Rear seat adjustment?

[Morganic]

Can the rear seat be adjusted so it goes right up against the front seats thus creating more transport space in the rear? Like for taking stuff to the recycling centre!
I tried it on mine but it comes up against a stopper. Is this removeable/adjustable.

 

[AlanC]

I believe the stops are removable, certainly there has been discussions about removing the rear one. Can't think the one at the front is any different.

This discussion may help.

https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/limit-stops-on-rear-bench-seat.8342/#post-74016

Alan

 

[WelshGas]

Can the rear seat be adjusted so it goes right up against the front seats thus creating more transport space in the rear? Like for taking stuff to the recycling centre!
I tried it on mine but it comes up against a stopper. Is this removeable/adjustable.

The front stops can be removed / adjusted. In fact they have to be removed to get the seat out. I wouldn't think you would gain that much additional space/volume.

 

[DM]

You can remove both the font and rear stops. If your move the front stop then th seat will go forward until it touches the back of the front seats. It does make a significant difference to the space in the back. Also means that you can get into the back from the sided our by moving the seat right forward. It was my first 'mod'.

 

[Alfokla]

You can indeed remove the front stop. You can locate it with a screwdriver through the seals of the rail (on the side of the kitchen). Loose the bold of the stopper and slide it forward. You can remove the stopper after removing the plastic cover in the front of the rail. When done you can move the bench almost against the front seats. In this position you can access the boot through the sliding door behind the bench (depends a bit on the size of your tummy).
I removed the stopper permanently. Once you know where to stop the bench when you need to lower the back rest it is not really required. Just take care when you move the bench forward that you don't position it with its feet in the location of the removable covers of the rail.

 

[DM]

You can indeed remove the front stop. You can locate it with a screwdriver through the seals of the rail (on the side of the kitchen). Loose the bold of the stopper and slide it forward. You can remove the stopper after removing the plastic cover in the front of the rail. When done you can move the bench almost against the front seats. In this position you can access the boot through the sliding door behind the bench (depends a bit on the size of your tummy).
I removed the stopper permanently. Once you know where to stop the bench when you need to lower the back rest it is not really required. Just take care when you move the bench forward that you don't position it with its feet in the location of the removable covers of the rail.

Yes - there is a risk of putting the seat in the position where it can be removed. In the case of an emergency stop it (and any passengers sitting on it) might be propelled forwards. So make sure you know where the removal slot is (it is towards the back of the part of the rail where the covers can be removed).

 

[Flood51]

Maybe it's different on the T6 but I have tried and failed to remove the stops in the kitchen rail and middle rail. They are square metal stops over a cm square with no slot to unscrew them. Maybe they are bolted in from the bottom of the van. The manual says unscrew the stopper but it is not clear how to do it with no slot to insert a screwdriver. It also means that there is no way to remove the bench seat without it going into the shop that I can see. Looks like another point for the T5.1

 

[Hotel California]

Maybe it's different on the T6 but I have tried and failed to remove the stops in the kitchen rail and middle rail. They are square metal stops over a cm square with no slot to unscrew them. Maybe they are bolted in from the bottom of the van. The manual says unscrew the stopper but it is not clear how to do it with no slot to insert a screwdriver. It also means that there is no way to remove the bench seat without it going into the shop that I can see. Looks like another point for the T5.1

I would find it very unlikely removing the benchseat would be diffrent between 5ers and 6ers.....
Reed here how it works in the 5er
https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/bench-seat-adjusting-handle-sticking-out.818/

 

[andyinluton]

Yes - there is a risk of putting the seat in the position where it can be removed. In the case of an emergency stop it (and any passengers sitting on it) might be propelled forwards. So make sure you know where the removal slot is (it is towards the back of the part of the rail where the covers can be removed).

To remove the rear seat it needs to be moved forward effectively off the front of the rails, the removal slot towards the rear is where the back feet of the bench come out. If the seat is far enough forward to take out there is absolutely no leg room for a passenger to sit on it, so the chances of the seat and passengers being propelled forwards unrestrained are just about zero.

