AC Rear Seat Delete

I am doing it! bye bye useless cramped seats, hello additional cargo space!

I remember someone mentioning somewhere that those two rear vents with flaps served a distinct purpose for equilibrium of your climate? Well they are useless and will not seal if the flap is bent! mine is. so they are getting deleted and capped/sealed off. Plus due to the way they truck lined my bed, I cannot remove the bed bolts... so mr. dremel is gonna cut them into pcs... Is this a really bad idea?

 

Those vents are pressure vents. They vent excess cab pressure when you shut the doors.

You ever tried to close a house door with all the windows shut, and storm door in front of it? With the windows open you can easily shut the door. Windows closed, and it takes more force to close the door. If that makes any sense

 

I agree, don't block or rid the truck of those vents..
Changes in air pressure, cold fronts or accident impacts, I'd think those vents would be needed...

Good luck on your seat delete...

 

I didn't even consider the moment of impact pressures... excellent point @1lowlife!

 

I think others have stuffed those with some sort of foam rubber, or foam to help with excess cab noise if they did a rear seat delete. Was it @theblurry1??

 

My work van doesn't have those. You basically have to slam the last door to get it to close or the pressure will only let it half close.

I imagine it'd be the same with those vents blocked.

 

Drill you some pressure holes in the roof! It doesn't rain where you live, even if it did just caulk it!

 

Fixed it for you. And you forgot to mention it becomes built-in eco-friendly AC/air-circ.

 

Gotta drill holes in the back glass also to allow proper air flow. Otherwise you've made a big ass cup.

 

How could I forget?? My mind is slipping here. Thanks.
Careful not to crack the glass while you're drilling. Take it slow, and by hand only.

 

On a more serious note, mayhaps you can remove that weird little nipple thing between the two air vents to help with air pressures? Or take that dremel and chop out a larger section in that center area if the little hole ain't big enough.

 

Weird nipple thing is a seat hook if memory serves. It's just a single bolt hole. It's been over a year since I had the rear seat out so memory fuzzy.

Current Air flow isn't the problem here. OP is taking about blocking those off which would create a lack of air flow.

 

Ahhh right right.

 

It is, I learned that the hard way after stuffing towels in there to block noise. I later revised it by using a large pore sponge instead (the kind people use for fish tanks). It muffled sound and didn't block the effect. The trick was to not stuff it so far in that it prevents the flap from moving, just enough to cover the opening at the top.

 

Now im wondering, and maybe this is crazy, if you could mount a check valve somewhere and eliminate these. I think a one way letting air out might work, I can't imagine enough vacuum being created in the cab to prevent doors from opening or anything. You need the air to get out to use your AC on fresh air mode, so air out is the more critical.

Might need to be a good sized valve though.

 

I am going to keep the rear windows cracked until I can find a one way valve. Here are some more progress pics and things I learned. I had a flap that had contorted over the years so it never sealed fully. Well did you know the flaps are replaceable? yup!

Rear Vents - GONE
Seat Belts - GONE
Carpet - GONE

 

Looking forward to seeing the end result. This is something I keep going back and forth on..

 

I drove around for a few days when I removed the seat. You can tell how much these are needed when you roll up the windows!

I think you'll need to find something that provides the same effect of equalizing the pressure - maybe add a cabin filter too?

I cut and formed a piece of ABS plastic - notched holes for the vents, covered in foam and finished with some cheap fabric. Dog protector hangs from the front seats and cut a rubber mat to cover the carpet. Perfect for the doggos.

Some have suggested removing the metal boxes on the floor, but I keep the jack and tools in there and it doesn't add much space since the driveshaft/fuel tank reliefs are so large.

Good luck!

 

I AGREE!