2nd Row Rear bucket Seat 2005 XL

[SnowBuck]

If you flip up the seat bottom...the passenger side has a bunch of cables that seem to do nothing. The driver side has none at all. ???? What are they.
To flip the bottom forward all you do is pull up on the center tab. To recline or lay the back flat forward you grab the handle on the side. But what are the cables...one goes across and there are latches left & right that kinda look like for a seat the slides forward and back. But it doesn't.

 

[YukonXL04]

Picture? Maybe they are for something the previous owner had

 

[SnowBuck]

Picture? Maybe they are for something the previous owner had

No...it's all factory installed. One wire goes across and connects to a latch on the rail left & right...but there is no forward/back movement on the captain chairs. There are 2 cables that run up the inside rail.
To flip the seat back there is a handle on the side that has no connections to a cable. The seat bottom just flips up using a pull tab. Driver-side has NO cables.

 

[camaroz1985]

If it is like the bench seats, on the XL/Suburbans the passenger seat back can fold forward with the bottom cushion in place using the handle on the back. That also lets the seat move forward for someone to get into the back seat instead of walking between the seats.

Does anyone know if they made cloth buckets?

 

[SnowBuck]

... using the handle on the back. ...

What does that mean. There is NO "handle" on the back. Just the level on the side to recline or flip forward the seat back.

 

[camaroz1985]

There should be a small lever on the back of the seat near the bottom. See the attached page from the owners manual. Says it is on both bench and bucket seats.

 

[SnowBuck]

P

There should be a small lever on the back of the seat near the bottom. See the attached page from the owners manual. Says it is on both bench and bucket seats.View attachment 57880

Pic of manual was great,,,but I have no such level on the back. Will just take it in to the Dealer and have them pull up a shop manual. Cables and pulleys(?) everywhere...but nothing does anything.

 

[about20ninj45]

I don't have that cable on my truck either

 

[SnowBuck]

Figured it out!!! Man, is it a complicated mess of cables and cams(?). #1: leave the seat bottom DOWN (there's a cable on it to sense that it IS down). Twist the handle on the side that reclines the seat back B-U-T...tilt it FORWARD. It won't go much as the seat bottom is in the way. THAT pulls on 2 cables joined at a cam pivot point and releases 2 claws that have it locked in a track. It will now slide the entire seat forward for access to the 3rd row. You see...if the seat bottom were folded UP, it would be hitting the back of the front seat and the whole thing couldn't slide forward on the track.
All three cables are joined on 2 plastic pieces. There is a A LOT of stress at that point...HENCE...mine broke.
Since I have the 2nd row buckets - I don't know if the 40/60 seat is even ON a track as the bucket seat is.
The joke at the Dealers Parts Dept is the word "assembly". You can't buy that $2 broken plastic piece. You can only buy the entire rear seat cable/cam "assembly" for $250.

 

[camaroz1985]

Glad you figured it out. That's what I was trying to explain, and yes, the bench seat does the same thing but only on the passenger side, the small side of the seat.

 

[about20ninj45]

Some onec take a video of this because I'm confused as hell

 

[SnowBuck]

FIXED IT!!! Went to the junkyard = 12 Grand Cherokees...NO Suburbans/Tahoes! But after spending all afternoon trying different ideas - got it.
Problem was one of the three cables kept popping out 'cause that black plastic piece broke on top. Carefully drilled a hole with my smallest bit and slowly screwed in a small screw & washer to hold it in. Mostly works now 'cept that cable hits the cover as it extends backward and sometime it won't work!!

 

[dwalks95]

How did you get the driver side bucket seat to fold down? I went under mine and saw no cabels and figured the dumbass previous owenrs had removed them or something. My plastic levers rounded off, did you have that problem? I think the metal underneath is rusty and causing problems, I can't figure out why the back won't go down

 

[adventurenali92]

My buckets don't have the little lever on the backside of the seat. Just the handle on the side and the pull tab in the middle of the lower seat cushion. Couldn't get it to slide forward.

 

[SnowBuck]

My buckets don't have the little lever on the backside of the seat. Just the handle on the side and the pull tab in the middle of the lower seat cushion. Couldn't get it to slide forward.

Driver side 2nd row bucket does not slide forward...has no mechanism.
Passenger side 2nd row bucket sliding is caused when you tilt the seat back forward using the release handle on the outside of the seat and press down a little on the seat back. See my pic for details on the mechanism.

 

[TuckerFan48]

SnowBuck you are my hero. Thanks for the great suggestion. After searching 3 salvage yards and finding 5 Suburbans that were all broke in the exact same place I came home and began searching the internet. Somehow I stumbled on your post.

With nothing to lose, I tried your fix. It worked perfect.

I used a 5/64 drill bit and drilled the hole in the thicker part of the plastic piece, just above where the cable sets in it. Then I inserted a #4 x 3/8" metal screw with a pan Phillips head and a #4 x 9/16 washer into the hole I drilled. Holding the cable in place I tightened the screw down to where it rested on top of the cable stem. I was careful not to over tighten the screw and I tightened it by hand so it would not strip or snap the plastic.

The entire fix process took less than two minutes. Figuring out what size drill bit, screw, and washer took about a half hour to locate.

This was a great suggestion for what appears to be a common problem. To replace the part with a new one is several hundred dollars. Finding a good one in an auto salvage yard is not likely. Using this fix will cost less than 1 dollar and less take two minutes. That's a good fix.

Thanks SnowBuck !