I’m going to be moving and need to maximize the amount of space in my car (a 2003 Honda Accord). I’m thinking about unbolting the front passenger seat and then laying it flat on top of boxes and such. The seats are not powered or heated, so I’m assuming this is a simple matter of undoing a few bolts. Has anyone done this before? Anything I should be concerned about?
I doubt you’ll gain any real space this way, since the seat will still be in the car.
There will probably be an airbag sensor in the seat. Look under the seat to see the wiring connection. Other than that it’s just bolted in place.
Mcparadise has summarized it very well.
The only thing that I can add is that the seat is far heavier than the OP thinks it is. The thought of having that unsecured seat sitting on top of boxes–next to the driver–is a bit scary.
Trust me, on the first right turn, when that heavy seat hits the driver, the OP will really regret this idea. The thought of being hit in the head by that unsecured seat is really unappealing. Plus, if the driver’s view to the right is obscured by the boxes and the seat, this makes an accident more likely and it also makes a traffic ticket for “Driving with view obscured” more likely.
As mcparadise stated, this idea will not really produce much more carrying capacity, but it will produce problems for the driver.
If you will be making more than one trip, then obviously taking the seat out for some of the trips will give you more space. In my quite limited experience, the seat will be held by four bolts that may or may not be severely rusted. If they won’t come out with an application of penetrating oil and moderate force, I’d leave the seat be. Who needs a busted seat hold down bolt? There will be a seat belt sensor with a connector that will be releasable somehow. Some of those connectors can be truly hateful especially if you can’t get them out where you can work on it with both hands.
You can recline the front seat back BTW. Maybe that will help enough that removing the seat will look less necessary.
Many people aren’t aware of it, but on many cars the back seat backs are hinged and will swing forward allowing access to the trunk from the passenger compartment. That can help a lot with long objects.
Other than agreeing with the fact that removing the seat and carrying it inside the car won’t gain you much cargo volume at all no matter where it’s stacked, how about this?
Sort out the lightest items that consume the most interior volume, box them up, and ship them to yourself either by UPS or even Parcel Post if time is not too critical.
The seat will take up the same amount of volume whether it is attached to the floor or not. I’d leave it attached. You might experiment with some empty boxes to see if moving it forward or back gives you the best space utilization. Laying it down will waste the space underneath on the rear floor unless you have some stuff that fits well there. Clothes or small items, especially easily broken ones, might benefit from having the passenger seat back over them for protection.
Have you even thought about the safety factor of having items adjacent to you stacked?
Also you cannot stack the items very high as they will block your field of vision to the right.
In addition to all that has been said, the logic of unbolting the seat and then placing it on top of the cargo reminds me of an old Three Stooges routine. The boys were moving some furniture, and prior to moving a heavy chest of drawers, they removed the drawers in order to “save weight”. Then, they placed the drawers on top of that piece of furniture in order to carry it all away. Somehow, the same logic seems to be at work with dew321’s plan.
Well said.
Nyuk, Nyuk, Nyuk…
How about Moe’s instructions to Curly about when to hit a nail with the hammer?
Now, when I nod my head, you hit it!
How would you gain space by removing the seat and relocating it? Why not just lay it flat and stuff small objects underneath it?
Okay, okay. I can take a hint. Removing the seat: bad idea. Thanks everyone for your feedback. Nyuck, nyuck.