Under rear seat access locked out

[whysoserious]

That would be a cool safety feature that we could use to our benefit when running doorless, if we can figure out how it works and reverse engineer a way to do it at will.

On the inside of the seat hinge (door side of seat), there's this little spring-loaded lever that activates the lock when it moves downward (probably some sort of counter weight):

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[fourfa]

This is surely meant to be a safety feature, to keep the underseat items from flying around loose in a rollover crash. But yeah, seems too sensitive and strange that there’s not a release lever

 

[49Gramps]

Never knew this. I keep my winch controller, soft shackles, tow strap, tree strap, pulley, etc, under the rear seat. Automatic locking could present a problem, as in the past, when I've really needed that stuff, I was in a position that I couldn't access the back latch or gate at all. Keeping that stuff in the bed with the hard tonneau cover, could present the same lack of accessibility.

 

[whysoserious]

FYI, you can still reach your hand under the seat. When the lock is activated, the seat will lift about 6-7 inches in the front ('21 Mojave).

 

[Pickle_Bill]

FYI, you can still reach your hand under the seat. When the lock is activated, the seat will lift about 6-7 inches in the front ('21 Mojave).

Hmmm, I was able to lift mine just enough to barely get my hand in. Not enough room to root around and pull out what I needed.

 

[Fishee]

I second that earlier comment that someone needs to make it so it locks when we want f when the doors are off for people without the locking under seat storage. Figures Jeep would charge extra for locking under seat storage when apparently all seats have the ability to lock...

 

[whysoserious]

Hmmm, I was able to lift mine just enough to barely get my hand in. Not enough room to root around and pull out what I needed.

My Mojave came with the "extra-space-to-reach-in-when-the-rear-seat-locks-going-up-a-steep-incline" option.

 

[Reddog]

Not sure the seats actually lock as I tilted my JT up severely to one side and I could still access the cargo storage area under seat. Maybe I didn't have it titled on the roll axis enough. It's tempting to put all one's recovery gear and such under the rear seat and out of sight. But as you noted, if the vehicle rolls over the last thing you want to have to do while trying to hold on for the ride is worry about a steel shackle hitting you or you family in the back of the head. In my case, the dog owns the back seat and stands on a platform I built for that purpose and this makes it difficult to access the under seat storage. So I keep everything I need in the bed in some type of strong bag. If I roll it over, hopefully the myriad of tools will stay in the bags and not all over the countryside. Remember, if your tires are pointing upward after the event, you will need those tools to try to get it right side up after you quit shaking.

 

[Joe_G]

I second that earlier comment that someone needs to make it so it locks when we want f when the doors are off for people without the locking under seat storage. Figures Jeep would charge extra for locking under seat storage when apparently all seats have the ability to lock...

I third that comment! Maybe one of these days I'll fab up a locking tab like some others have done on here, but man if there was a way to lock it down attached to the seat back lockdown, that would be optimal. Maybe some smart aftermarket folks will come up with that!

 

[AstroZombie]

So, it looks like somewhere around 10-15 degrees when it locks. I'll qualify my photography skills with the fact I am not a photographer. The lock is on the door side hinge of both seats. You have to pry the two plastic cover apart slightly to see the latch/lock:

Yellow arrow is pointing at the bottom of the latch/lock:

You need to insert a small screwdriver or similar and lift up on the latch, seat should lift:

This is GREAT!!

 

[ATL_Rubi]

I just SCOURED the manual to see if there was any mention of a "feature." It would be great if we could manipulate this. I almost always have the seats folded up w/o the cargo container, and the pups on the floor. I always fear the seats will come down on top of them, if it could be locked in either the up or down position, that would be great.

 

[Curt Oz]

How do you like those swing boxes? I see them now and then and have considered them for my truck. Could you tell me how much space is left between the two boxes?

35 1/2" between the boxes

 

[whysoserious]

Not sure the seats actually lock as I tilted my JT up severely to one side and I could still access the cargo storage area under seat. Maybe I didn't have it titled on the roll axis enough. It's tempting to put all one's recovery gear and such under the rear seat and out of sight. But as you noted, if the vehicle rolls over the last thing you want to have to do while trying to hold on for the ride is worry about a steel shackle hitting you or you family in the back of the head. In my case, the dog owns the back seat and stands on a platform I built for that purpose and this makes it difficult to access the under seat storage. So I keep everything I need in the bed in some type of strong bag. If I roll it over, hopefully the myriad of tools will stay in the bags and not all over the countryside. Remember, if your tires are pointing upward after the event, you will need those tools to try to get it right side up after you quit shaking.

So, I just tested the roll angle for my driver side rear. These are rough estimates working on my bench without the two extra hands I needed. However, for my '21 Mojave, It took about 30 degrees of roll to the passenger side and about 50 degrees to the driver side to lock. As much as I could tell from the benchtop, the seat stays locked until the seat gets back below those angles. Bear in mind, that was a level roll (no pitch). It also appears that in a pitched position (I said 10-15 degrees before but it appears to be closer to 20-ish) the seat bottom will also lock in the up position.

 

[Outback_Joe]

Thanks OP, I do keep some of my gear under the rear seats but more of it is going into my contractors box now. We do a lot of off road travels alone so this is an interesting (feature) way to keep you from extracting your rig when alone.

 

[Lunentucker]

@Threedom - Get busy on making us a way to use the safety catch as a doors-off lock mechanism. Make it cheap, durable, simple, easy, and with zodiac and sports team themes too ?

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