Hey all, just thought I'd share how I dealt with a stuck middle seat in my 2010 EL Limited.
When I bought the truck, I noticed that something was broken off the top of the middle seat in the 2nd row, but I didn't know what it was, because this is my first Expy. Those with experience will know that this is where the lever to fold the seat used to live. This photo was taken after I already pulled the cable out, but before I did that, the cable was sticking out of the torn spot here.
A few days later, I was at the hardware store, and I wanted to fold the middle seat down to put some boards in. Lo and behold, I couldn't find a way to do it, and that's when I realized what this busted spot was.
We looked under the seat to find the latch mechanism, which looks like this.
I tried pulling the cable manually, but the latch wouldn't move. It appeared to be frozen. Now I knew why the lever was broken. The previous owner went to fold the seat, it was stuck, they pulled too hard, and broke it.
I didn't really know what I was dealing with, so I made the decision to completely remove the seat. I DO NOT recomment this. In the end, I could have gotten it unstuck and and lubricated without going to all that hassle.
Basically, I put a crowbar in there, and pulled back, as shown by the arrow. After working it back and forth, I sprayed chain lube on the mechanism, hoping to keep it from seizing again.
After that, it was a matter of figuring out how to rig a new handle. I decided to do it pretty janky, and used a wire loop and crimps to create a makeshift handle sticking out from the rear base of the seat.
Pull that carabiner, and now the seat folds!
The main lesson learned, IMO, is you can access to the latch without removing the seat. So I probably could have saved a lot of hassle there.
Good luck, if you have the same situation!
When I bought the truck, I noticed that something was broken off the top of the middle seat in the 2nd row, but I didn't know what it was, because this is my first Expy. Those with experience will know that this is where the lever to fold the seat used to live. This photo was taken after I already pulled the cable out, but before I did that, the cable was sticking out of the torn spot here.
A few days later, I was at the hardware store, and I wanted to fold the middle seat down to put some boards in. Lo and behold, I couldn't find a way to do it, and that's when I realized what this busted spot was.
We looked under the seat to find the latch mechanism, which looks like this.
I tried pulling the cable manually, but the latch wouldn't move. It appeared to be frozen. Now I knew why the lever was broken. The previous owner went to fold the seat, it was stuck, they pulled too hard, and broke it.
I didn't really know what I was dealing with, so I made the decision to completely remove the seat. I DO NOT recomment this. In the end, I could have gotten it unstuck and and lubricated without going to all that hassle.
Basically, I put a crowbar in there, and pulled back, as shown by the arrow. After working it back and forth, I sprayed chain lube on the mechanism, hoping to keep it from seizing again.
After that, it was a matter of figuring out how to rig a new handle. I decided to do it pretty janky, and used a wire loop and crimps to create a makeshift handle sticking out from the rear base of the seat.
Pull that carabiner, and now the seat folds!
The main lesson learned, IMO, is you can access to the latch without removing the seat. So I probably could have saved a lot of hassle there.
Good luck, if you have the same situation!