The t6 has larger cover trim plates over the rails than the T5 these are only trim, the actual slots in the rail that the seat has to be extracted through are the same on both models & are only a few mm bigger than the feet on the seat.

 

[andyinluton]

Maybe it's different on the T6 but I have tried and failed to remove the stops in the kitchen rail and middle rail. They are square metal stops over a cm square with no slot to unscrew them. Maybe they are bolted in from the bottom of the van. The manual says unscrew the stopper but it is not clear how to do it with no slot to insert a screwdriver. It also means that there is no way to remove the bench seat without it going into the shop that I can see. Looks like another point for the T5.1

I don't think that what you are trying to unscrew is the stop! there should only be one stop in one rail in front of the seat & one behind.

There is not a slot in the stop, its a slotted screw that goes through the stop. at a guess the stop itself is about 4-5 cm long with the screw in the middle.

 

[Flood51]

Well the Van is loaded now so I can't recheck but I think you will find the T6 is different. There is certainly a stop in the rail by the kitchen and the middle rail, so two stops on the T6 not one. Unfortunately I can't take a photo with the rubber seals in place. The stops are about 12mm square. HC the link you sent I had read already and my rails are not the same so it was of no help. Maybe another T6 owner can confirm. I think the more robust stops on the T6 are a safety feature for the rear passengers to stop the seat hitting the front seat but the manual hasn't been updated to reflect the change.

 

[snowy55]

I think the more robust stops on the T6 are a safety feature for the rear passengers to stop the seat hitting the front seat

If you experiencing that much forward inertia(?) then I think the seat would rip out of the top of the rail rather then slide forward.
If you try to move our seat forward and you don't sit dead centre then it tends to jam and not move easily.

 

[andyinluton]

Previous discussions have concluded that the actual rails - the black steel runners are the same, it is just the aluminium cover trims that are different between the T5 and T6

Attached are photos of the actual stops. They work by the bottom of the screw pushing down against the bottom of the rail which in turn pushes the two ribs on the top of the stop into the grooves on the underside of the rail.

having had a quick look in my rails, the 1cm square pieces of steel are the mounts that hold the rails to the floor, not the stops.

 

[Flood51]

Previous discussions have concluded that the actual rails - the black steel runners are the same, it is just the aluminium cover trims that are different between the T5 and T6

Attached are photos of the actual stops. They work by the bottom of the screw pushing down against the bottom of the rail which in turn pushes the two ribs on the top of the stop into the grooves on the underside of the rail.

having had a quick look in my rails, the 1cm square pieces of steel are the mounts that hold the rails to the floor, not the stops.

View attachment 17168

I will look again but if this is the case why doesn't the third rail have no stops ie the square bits of metal, these items are on the left of the door opening not at the end of the rail by the front seats

 

[homerorchid]

I've undone the rear seat stop and pushed it as far back as it will go along the rails towards the back. The stop seems to have fallen on it's side a bit but can still push it with screwdriver. I wanted to remove the stop. I thought that having taken the plastic end rear rail cover off, I would be able to just slide the seat stopper out the back of the rail but their appears to be a little metal bar in the rail that runs across the rail preventing the seat stopper from going past this and allowing me to remove it. Do you have to remove the rear seat stopper by removing the front seat stopper then sliding the rear seat stopper out from the front of the rail? OR can you pull/lift the aluminium/rubber cover up at the rear and take the rear seat stopper out that way. Tried (very carefully) lifting the aluminium/rubber rail cover up but it does not seem to want to move all and I don't want to force/damage it. Not a major problem as the seat stopper is almost at the back of the rail, just wanted to know how to remove it. Are there any similar difficulties removing the front stopper? I've taken the metal bed extender out so with the rear stopper removed the inside space makes it feel like a long wheel base

 

[Wesel]

I've undone the rear seat stop and pushed it as far back as it will go along the rails towards the back. The stop seems to have fallen on it's side a bit but can still push it with screwdriver. I wanted to remove the stop. I thought that having taken the plastic end rear rail cover off, I would be able to just slide the seat stopper out the back of the rail but their appears to be a little metal bar in the rail that runs across the rail preventing the seat stopper from going past this and allowing me to remove it. Do you have to remove the rear seat stopper by removing the front seat stopper then sliding the rear seat stopper out from the front of the rail? OR can you pull/lift the aluminium/rubber cover up at the rear and take the rear seat stopper out that way. Tried (very carefully) lifting the aluminium/rubber rail cover up but it does not seem to want to move all and I don't want to force/damage it. Not a major problem as the seat stopper is almost at the back of the rail, just wanted to know how to remove it. Are there any similar difficulties removing the front stopper? I've taken the metal bed extender out so with the rear stopper removed the inside space makes it feel like a long wheel base

Here a view of how is made the front stop . This should be similar at the rear side.
You can zoom in to see details.

 

[EddieEagle]

Easy mod and if the weather is a little inclement so as to prevent the roof deployment and you have left the lower bed shelf behind then with the stops removed you can still sleep downstairs .

 

[Sandyvan]

I can

I've undone the rear seat stop and pushed it as far back as it will go along the rails towards the back. The stop seems to have fallen on it's side a bit but can still push it with screwdriver. I wanted to remove the stop. I thought that having taken the plastic end rear rail cover off, I would be able to just slide the seat stopper out the back of the rail but their appears to be a little metal bar in the rail that runs across the rail preventing the seat stopper from going past this and allowing me to remove it. Do you have to remove the rear seat stopper by removing the front seat stopper then sliding the rear seat stopper out from the front of the rail? OR can you pull/lift the aluminium/rubber cover up at the rear and take the rear seat stopper out that way. Tried (very carefully) lifting the aluminium/rubber rail cover up but it does not seem to want to move all and I don't want to force/damage it. Not a major problem as the seat stopper is almost at the back of the rail, just wanted to know how to remove it. Are there any similar difficulties removing the front stopper? I've taken the metal bed extender out so with the rear stopper removed the inside space makes it feel like a long wheel base

I cant comment on the rear stop but have removed the front one as it was causing issues with the bed locking home, it also made the bed twist into place and guillotined the tapered rubber stops off the wire parcel shelf.
Removing the front stop cured everything that two trips to the dealers when new failed to.
I don't wished to remove the rear one as I'm happy with the shelf and how we use the van, but I can confirm that the front one comes out as you describe but through the removed plastic cover there are no restrictions which stop it.

 

[homerorchid]

Do I have to take the "rear" seat stopper out at the front of the rail (behind the front seats)

 

[Sandyvan]

Do I have to take the "rear" seat stopper out at the front of the rail (behind the front seats)

As said I don't know how to get the rear one out but the front one was easy. If you want to undo the rear and slide it forward then I don't know if it will pass the seat runners to get to the front. Hopefully someone else will know.

 

[homerorchid]

Just discovered myself that obviously you can't take rear stopper out from front, so a bit stuck on how to remove it (not a real issue just like to remove it as I have now do so with the front one), any ideas would be appreciated "Thanks"

 

[Sandyvan]

Just discovered myself that obviously you can't take rear stopper out from front, so a bit stuck on how to remove it (not a real issue just like to remove it as I have now do so with the front one), any ideas would be appreciated "Thanks"

Without looking I wont know, but if a case of taking the seat out (heavy and awkward) then is it worth it? can you fully undo the screw then get the stop and screw out separately?

 

[homerorchid]

Sorted, just gently pulled it out through the rubbers (no damage). Thank you very much for your help, support and advice

 

[Sandyvan]

Sorted, just gently pulled it out through the rubbers (no damage). Thank you very much for your help, support and advice

As a whole or buy removing the screw first?

 

[homerorchid]

Undid the screw and took it out, then put it back in a little way, I then used the stew to "gently" ease the stopper through the rubbers