Under rear seat access locked out

[Pickle_Bill]

So, I think I found a "safety feature" that is making me rethink what I store under my rear seat. I got stuck in a washed out trail at 25 degree roll angle. I needed to get under my rear seat to get my tree saver, soft shackles and snatch blocks. no luck, seats were locked down. I have searched the web to find if this is a feature, but couldn't find anything. Has anyone else experienced this? I suppose it makes sense to have the seats lock down incase of a roll over or something. Thankfully I had friends with me and used their recovery gear.

Sponsored

 

[ChrisNLA]

I can't prove or disprove the theory - but it would make sense if that is the case. I often wonder if I was going to get hit with all my tools under the back seat if I roll the truck over and the seat bottoms flip up I have literally all of my usual hand tools under the back seat. Two tool rolls, a cordless impact, flash light, chargers, OBD scan tool, multimeter, complete socket and ratchet set in a plastic case, ball peen hammer, breaker bar, 15" adjustable wrench, 36" zip ties....it would make a hell of a mess during an 'unplanned deployment'.

At any rate - my plan is to have my recovery gear stored somewhere in the bed where I can access it no matter what, and quickly.

Tools (that I most likely won't need in a precarious situation) under the back seat.

Quick grab items I think will be going to my driver side rack box (above the awning). Recovery gear, tire plug kit, straps and ropes, etc. Things that I don't typically need to access when my awning is deployed and the box is harder to get to.

Passenger side rack box, camping chairs, hatchet, small hand saw, tarps, other odd and ends that I may want to access with awning deployed.

I've been thinking a lot about gear placement and access

 

[JT1]

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.

 

[Rburns1776]

Can confirm they lock when at angles. A similar thing happened to me shortly after I got my JT. I keep all the gear I would need to get to in the bed now on Molle panels. Not sure what the exact angle is, but I can recreate it in my yard by parking sideways on a 24 degree slope

 

[Curt Oz]

That's the first time I heard that and now good to know.
I just moved all of my recovery gear to the Swing Cases I just installed because I was running out of room under and behind my rear seats.
I wonder if you contact Jeep they could give you a definite answer.

 

[ChrisNLA]

That's the first time I heard that and now good to know.
I just moved all of my recovery gear to the Swing Cases I just installed because I was running out of room under and behind my rear seats.
I wonder if you contact Jeep they could give you a definite answer.

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?

 

[LouisvEarlleJT]

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.

Sounds like all you need to do is carry a block in the bed and park a tire on it-boom-instant locked storage lol

 

[JT1]

Sounds like all you need to do is carry a block in the bed and park a tire on it-boom-instant locked storage lol

That's gonna be a REALLY big block

 

[Jaxmax]

Going to have to look into this, putting everything that is under the rear seat is not an option as refrigerator, and future bed/kitchen slide take up a lot of room might have to really look at the locking mechanism. Perhaps sone one that took out the rear seats could see how it locks, might be real nice to be able to force the lock when you want and unlock when you need to get to stuff on an angle.

 

[JT1]

Going to have to look into this, putting everything that is under the rear seat is not an option as refrigerator, and future bed/kitchen slide take up a lot of room might have to really look at the locking mechanism. Perhaps sone one that took out the rear seats could see how it locks, might be real nice to be able to force the lock when you want and unlock when you need to get to stuff on an angle.

My thoughts exactly. Is it something like the swinging weight on the seatbelt?

 

[pbrevo64]

Can confirm, if you are on too steep of a hill it also locks the seat from flipping up. Had it happen to me when trying to pull someone out at the dunes, and I couldn't get to my soft shackle as it was in the lockbox under the rear seat. It allowed me to lift it a couple inches to where I could fit my hand in, but not enough to feel around and find what I needed.

 

[whysoserious]

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:

 

[Toro34]

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:

Thank you for this. I started Watching this thread in case someone verified before i could get out of work and check for myself.

I was already thinking of a 3d printed lever or pull string I would attach to whatever mechanism was doing the locking in order to bypass

 

[JT1]

Thank you for this. I started Watching this thread in case someone verified before i could get out of work and check for myself.

I was already thinking of a 3d printed lever or pull string I would attach to whatever mechanism was doing the locking in order to bypass

It's crazy that jeep has that lock in there for the seat bottoms, but the seat back lock doesn't activate it.

This should be an easy aftermarket fix.

 

[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?

I'm glad I bought them.
Two negative things.
They cover the lights in the bed, that's ok because I bought extra lights a while ago.
And if you have the outlet it'll cover it.
No big deal, just swing them forward or remove them.
My tri-fold tonneau covers latches are behind the cases so I have to swing them forward to latch or unlatch the cover. At first I thought this would be a pain in the ass but it adds an extra layer of security.
The cases have locks but if you can't open the tonneau cover you can't access the Swing Case. I'm fine with the little bit of inconvenience for the added security.
They are very easy to remove if you need the full truck bed.
Yes, I would definitely buy them again.

Sponsored