Rear Seat Delete Weight Savings

[Desert_Gladiator]

I have a SHW Offroad rear seat delete kit arriving this week, so I figured I'd get a jump start with removing the seats and belt retractors. Also since I'm trying to keep my build under the max load rating, I'm keeping track of the weight of all things I add or remove from the Gladiator. I haven't seen weights of the seats posted elsewhere, so figured I'd share for anyone else that may find this information useful. I have the cloth interior. I reinstalled many of the bolts to keep holes plugged - someone that was VERY serious about weight savings could probably save an additional pound or so by plugging the holes with sealant rather than reinstalling bolts.

Here's the weight of the various components I removed, as weighed on a digital bathroom scale.

60% Seat - 50.2 lb
40% Seat - 35.4 lb
Belt Retractors (total) - 4.8 lb
Rear Floor Mats (total) - 4.8 lb
Removed Misc Hardware - 1.0 lb
Under-seat Tray - 4.6lb
Total - 100.8 lb

The seat retractors were probably more work than the seats themselves. They're lighter than I'd expected, so maybe not worth the effort.

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[Jaxmax]

I started out doing that and lost track! I know my winch install added about 70 pounds, I remember Smlobx did a seat delete and made his own really nice platform and I think end result was a 70 pound savings. Might be nice to get two eyebolts where the shoulder straps went , or even something like a coat hook......Jack

 

[Desert_Gladiator]

I started out doing that and lost track! I know my winch install added about 70 pounds, I remenber Smolbx did a seat delete and made his own reallty nice platform and I think end result was a 70 pound savings. Might be nice to get two eyebolts where the shoulder straps went , or even something like a coat hook......Jack

Smart thinking! I had a thought of a fire extinguisher mount, but I think eye bolts would end up being more useful, since there are plentiful options for mounting a fire extinguisher anyway.

 

[CJ5w4wdSmokyOnMyTail]

I'm just getting ready to do a DIY 60% rear seat delete and one part of my reasoning is weight savings. So you, my friend, have just done me a favor with your post. Thank you very much for taking the time to share the weight info!

 

[fourfa]

I took some notes when I had mine out, might as well share here too:

Left 40% seat 36.08 lbs
Right 60% seat 57.68 lbs
Locking under seat box 16.52 lbs
(Total 110.28 lbs)

Cloth Rubicon seats (no idea if trim matters)

 

[RoamingGladiator]

This is awesome! Thanks for weighing everything, that's super helpful. Also planning on deleting my rear seats and building out some storage in there as I turn my JTRD into an overlander. Looking to do some drawers + storing my battery systems in there.

That's some solid weight savings.

 

[CJ5w4wdSmokyOnMyTail]

I have a SHW Offroad rear seat delete kit arriving this week, so I figured I'd get a jump start with removing the seats and belt retractors. Also since I'm trying to keep my build under the max load rating, I'm keeping track of the weight of all things I add or remove from the Gladiator. I haven't seen weights of the seats posted elsewhere, so figured I'd share for anyone else that may find this information useful. I have the cloth interior. I reinstalled many of the bolts to keep holes plugged - someone that was VERY serious about weight savings could probably save an additional pound or so by plugging the holes with sealant rather than reinstalling bolts.

Here's the weight of the various components I removed, as weighed on a digital bathroom scale.

60% Seat - 50.2 lb
40% Seat - 35.4 lb
Belt Retractors (total) - 4.8 lb
Rear Floor Mats (total) - 4.8 lb
Removed Misc Hardware - 1.0 lb
Under-seat Tray - 4.6lb
Total - 100.8 lb

The seat retractors were probably more work than the seats themselves. They're lighter than I'd expected, so maybe not worth the effort.

I started to remove my 60% rear seat today using a breaker bar on the four bolts and started stripping the bolts. Did you have any trouble with the bolts?

 

[Desert_Gladiator]

I started to remove my 60% rear seat today using a breaker bar on the four bolts and started stripping the bolts. Did you have any trouble with the bolts?

The bolts have an "inverted Torx" head, size E14. A 12pt 11mm socket might also work in a pinch, but with all the threadlocker on those, you're probably best off picking up a set of the inverted torx sockets to get them out. I used a 1/2" drive ratcheting breaker bar that's about 20" long for leverage on the first few turns.

Edit: that's not the only place the inverted torx bolts are used on the truck, so you'll probably be happy you have a set if you get into other projects as well.

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