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RV-Dreams.com Home -> RV-Dreams Community Forum -> Tow Vehicles -> Did you remove the back seat in your tow vehicle for increased storage flexibility?
Post Info TOPIC: Did you remove the back seat in your tow vehicle for increased storage flexibility?
Lynn and Ed


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Did you remove the back seat in your tow vehicle for increased storage flexibility?
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Did you, or do you know anyone, who removed the backseat in the tow vehicle to increase storage flexibility and/or reduce vehicle weight? Did you/they do anything special, other than possibly store the removed seat for potential future trade-in/resale of the tow vehicle?

We decided that when we start full-time that we will have two vehicles – the tow vehicle (likely a F-450 or F-550) and a Jeep. Since we will have the second vehicle, we will likely not use the rear seats in the tow vehicle. Although the rear seat appears to fold-up, I thought we might benefit from the weight reduction as well as increase storage space if we removed the rear seats, in part because I was hoping to store our bikes (the pedal kind) inside the cab. The reason for storing the bikes in the cab is to provide easy access and increased security. Based upon reading information on RV-Dreams and other sites, bikes and generators appear to be the most common items to disappear from campsites. Although I am not overly concerned, since the occurrence of these events does not appear frequent. However I would prefer to create a situation where I am not distracted by thinking about the bikes, by proactively determining a simple and secure way to store the bikes when we are on the road or at a campsite.



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Technomadia


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We do endorse storing bikes in an enclosed space. Both for the security reasons you mention, but also to reduce erosion to them - being outside is tough on them. In our years on the road towing a trailer, we went through at least 3 sets of bikes - one set was stolen off the back of our tow vehicle, the next set - the high end lock we used (trying to learn from the previous experience) rusted shut (ended up leaving them behind with a friend) and the third set - got too corroded to be useful.

Ironically, we pulled our trailer with a Jeep :) It was perfect as a workhorse for towing our 16' & 17' trailers and being a good get around vehicle.

- Cherie

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Racerguy


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If someone wants to steal your bike they can break into the truck just as easy as they can cut through a good lock although storing them in the cab would keep them cleaner.Now to the point of taking the seat out to save weight.If you remove the seat and what it weighs then add other items, they do weigh something so to me it seems pointless.Are you planning on using folding bikes? Not sure 2 full size adult bikes would fit in the available space even with the seat out without some dismantling.I would measure close and think this over carefully.Just my 2 cents.

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Terry and Jo


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The biggest issue that I would see with removing the seats is that should you decide to trade the truck for some reason, the lack of a rear seat could hurt the resale value.

Terry



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Trabuco


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I think I would consider bikes that would fit in the truck with the seat folded down. That might require bikes that breakdown easy or folding bikes. Quick release front tires where you can remove the tire might give you the room needed.

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Lynn and Ed


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Thank you all! It does not appear that removing the back seat in a tow vehicle is a popular choice.



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Sushidog


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I removed the rear seat from my TV to reduce weight and increase storage capacity. Unfortunately, it's quite a bit different from yours, as it's a car. Here's a couple of shots.

I also removed the seat belts, brackets, etc. (saving about 100 lbs total) and added a thin plywood board to keep the floor level. Here's a shot from the rear showing the level floor and extra capacity.

It hinges up to provide additional storage under the board too. I will drive my car into the ground before I get rid of it, so its trade in value  won't be that much anyway. I already have over 180k miles on her (probably 15-20k miles towing my camper. Though not much for a diesel truck, it's quite a bit for a little 4 cyl. Chevy Cobalt.

Chip

 



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Lynn and Ed


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Chip, Thank you for the photos. The same concept, just a different tow vehicle.



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NWescapee


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We have a Toyota Tundra to pull our TT, we can easily fold up the seats and fit our bikes, helmets, etc. without having to remove the seats. We do have occasional passengers and a kitty who travels with us and prefers her own set (think princess kitty!). We've not had a problem getting 2 mountain bikes in the cab when the rear seats are folded up as long as we don't want to put anything else in the cab.

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