Airbags don't go off if there's no weight on the seat cushion.

 

What about plasti coat?

 

I am just thinking if somehow the sensor is fooled and thinks there is weight when the back is laying forward. Then if the air bag did go off and rammed into the seat then something will brake and go flying? I don't really know I am just making up shit.

 

x2 Things sitting on that tray are more likely to move around than if it were just sitting on the seat or on the floorboards.

 

Probably the most likely reasoning, if only because items sitting on the tray are up higher. Messed around with it on the way home from work last night:

If you slam on the breaks, everything on the tray flies forward and onto the floor (no risk to the kid). If you gun it enough from a stop, you can get those items to fly back and, yup, land in the car seat (not good). I supposed the same would be true if you got hit from behind, but as TurboGT said, every loose item in the cab then becomes a hazard regardless of where it is.

Guess I'll just need to use common sense with what goes on there. Tools - no. Sippy cup and toys - sure. That intererior configuration in the Access Cab is just too irresistably convenient when its you and the kid with no additional passenger.

 

On the newer trucks you also have an airbag in the seat that could possibly be set off if the seat is down and the truck thinks there is someone sitting there. That could throw the seat backwards or sideways in a crash at a high rate of speed. IDK if the 06 model has those though.

 

Airbag in the seat? Where at ? I thought they usually wanted to keep the passengers in the seat not push them out of it

 

My '09 has seat airbags

They are in the side of the top section of the seat

 

^^This! My '11 has them.

 

So they wouldn't affect a fold down seat

 

They are for side impact. They go out and forward.

 

On the side.