Rear seat issues?

[Shackleton]

We took a trip a couple of weeks ago and I had the larger portion of the rear seat flipped up with my dog in his dog bed on the floor. on the car ride home on the highway the seat “ fell” down from the upright position and scared the dog but he was unhurt and we learned he fits under the seat as long as he is laying down . I did have a few things tucked in between the seat when it was upright and I attributed the “ fall” to that. Fast forward to yesterday- the seat is up with nothing tucked in, I’m not on the highway but I apply the brakes a bit harder than normal due to Someone in front of me doing the same. I hear a loud bang and ultimately determine the seat had slammed down into the seated position. Is this common ? I had my Tundra for 7 years and never once had the seat move. Is there a way to tighten something? Any advice is appreciated.
thank you

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[MrZappo]

We took a trip a couple of weeks ago and I had the larger portion of the rear seat flipped up with my dog in his dog bed on the floor. on the car ride home on the highway the seat “ fell” down from the upright position and scared the dog but he was unhurt and we learned he fits under the seat as long as he is laying down . I did have a few things tucked in between the seat when it was upright and I attributed the “ fall” to that. Fast forward to yesterday- the seat is up with nothing tucked in, I’m not on the highway but I apply the brakes a bit harder than normal due to Someone in front of me doing the same. I hear a loud bang and ultimately determine the seat had slammed down into the seated position. Is this common ? I had my Tundra for 7 years and never once had the seat move. Is there a way to tighten something? Any advice is appreciated.
thank you

Id guess that the seat is not intended to stay up under "driving conditions" ... It is intended to be lifted to get stuff from under the seat or put stuff under the seat ...

Id get a strap of any kind from home depot or place like that if it isn't preferable to you ... Put a strap on it and never worry about it again ...

It does not sound like a design flaw to me ....

 

[NC_Overland]

Jesus. How small is your dog?

 

[Shackleton]

Id guess that the seat is not intended to stay up under "driving conditions" ... It is intended to be lifted to get stuff from under the seat or put stuff under the seat ...

Id get a strap of any kind from home depot or place like that if it isn't preferable to you ... Put a strap on it and never worry about it again ...

It does not sound like a design flaw to me ....

I don’t know what the design intent was or if others have had this problem but I can’t be the only person who intends to put his dog on the floor or flip the seat up to carry cargo occasionally. Let’s say I bought a small table and wanted to bring it home in the back seat instead of in the bed Due to weather etc. I flip up the seat, start driving and for some reason the seat slams down and damages the table. I can get a strap easy enough but if my seat is functioning as intended I would say it absolutely is a design flaw. A notch of some kind in the hardware that allows the seat to be raised would be all that is needed. comments welcome if anyone has a solution or has made an adjustment to fix this

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Only one of my cats would fit under there and she'd have to be laying on her side........
I agree, strap it. Be creative, even cheap, or cheap and creative.
It's meant to latch up just enough to get stuff out of storage. It doesn't take much to pull it back down even by hand.

 

[Shackleton]

Jesus. How small is your dog?

30 lbs, was curled up in a ball sleeping.

 

[MrZappo]

If it wasn't designed to stay up, and it slams down that it isn't a design flaw.

Just because some other brand stays up has no bearing on this.

If I had to venture a guess I'd say that most people put down a pad and have their dogs lay in the seat.

In any event. There is no argument here. I don't believe it is a flaw. If you think that it is than you should write a strongly worded letter to FCA. If they have had a significant number of complaints of seats slamming down on dogs while driving they will likely provide you with a repair or compensation. Or they might do nothing.

That being said, I provided a solution. Get a strap.

 

[Shackleton]

Only one of my cats would fit under there and she'd have to be laying on her side........
I agree, strap it. Be creative, even cheap, or cheap and creative.
It's meant to latch up just enough to get stuff out of storage. It doesn't take much to pull it back down even by hand.

Agreed With the minimal resistance needed to pull it down. My Tundra was not difficult to pull down the raised seat but it maybe required I pull a handle. I’m guessing there was some kind of positive clasp taking place with the mechanism. It’s something that I’d never give a thought too until the seat fell. It’s funny the choices that are made during design or things that are overlooked. There could be a good reason that it is the way it is. Maybe something more sturdy wouldve taken up too much space. Before I bought this awesome truck I looked and looked for deals on other full sized trucks and was floored to see some manufacturers don’t have a std 60/40 split in the base model back seat or the new Chevy Custom trail boss trim did not have a center console ( even the seat version) that opened with storage space. Crazy to not have simple things like that on every model. if You don’t want to give me lights in thee visor on the less expensive trim fine, but to have an armrest in the front seat without storage seems crazy.

 

[Troybilt]

Just because you want it to be designed to stay in the up position while in motion does not make it so. If it was indeed to be used like described above by @MrZappo than it works just fine and there is no design flaw. I would strap it and move on to my next headache.

 

[Shackleton]

If it wasn't designed to stay up, and it slams down that it isn't a design flaw.

Just because some other brand stays up has no bearing on this.

If I had to venture a guess I'd say that most people put down a pad and have their dogs lay in the seat.

In any event. There is no argument here. I don't believe it is a flaw. If you think that it is than you should write a strongly worded letter to FCA. If they have had a significant number of complaints of seats slamming down on dogs while driving they will likely provide you with a repair or compensation. Or they might do nothing.

That being said, I provided a solution. Get a strap.

I think we are mincing words here. Unless there is a good reason that it could not be designed to stay up because of some other trade off it should have been designed to. Anyone that has had this ability on another truck they have owned has found it very useful. Before I go with a DIY solution I thought it made sense to ask the people in the forum If there is an adjustment of some kind that can be made.

 

[MrZappo]

No. It was designed the way it was designed. Obviously this was not part of their spec or design intent.

And should have been or not is a matter of opinion.

Since this is an easy change you have to assume that they weren't paying attention to it. And if it was such a critical design element that everyone who has ever owned a truck had demanded it than it would be part of the spec. This stuff does not happen by accident.

Now, if you voice your opinion and others do than it may find itself into future designs. They do build these things to satisfy customers. And they do that by adjusting their designs year to year to follow the desires of the consumers.

If you find it important than let them know. Maybe it will find its way into your 2024 gladiator.

 

[Shackleton]

Just because you want it to be designed to stay in the up position while in motion does not make it so. If it was indeed to be used like described above by @MrZappo than it works just fine and there is no design flaw. I would strap it and move on to my next headache.

No argument here. My initial inquiry was a question to see if others have had this occur. At best it is a missed opportunity but I can make it function the way I want with a strap. It’s easy enough. Maybe more will chime in but I used my last truck an awful lot transporting things with the rear seat upright and I guess I took that functionality for granted. It’s not a knock. I love this truck

 

[NC_Overland]

I agree with what was previously stated. Have the dog sit on the rear seat. I have seat covers in both of our vehicles. They are both also easy to install and remove. The one in the Nissan is basically permanently installed. It’s the dog/kid hauler. Not sure which one is worse...

 

[Renegade]

Jesus. How small is your dog?

Jesus has every kind and size of dog.

 

[Shackleton]

No. It was designed the way it was designed. Obviously this was not part of their spec or design intent.

And should have been or not is a matter of opinion.

Since this is an easy change you have to assume that they weren't paying attention to it. And if it was such a critical design element that everyone who has ever owned a truck had demanded it than it would be part of the spec. This stuff does not happen by accident.

Now, if you voice your opinion and others do than it may find itself into future designs. They do build these things to satisfy customers. And they do that by adjusting their designs year to year to follow the desires of the consumers.

If you find it important than let them know. Maybe it will find its way into your 2024 gladiator.

Jesus has every kind and size of dog.

Shackleton is a a Kerry Blue Terrier and a little on the runty side. 14 plus years and still has the energy of a puppy

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