Rear seat modification to fold flat

Discussion in 'Prius v Accessories and Modifications' started by ChaseE, Jan 18, 2025 at 1:19 AM.

  1. ChaseE

    ChaseE Member

    Joined:
    Nov 13, 2021
    64
    29
    29
    Location:
    Oregon
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    So I finally tore down the sides of the rear seats to determine if there was a way to modify it and make it fold nearly flat, as it's not only necessary requirement for how I haul the product for my business, but would also make setting it up to sleep in much easier.

    There's just a few screws on the side plastic, and then you just pry on the edges until they pop off. Just as I thought, the circular pivot point has a metal stop tab on each end to prevent it moving more forward or reclining too far back...my guess is so that the coil spring does not lose too much tension and bind up causing issues, but I could care less about the convenience of the seat flopping forward on its own.


    The plan is to use my Dremel and cut out a section of the metal at each point on each side, and then test the seat angle.

    I'll get the necessary supplies at the hardware store tomorrow and hopefully have an update.
     
  2. ChaseE

    ChaseE Member

    Joined:
    Nov 13, 2021
    64
    29
    29
    Location:
    Oregon
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    UPDATE: got a fiber reinforced metal cut-off wheel for my Dremel at Lowe's today...this was much easier than I thought it was going to be! Took about 2 minutes per side on the first small seat to cut a diagonal angle as you can see in the picture.

    The result? The seat now goes completely flat without compromising functionality, other than keeping the coil spring removed so you have to move the seat down yourself instead of assistance from the spring tension.

    Now I just have to do the other seat, and put all the plastic back on. All in all a pretty quick modification once I figured out what I needed to do. To use this for hauling cargo that needs to stay flat and occasional using it to sleep in while maintaining use of the seats.
     
  3. ChaseE

    ChaseE Member

    Joined:
    Nov 13, 2021
    64
    29
    29
    Location:
    Oregon
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
  4. Air_Boss

    Air_Boss Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jun 2, 2012
    4,067
    1,122
    0
    Location:
    New Yawk
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Five
    Why leave the springs out?
     
  5. ChaseE

    ChaseE Member

    Joined:
    Nov 13, 2021
    64
    29
    29
    Location:
    Oregon
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Because if you relieve too much tension on the spring, it can fall out of the bracket causing it to bind up... Probably the reason why they created that metal tab stop in the first place. They only had so much circumference to work with, so they chose a thicker more durable spring instead of a thinner one that might break over time but would allow more freedom of movement.
     
    Air_Boss likes this.
  6. ChaseE

    ChaseE Member

    Joined:
    Nov 13, 2021
    64
    29
    29
    Location:
    Oregon
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Now that I know the maximum efficiency configuration to load cargo, I'm now determining what's possible for sleeping. Now that the seats go flat, I can use the old Gen 2 Prius trick of sliding the front seats forward and reclining all the way back as you can see in the image...this gives you 73in in length to work with for a mattress pad.
     

    Attached Files: