Moving 2nd row of seats back

Just bought a 2005 Tahoe Z71 and seeing if it would be possible to move the 2nd row of seats back a few inches.... or if anyone has done this before (i tried to search but no luck).

My Tahoe does NOT have the 3rd row of seats, just a lot of space in the back so I'm trying to figure out how this can be done. I know its possible to do so, I had a friend who had the same year Yukon that he bought with the 2nd row moved back 8 inches and the third row taken out. It has some serious mods and probably cost mid $x,*** to do so.

Any suggestions?

I believe they mount into brackets in the floor panel. I am not certain (maybe someone else here is) but I would think it would require cutting them out and welding them in further back.

Sounds like it could be easily done...there is enough room..All we need now is someone to chime in who did it with (how-to guide)

Maybe Copper&Black or JK?

Might be ackward considering the floor is not flat. It raised up somewhat in the back. Short people would be left with dangling legs and taller people would be head in headliner. I've see this done with an Infinity QX56 and a Navigator, but they have more room in the back for the seats. If that doesn't dissuade you though it would require cutting out the mounts and welding them in further back. Could be an afternoon project with the right tools.

Well .... its dont forwards all the time.. you have to to tuck 24s if you dont stretch the control arms.. and you have to to tuck on 26s regardless .. but forward..

Well.. the act of moving them should be the easy .. you will lose the benefit of them folding down.. since they will no longet be over the buckets.. other than that its just relocating some brackets..

there might be a floorboard issue..not on the feet side.. you have over a foot before the raises.. but .. on the back of the seat needing to be lifted to clear the raised part of the floor where the back of the seat is now.. without walking outside to really look at the floor board im not sure...


What would be rad.. and keep the geometry right.. would be to move the top of the seat back as far as you wanted.

and modify the bottom part to be thinner.. or fabricate a lower seat to fit in there and just wrap it to look stock... if you did that you could get up to a foot easily.

just move them back to the third row location and modifiy the seat brackets. imo

o btw its easier said than done. haha

I would like to see this done myself, subscribed. Hell if I get some time I might do it since JK has a welder...


B

I want to see this done. While your at it you could make it have more of a recline to it instead of being straight up almost. That should help with head room a bit too.

I think it would be possible...... easily actually if you know how to weld and design a new frame to sopport the seat. The frame is contoured to fit the floor in 2 "step like" sections and that would need to be cut off flat, or with only one step in the frame to drop down in that major drop in the cabin just behind the 2nd row. Only other problem I would see is that the frame for the 2nd row is right underneath the seat in the back with little distance to the bottom of the frame, so installed at the cargo area's height would most likely raise the height of the seat limiting head room for someone. You will also not be able to fold the seats down all the way to the floor, or very far at all b/c the back of the seat needs the space in the floor to tuck into...

I'll post some pictures of the 2nd row frame later so you can better visualize what I'm talking about

I have a family friend that says he thinks he can do the welding very easily. Ive seen a few things online about allowing the seats to recline a bit which would be nice.

If I can get the seats back about six inches then im going to fabricate some leg rests into the bottom of the seat for smaller people to have leg support.

I'm looking at doing some basic type of mods to the SUV and make sure i post pics. Here is a list:

Replace stock nav touch screen system
- iPhone intergration
- Bluetooth support
- adding in backup camera
Add in iPhone dock for iPhone instead of plugging it into the glove compartment
Add sonar to front and back bumpers
Move 2nd row seats back six inches or so
- I dont have a 3rd row of seats
Replace stock 7" TV monitor with 12" monitor or add 9" monitors to front head rests
- possibly adding in monitor to front passenger dash or sun shade
Add in Xbox 360 system to monitors and wireless headphones
Add in 12v plug adapter in the back for standard plugs
Replace stock wheels with 22" rims and tires
Add remote start & alarm system

Few more things I'm thinking of adding, but pretty far down the road:
Internet/Wireless network
- I have a wifi card that I rarely use unless I travel
Satellite TV
- either with something like FLO TV or some other provider
Media center hard drive to store DVD rips so I dont have to keep DVDs in the car

Its going to be a fun project

Copper&Black said:

I think it would be possible...... easily actually if you know how to weld and design a new frame to sopport the seat.

