Defender front centre seat...or not?

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H

HDGamerUK

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15
Location
Aberdeenshire
Looking at possibly fitting a front centre seat in my '89 Defender 90, do I bother to buy one to refit it, or just get a folding seat in the back? The amount that it will be used (every second blue moon), I'm not sure which would:
a) look better,
b) will be practical,
c) will fit (as I have different front seats)

Any help from people who have overcame these problems would be much appreciated.

Thanks
 
I have two kids, who were 16 and 12 when I bought my swb with a centre seat. We are all tall. They enjoyed the novelty and I enjoyed having a voice controlled auto gearbox and overdrive. I did not enjoy the fact that they could both find the first/second slot better than I could.

I had inward facing rear seats, and as the kids got older they have been used occasionally.

Giving friends lifts home from the pub shows about a 50/50 split between those that are sensible and those who are more likely to be offered a second lift...

The alternatives are to fit a 'cubby box', which I don't like, or to move the two seats inwards and get some elbow room back. On my current project I'm going for elbow room, but writing this has made me seriously hanker for the fun of the kids both in the front. Damn.
 
I prefer without ..

I have a centre seat, base and back and frame, in my shed. Much cheapness, though I dunno what postage would be. It looks new 'cos it was never really used!
 
I have a cubby box in my county rather than a middle seat. I find it useful as there's not much other storage in the front. With a middle seat the one stuck in the middle has to essentially straddle the gearbox with one foot each side. One or two individual side-facing seats in the back would be better for occasional use IMO. The only time I think I'd fit 3 seats up front would be in a truck cab.
 
I love having a middle seat fitted and it gets a fair bit of use. My thinking is that a cubby box just ends up filled with junk and ultimately has no real use, whereas a centre seat can always come in handy.
 
I think it is .. Have to check tomorrow and notacloo about cost of postage ., so again I'll try and get a rough price.
 
Thanks a lot everyone for your input! I think the way I am going to go, is a front cubby box and two rear folding seats (one on each side as I'm pretty OCD with symmetry). I can see the argument for both, but I need practicality, and straddling the gearbox wouldn't be very comfy for any of the three in the front!

Cheers! ��
 
I find with the rear seats, the two nearest the back door are the ones that get used more often. Apart from being easier to jump in and out, you can then still put stuff between the rear seats and bulkhead. No seatbelts legally required on side-facing seats, but lap belts were often fitted from the factory, and will prevent passengers from being thrown about inside during 'enthusiastic' driving. ;)
 
FlyingPete said:
I find with the rear seats, the two nearest the back door are the ones that get used more often. Apart from being easier to jump in and out, you can then still put stuff between the rear seats and bulkhead.
Click to expand...
Brilliant suggestion!

FlyingPete said:
No seatbelts legally required on side-facing seats, but lap belts were often fitted from the factory, and will prevent passengers from being thrown about inside during 'enthusiastic' driving. ;)
Click to expand...

Does this mean I can get away with no seatbelts in the back? the law regarding this is very....scattered... when it comes to this subject on the web.
 
For side-facing seats, you don't have to fit any seatbelts, regardless of the age of the vehicle. You'll have no problems at the MOT test with this.
MOT information - seat belts
Some vehicles (mine included) left the factory with lap belts or have had them fitted later. If you have seatbelts fitted then they must be worn.

So for your purposes, it sounds like one side-facing seat on each side, in the rearmost part of the tub, would be the best solution. The individual seats are actually pretty good for passenger comfort.
 
FlyingPete you're a saviour!

Will look at getting one side-facing seat each side at the back! Then gives me space for 2 more people and a cubby box in the front! Since there weren't ever any lap belts in the back, I don't think I will bother fitting any (as the frequency of use cannot warrant buying them).

Ta muchly!
 
That setup with the disco seats looks pretty neat. Though I guess what you gain in cargo space with the seats folded comes at the expense of passenger comfort. Seems the disco seats were intended for occasional use whereas the defender ones are a normal passenger seat.

Don't forget to fit a step of some sort if you don't have one already- it's a long way up to get in the back. I have the standard fit folding step on mine which works well enough, though it does have a tendency to 'self-deploy' on rough roads/speed bumps. There are other types which are fixed, and mount to the towbar.
 
I can't be bothered with a step, mine really are very rarely used .. so much so that I'm considering taking at least one, if not both of them, back out!

Well .. after everything else gets done .. :)
 
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