Yup, thats right folks! I added a third row of seats to my unlimited for under a $100.00 Now, before i get started, i want everyone who reads this to know, that i am in fact aware of the whole safe unsafe debate of having a third row seat install, what happens if i get rear ended etc etc... while many of you make valid points, i'm not driving seven people around in my jeep every day morning til night. I drive around usually me, and sometime a few others, but on rare occasion, there are times when i need the two extra seats like when i'm the Designated driver from the bar. SO the third row works for me as its usually a short ride, i am a safe driver, people are barely back there etc etc etc... again, you all make valid points, and i've read them, and i've still decided to add the seat, so no need post them here.

Now, for the good stuff.

Step one. Remove factory sub, i thought i'd really miss it, but to be honest, i hardly notice its gone.

Step two. Go to local pull apart junk yard and purchase a middle bench with desired upholstery from a dodge caravan. Its literally the PERFECT width to fit back there.

Step three. Remove the one armrest from the caravan bench as well as the caravan mounting brackets, this can be done by simply unbolting it all from the bottom of the bench. The armrest was a bit tricky, i pulled off some of the seat upholstery, and cut off the bracket for it welded to the inside of the seat with a cutting wheel...

Step four. Attach a bracket like mine to the factory rear seat mounts (see picture below)


Step five. Weld steel square tube to the bottom of the bench seat after measuring for the proper length (sorry i no longer have these measurements)

Step six. install seat in rear of jeep throught the tailgate, mark where to be drilled for the clevis pins, remove seat and drill.

Step seven. install seat, install clevis pins, and oh so carefully measure and measure again the proper length and angle of rear driverside bench welded steel tube so that the tailgate will shut and actually hold it down when shut. (see picture below)


heres the rest of the pics and two of my jeep







There is plenty of room back there for even me and i'm 220 lbs at 5'10'
The bench ran me 35 bucks and the hardware a few dollars, the steel tube i had laying around and the seat belts where the costly part at 25 bucks a piece. i used lap belts as my passengers will be taller and theres nowhere to mount the shoulder belt support. It remove in a matter of minutes, pull two cotter pins, two clevis pins, and fold the seat flat and pull it right out.

Best part about the caravan seat, is it comes with headrests, and it has a lever on the passenger side that folds the seat flat or reclines it back. while there is no room to recline it back in the jeep, when i go to the drive in, we pop it out, set it on the ground and recline it back to sit in while other sit in the back of the jeep... it works out really nice. since it folds flat i can still have a fair amount of storage in there with it up or down, and since it comes right out, i don't feel like i've really sacrifed the storage ability of the jeep. The only thing i've had an issue with, was reaching the lever on the side of the seat, i tied a piece of green rope to it long enough to leave sticking up when the seat is folded down to make it easier to release the lever.

best part of it all, i can still get the top down with the seat up. Though to top doesn't sit as nicely as with the seat down, it does still in fact fold down for the world's only seven seater convertable 4x4. I'm very happy with its fit and function. I wanted a TJ seat but couldn't find one anywhere for cheap, and this just happened to be there when i went looking, so i baught it.

 

sorry about the huge pictures, haha, thats not the first time i've done that... lol i still am not too good with that kinda stuff... and the green rope i mention is noticable in one of the pics, also, i did add a flat piece of aluminum to the angled rear leg of the seat so the steel tube isn't cutting into the tailgate. Also, the brackets i used, and the steel tube i used don't look to beefy in the pic, but its plenty thick in person... just incase anyone was wondering.

 

good idea....,

 

thanks, i like it a lot

 

Are you relying on the tailgate to hold down the back side of the seat?

I would not trust that from a safety standpoint. (And I'm not bashing the third row, I have one also). My concern is that in even a mild accident (say you hit someone, the seat will try to pivot forward on you, & if it's held in place at the front with a clevis pin, that could happen easily.

I would want it pinned at the back also. You can install a similar bracket on the back side & drill through the tub to install a plate. I know you've already seen the write-up on the Little Seats, but their underside plate seams like a very good idea.

That being said, your passengers are still probably safer than riding home without a designated driver!

 

the tailgate isn't the only thing holding it from pivoting, the bars up front are too long past the clevis to allow it to pivot. the rear of the seat only lifts two inches max before it refuses to lift any higher. My original idea was to put another bracket in the rear, but this just happened to work out so nicely i stuck with it. the tailgate's driver side has that extra bump that protrudes out of it, and closes on top of the seats rear bar and it closes very snuggly on there too, it keeps firm pressure on it when closed. I agree with you that another bracket would be even better, and i maybe add one eventually, but for now i'm happy with its function and ease of removal. and i did see you're post about the little seats, they were my first pick, but their bench seat with headrests was about 900 bucks above my budget for this particular project, haha. the singles that i beleive you have are also very nice and i was thinking about those too, but being that i'm hauling bigger people, a bench was the way to go .

 

Great job. Could you take an overhead pic with the top off?

Also, how about removing the 2nd row for a stretch limo effect?

 

i'll snap some pics next time i have the top down.. the heats been unbarable lately and my commute to work is through construction with lots of standing still... so its been top up with a/c lately, but i'll pull the top down soon enough and snap some pics for ya, along with that, i haven't removed the second row but have folded it down and it does give a lot of leg room, haha. It actually got me thinking, if someone with an unlimited, bought the rear seat from a two door, and removed the three passenger rear seat to install the rear seat from the two door further back between the wheel humps, it would offer a ton of leg space, still lots of cargo, but only four people, none the less, i think it would be a really cool idea.

 

i wish i would have gotten an unlimited!

 

if you lay the seats in the middle down it is just like a limmo....