Click to expand...

Yup shouldn't be too difficult....long as you don't mind barreling through all the Dynamat


B

Here are the pictures of the Drivers side 2nd row. There is only 1 step not two, my bad...
I would think if you chop the front support and where the step in the support drops, so that you have the same seat bottom angle as stock, and then weld the remaining sections to some flat stock for some nice feet. The front legs will have to be longer of course b/c they wil still be in the lower portion of the cabin, and the back will be in the cargo area portion. The studs sticking out of the floor will need to be cut, and the carpet replaced to cover the hole, or if you want floor mats to cover it up. to mount it to the floor I would use bolts through the flat stock welded to the support, through the floor, through another piece of flat stock then though the nut on the bottom side. Grade A bolts too, wouldn't want that bench breaking loose in a crash.

word i forgot the seat was flat.. shit.. MOVE IT

Thanks for the pics. I talked to a family friend who said this looks total possible and a lot easier than thought.

Problem... the dealership I bought it through sold me a "GM Extended Bumper to Bumper Warranty" which I found out today is through a 3rd party company. I had the sales manager look through the paperwork and says if any "aftermarket" or "non OEM" changes are done, warranty is VOID!

I'm pretty livid because I specifically asked this when I bought the car because I had full intentions on replacing the head unit... the sales guy even gave me the name and number of a relative of his who runs a car stereo company.

So now I dont know what to do. I never signed the actual extended warranty paperwork from the 3rd party company, but did give them power of attorney for documents related to the vehicle so I'm sure they signed on my behalf (this is pretty standard, I spoke to an attorney today after I got off the phone).

In any case, the sales guy called me back this evening to apologize and said he had no idea. He said hes sold dozens of these warranties a month with their used inventory and knows a lot of customer make after market changes to their cars.

I'm going to be pretty heated if I just bough this car less than two weeks ago and can not make any changes for 4 years to the vehicle

Good Reading

http://www.tahoeyukonforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=103

Copper&Black said:

Good Reading

http://www.tahoeyukonforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=103

Click to expand...

excellent post

Ive had to quote this before in the past with dealing with a warranty problem with the dealership. Long story short... the warranty companies will find any reason why they will not have to pay for something. In my case, I had an aftermarket alarm system and remote start put in a car and the transmission died. They warranty company tried to say that the remote start may have caused electrical problems in the car which caused the transmission to shift differently than normal and they would not cover the damages

The part that I'm concerned about is replacing the head unit does involve changing some wiring in the car, which if anything electronic goes out, I dont want them to point blame.

The sales guy did say that he knows some people were covered, but never really read the details of the warranty. He said that as long as everything was "professionally" done I should "be fine" but I think I'll wait until monday and get something in writing from the warranty company

I always thought that they couldnt deny your warranty if the failed item had nothing to do with the modified part. Imo, I would still swap out the headunit like you planned and if something went wrong down the road, put the stock one back in until warranty work was done. Its not that hard to swap a deck when you use wiring harnesses.

I know one of the rules in a forum is to not revive a 15 year old thread, but was thinking if a specially made metal rectangle piece that allowed for a hole in one end to slide over the original bolt and a threaded bolt the same as the original size on the other end of the rectangle (could be 1 2 or 3 inches offset from original) that the seat would sit on (like the original). Coat would be for the metal shop to make 8 of them (for each bolt) and 8 additional Nuts to secure them.

Does this hold water? It would make it so you didn't have to cut or weld anything onto the actual frame. Could just cut a slit in the carpet so you can get the metal piece under it (it'd be under the seat so no one will see the slit).

Bad drawing for reference.

Nevermind... Just realized it wouldn't work with the rear bolts, but I wonder if you could use that for the front bolts and then maybe drill a hole in the seat frame to line up with the back bolt. I'll have to take a look.