back seat folded - won't do that again

Today I had to put a 200 AMP service box in the rear. It wouldn't fit with the rear seat in the upright position and then I remembered --- I can pull a lever in the back and the seat will go down.

Pulled the lever and the seat rapidly went into the down position. Later in the morning I went to put the seat back up and saw that my (over the head style) headphones were under the folded seat. The seat slammed down so hard it left an imprint of my headphones in the seat and the back of the seat.

Apparently that seat is spring loaded and slams fairly hard. I won't do that again.

Luckily I did work the marks out of the seat.

Don't think that spring it that strong. It's more likely to be the effect of the weight of the seat back and what ever you had on top of it.

And yep, check before you fold the seat down. I've had a water bottle in the back cup holders when I folded the seat down numerous times. I need to put a label in trunk to mark which side is 60 and which is 40

None. Did someone say it is fault of subbie? I think it is good that the seats can be folded by a lever in the back of the car. I don't have to do a thing except pull a lever.

How is any of this Subaru's fault?

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Maybe but maybe not. My Volvo leather has a permanent indent from leaving the seat folded for too long. It rested against the seat belt fastener.

You know what else would have worked the marks out? Time.

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My seats won't even go down without a push on my 2018. Even then, they don't seem to have any significant force when lowered.

The lever in the rear is a good idea but the seat folds really fast so there may be more than gravity in play.

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Since I didn't have to manually create the force to fold the seat, what created inertia for it to fold.

 

The lever in the rear is a good idea but the seat folds really fast so there may be more than gravity in play.

 

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Here is a link to a video I took this morning. If or when you see the Welcome to Evernote......No need to make an account you just press skip (lower right hand corner).

Sorry that the video is sideways but you can see the seat fold. I am in the back of the Outback, pulling on the lever in the rear corner at the back end of the Outback. There is no need for me to push the seat into the folded position.

http://www.evernote.com/l/AAlHpgLQwN9HDZPlWY0PsW9iWYICSPSlXlg/

Did a search using the phrase --- outback has spring loaded rear seat. I got some hits.

"Subaru has added backseat release levers to the sides of the cargo area by the hatch opening. It's a feature that's been spreading among wagons and crossovers the past few years; they make it easy to expand the cargo space without having to walk around to the rear seat. The split-backrest is spring loaded, and the sections fold flat with the cargo floor when you pull the levers."

https://www.cars.com/articles/2014/04/new-features-enhance-2015-subaru-outbacks-versatility-utility/

They are not spring loaded. It's gravity. If you love your leather seats, you check them before you fold them down. Standard operating procedure.

https://www.cars.com/articles/2014/04/new-features-enhance-2015-subaru-outbacks-versatility-utility/

That article was written before the current generation Legacy/Outback was even in production. My 2015 Legacy does not have have spring-loaded rear seat backs, nor does the Subaru parts catalog list any rear-seat springs. Gravity alone is quite sufficient.

Edit: The rear seat backs in my 2016 Outback are spring loaded, apparently sharing springs with the recline mechanisms.

Hm?

So my car is sitting in my driveway, which is a rather steep driveway and the seat still goes flat. Plus the seats themselves angle backward a bit. Gravity?

My manual that mentions a spring (plus cautions about the seat).

Gravity is one thing but seats do not move against gravity and I know what I see and I know that when I push the seats back into place there is a point of resistance.

Maybe trim determines it?

This link shows what mine does and gravity alone isn't going to send a seat flat as fast as in this video.

That article was written before the current generation Legacy/Outback was even in production. Neither my 2015 Legacy nor 2016 Outback have spring-loaded rear seat backs, nor does the Subaru parts catalog list any rear-seat springs. Gravity alone is quite sufficient.

Seat spring.pdf

Did a search using the phrase --- outback has spring loaded rear seat. I got some hits.

Didn't know you were referring to OB seats.

On a 2015+ Legacy; you pull the lever from the trunk, it will barely unhook and you'll have to walk back and pull the seat down. I've had times when I would open rear door and hear it click back in place. That's why I did the mod to add loops on the inside to be able to open from the inside.

On the 15+ OB; yes, when you pull the lever from the trunk, the seat will go down by itself. Don't know if its a spring or a notch in the mounting points of the backrests.. but you don't ave to go back and push them down.

The OB does have a inside mechanism to fold the seats. so if you tend to forget things on the seat, you can make it a practice to always fold them from the inside.

A more time consuming route (at your own risk): remove the leather covers and cut down some foam material from both the seat and the back rest, essentially creating a cavity. put the covers back on and re-sew any loose areas. Now, when you fold your seats down, your headphones will happily stay in that cavity.

down side: you'll have a little less cushion and your cuts to the foam may not come out as well or even as they do from the factory.

I think you are correct about a spring in the mix.

If I had read the book first I would have known to watch out for it. Mine is a 2015 outback Limited. Really like the car!

Interesting. There is a spring embedded in each rear seat back latch mechanism. Perhaps that's a partial answer.

I am also accustomed to manually pulling the seats down and it is that way on all of our cars.

Don't think I want to mess with the leathers. The easier route is to move my headset from the seat, which is already done.

I rarely fold the seats flat and that was the first time I did it in the OB.

Didn't know you were referring to OB seats.

 

On a 2015+ Legacy; you pull the lever from the trunk, it will barely unhook and you'll have to walk back and pull the seat down. I've had times when I would open rear door and hear it click back in place. That's why I did the mod to add loops on the inside to be able to open from the inside.

 

On the 15+ OB; yes, when you pull the lever from the trunk, the seat will go down by itself. Don't know if its a spring or a notch in the mounting points of the backrests.. but you don't ave to go back and push them down.

 

The OB does have a inside mechanism to fold the seats. so if you tend to forget things on the seat, you can make it a practice to always fold them from the inside.

A more time consuming route (at your own risk): remove the leather covers and cut down some foam material from both the seat and the back rest, essentially creating a cavity. put the covers back on and re-sew any loose areas. Now, when you fold your seats down, your headphones will happily stay in that cavity.

down side: you'll have a little less cushion and your cuts to the foam may not come out as well or even as they do from the factory.