Adding a 3rd row seat - walkthrough

[JPinUSMC]

All,

I bought a 2006 explorer without the need for a third row seat. Well guess what? The need finally came around. I have been doing plenty of googling to try and find a good walkthrough for how to do this, but didnt see one. I figured this is as good a place as any to put one. So here goes:

Here is my explorer before the teardown begins:

Found a local yard that had a perfect matching 3rd row seat set with all the necessary plastics and bolts intact. Seats were in great condition. Try to get the bottom gray carpet as well, it makes figuring out which bolt holes you need easier. Here is everything you need:

First remove upper and lower plastics by pulling them firmly and remove the doors to the storage areas. Also remove the jack from the car.

 

[JPinUSMC]

Next, there are 4 bolts in the front cargo tray. 13mm to remove. After they are out, the front storage area can be lifted out of the car.

Now remove 3 - 13mm bolts and lift out the center divider between the storage compartments.

Take out the two 15mm bolts for the tie downs on either side of the rear cargo area.
Remove the two 10mm bolts keeping the jack holder in.
Remove the two 8mm bolts for the rear cargo area latch
There are two black plastic plugs holding the carpet in. Use a panel popper if possible to remove them or just do it gently. They wanted to break.

Now remove the carpet.

 

[JPinUSMC]

Now the fun begins.
Lay in the new carpet. This will give you an idea of which holes you will need to uncover to install the new seats. This year explorer has all the holes you need to install the seats, you will just need to thread them for the bolts. If you look in the picture you can see the small aluminum pieces that were covering the non used holes. I simply transferred these from the needed holes to the unneeded ones.

Once you have done that you will be tapping 13 holes total
6 are 10mm-1.5, 3 are directly in the center of the seating area (1 up front and 2 near the rear) and 2 are on each side of the rear panels for the seat belts.
2 are 6mm - 1.0 for the jack holder. they are located to the rear of the 2 above in the center of the seating area.
4 are 8mm - 1.25 on the left and right side of the seating area.

To get to each of the seat belt holes firmly pull out the side plastics. I also removed the plastics covering the 2nd row seat belts to get a little more access. You can pull them out far enough to do the work without needing to remove them entirely.

If you have the stock subwoofer, you will need to remove it. 2 - 10mm nuts and 1 - 10mm bolt, unplug it from the front and it will come out the rear.

On the left side, make sure you unplug the rear lock button before pulling the plastic too far.

Once you tap the seat belt holes you can go ahead and mount the seat belts in the vehicle. BE ADVISED: they have to be mounted perfectly for them to work. I found myself fighting with them forever trying to get some slack to work with. There is a little bearing inside that stops the belt from moving if it thinks the vehicle has rolled. Once you have it in a good position, the belt moves freely.

Use a T50 torx for the rear seat belt bolts, upper and lower

Once the seat belts are mounted and you have checked that they extend and retract you can put the side plastics back in and the two for your new seat belts.

Do not bolt in the loose end of the seat belt until you have placed the new carpet in. Found that out the hard way. The loose end of the seat belt mounts in the old tie down holes on the left and right. Same T50 torx.

 

[JPinUSMC]

Now that the carpet is in and the loose end of the seat belts are in, you can put the seats in the car. It is all one big piece so its not too hard to get in the car, just a little awkward.

For the center holes I purchased 2 - 10mm-1.5 x 40mm bolts. The original vehicle comes with studs, but since I tapped the holes, this bolts work perfectly. I intend to go back and add a washer to this. Tighten down with a 15mm socket.

On the left and right sides install 6 bolts total. 4 in the rear are 13mm and should have come from your donor vehicle. These will go in two of the holes you tapped. In the front there is one on each side, also 13mm. I reused the bolts from the front storage compartment as these were studs in the donor vehicle. In the front center of the seats there is a tie down that gets bolted in. This should have also come from your donor vehicle and will go in a hole you tapped. 15mm.

Now that the seats are in you can install the two side plastics with cup holders that came from your donor vehicle. You will need to purchase some sort of clip that will hold the plastic push tabs into the vehicle. (This is one thing I am still working on. when I figure it out, I'll post it) There are two bolts in the rear - 7mm that need a clip to go in as well. (Also working on this)

When your plastics are in you can install the jack holder with 2 - 10mm bolts.
After that, install the new storage door. 4 - 7mm bolts hold it in place.

 

[JPinUSMC]

That is pretty much it. Note that there will not be enough carpet in your vehicle to cover the area where the storage compartment was removed. I am working on this as well and will let you know when I figure it out. See below:

Seats fold down for storage just like they were never there:

And this is the pile of parts I was left with when I got done. I will be saving it in case I get rid of the explorer.

Let me know if you have questions and I will do my best to answer them for you.

JP

 

[iowndavidson]

Nice work. I have the third row option and thought about taking it out to make a storage compartment like what non 3rd row explorers have. I have only used my 3rd row maybe 3 times since having the explorer but still cautious about taking it out. I liked that you used oem parts!

 

[Explorer_PL]

Great job !

How do you stand them up, and how do the lock in place ?

 

[JPinUSMC]

There is a handle in the middle of the seat back that you pull to stand them up and they lock when they are upright. To release, you pull the same handle and push them forward. There are black straps on each of the headrests you pull to lay them down as well before folding the seats down.

 

[aaronajb1981]

Nice write up!

just keep in mind that if for some reason you get in an accident and people were in that seat, or if that seat injurs someone the insurance may not cover it since it was not from the factory

 

[JPinUSMC]

Nice write up!

just keep in mind that if for some reason you get in an accident and people were in that seat, or if that seat injurs someone the insurance may not cover it since it was not from the factory

Thank you. One question on your post - How would the insurance company know what was factory and what wasnt? I did a VIN decode on the vehicle and it says 5 seats are standard and 7 are optional. However, it also says my navigation, sunroof, and parking sensors are optional as well.

 

[Jared71482]

Hey, do you still have the parts removed from the explorer? I have a 3rd row that I want to get rid of. My 03 EX did not have it and I loved the storage underneath... the new 10 Mounty has the power 3rd row and its a waste of space and extra weight for me.

Granted my interior is black, I wouldnt mind having to re-cover the cargo covers.

 

[jimmy7044]

Hey, do you still have the parts removed from the explorer? I have a 3rd row that I want to get rid of. My 03 EX did not have it and I loved the storage underneath... the new 10 Mounty has the power 3rd row and its a waste of space and extra weight for me.

Granted my interior is black, I wouldnt mind having to re-cover the cargo covers.

I have the parts you need in... black. Only problem I'm in OH and your in NY

 

[Jared71482]

Well what parts do you have.... everything including the grey carpet and the C pillar covers (without seat belt holes)? Post up pictures if you can please... Im willing to pay the shipping if we can come to an agreement on price and its everything I need.

Thanks!

 

[jimmy7044]

Well what parts do you have.... everything including the grey carpet and the C pillar covers (without seat belt holes)? Post up pictures if you can please... Im willing to pay the shipping if we can come to an agreement on price and its everything I need.

Thanks!

I sent you a PM to your inbox.

 

[B2chn]

Great write up. But does anybody know if the old bench from 02 model would fit?
Wrecked my 02, & looking now at a 07 EB w/o seat

 

[dbreen3]

JPIN-

I have to commend and thank you for all of your efforts spent on creating this helpful thread. As an experienced technician who is about to perform this exact mod, I greatly appreciate having this resource to refer to. It's funny that I have the exact same color combo as well.

One question though. I didn't see you mention this in type;

I have what appears to be a large guage ground strap that bolts to the bare chassis in area of the front storage area. The wire/cable originates from underneath the sceond row seats. Did you have to contend with this? I have an '09 EB and my donor seats are from an '06.

 

[Boomyal]

Where are you folks finding these 4th Gen expo's in salvage yards? I know there has to be bunches of them but there are none in any pick and pulls near me.

 

[dbreen3]

try www.car-parts.com

It is a national directory of salvage yards....mine wasn't one where they let me pull it, so I am at the disadvantage of not knowing how it came apart....but that's why this thread is useful...

I also drove 200 miles round trip to get mine....

 

[dbreen3]

So I wanted to report that I was completely successful in performing this mod myself, thanks to the excellent instructions outlined in this thread

However, I will add that I needed the passenger-side side trim as well, due to the rear seatbelt requiring more room. Fortunately, when i was at the junkyard, I asked them to get me both side trims for the vehicle and later was glad that I had done that. I will also mention that the darker color tan of my 2009 is a little darker than that of the 2006 donor vehicle.

At any rate, I also had to unbolt the second row seats on the passenger side so that I could remove the lower seatbelt bolt for the second row. All of this so that I could swap out the passenger-side side trim.

It took me about 4 hours, start to finish, including tapping all of the holes.

 

[scotrinaf]

Thank you. One question on your post - How would the insurance company know what was factory and what wasnt? I did a VIN decode on the vehicle and it says 5 seats are standard and 7 are optional. However, it also says my navigation, sunroof, and parking sensors are optional as well.

There is no way for the insurance company to know unless you volunteer the information...