Rear Seats YES or NO

This site contains affiliate links for which LandyZone may be compensated if you make a purchase.
M

mudinuri

Active Member
Posts
673
Location
New Forest
A few weeks ago I took out the rear seats of my Freelander mk1 to collect some furniture and by heck I"m getting a lot better MPG, but next month I have my yearly stress when she goes in for her MOT.
My question is, Do I have to replace the Seats for the MOT? I don"t need them in the car.
Any advice?.
Thanks
 
mudinuri said:
A few weeks ago I took out the rear seats of my Freelander mk1 to collect some furniture and by heck I"m getting a lot better MPG, but next month I have my yearly stress when she goes in for her MOT.
My question is, Do I have to replace the Seats for the MOT? I don"t need them in the car.
Any advice?.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Unless your rear seats were previously occupied permanently by large people, I'm surprised you notice much in the way of fuel economy gains just from removing them.
 
mudinuri said:
A few weeks ago I took out the rear seats of my Freelander mk1 to collect some furniture and by heck I"m getting a lot better MPG, but next month I have my yearly stress when she goes in for her MOT.
My question is, Do I have to replace the Seats for the MOT? I don"t need them in the car.
Any advice?.
Thanks
Click to expand...

Depending on the MOT controler mood, he could argue that the rear seats are missing and he can't test the rear seatbelt ...
 
Alteredtech said:
Depending on the MOT controler mood, he could argue that the rear seats are missing and he can't test the rear seatbelt ...
Click to expand...
My Disco 2 almost always goes in with no rear seat. Has never failed yet. I believe he has to test what is there, but if you are bothered, take the rear seat belts out too!
 
A few years ago we put a three door interior into out FL1 "commercial" (Van), it's went through 14 MOT's since, at 4 different garages with no drama's about the "extra" seats, so I'd imagine the invers would also be true, no dramas for seats being AWOL. You also see a lot of boy racers take the back seats out of their hatchbacks to make it "like a rally car", so, yeah, I think you should be fine. As for the extra MPG, the FL1 seats are quite lumpy, I was genuinely astounded by the weight of them when installing them, so I can imagine the MPG would see a bit of an improvement. Since the seats are out, would you mind weighing them?
 
mudinuri said:
Hi Jayridium,
Yeah I will have a try but it will have to be next week. I"ll let you know
Click to expand...

It should pass the MOT just fine. However you will likely get an advisory saying that some of the rear seats and belts weren't fitted at the time of the test.
I know this because my old FL1 had this very advisory on an old MOT.
Screenshot_20220727-181151_Samsung Internet.jpg
 
Seen something similar, I thought the official line was if there are working seatbelts then it should fail without seats. The given theory was someone could sit there with belt on and no seat.
 
On the occasions I've forgotten to take a child seat out of the car when having an MOT I've had an advisory saying "Nearside Rear Child Seat fitted not allowing full inspection of adult belt" suggesting that if they can't test the belt, it's not actually a fail.

Just as an aside, I'd remove it for the re-test, and have been more diligent on subsequent tests and made sure its out of the way
 
Stanleysteamer said:
You are right about them weighing a ton!
the 2/3rds seat from the back of my Disco weighs loads.
Click to expand...
I've owned and or looked after 4 discos, still have one and an RRC as well as the hippo, and the FL1 seats are by far and aways the heaviest. Put it this way, the hippo back seats have the middle seatbelt and buckle built into it, as well as the outer two buckles, with the outer two reels being on the C pillar as normal. However, by contrast,the Discos and by extension the RRC have their seatbelt furniture bolted to the floorpan. As such the hippo seats have to be sufficiently sturdy to keep the occupants restrained even though they have effective dynamic weight's of ~1,000kg in a head on crash scenario, so if you think disco seats that aren't seatbelt load bearing behemoths are hefty, you can imagine how hefty the hippo seat frame must be.
 
Jayridium said:
I've owned and or looked after 4 discos, still have one and an RRC as well as the hippo, and the FL1 seats are by far and aways the heaviest. Put it this way, the hippo back seats have the middle seatbelt and buckle built into it, as well as the outer two buckles, with the outer two reels being on the C pillar as normal. However, by contrast,the Discos and by extension the RRC have their seatbelt furniture bolted to the floorpan. As such the hippo seats have to be sufficiently sturdy to keep the occupants restrained even though they have effective dynamic weight's of ~1,000kg in a head on crash scenario, so if you think disco seats that aren't seatbelt load bearing behemoths are hefty, you can imagine how hefty the hippo seat frame must be.
Click to expand...
The seat I am talking about, Disco 2 2000, has the whole of the middle seatbelt equipment all on it, plus the offside seat buckle. This is why the connection to the floor is so essential. The buckles do not come from the floor and through the seat base. so sorry but the Disco does NOT have their seat-belt furniture bolted to the floor pan. I can put up a pic if you wish. The strength for the central buckles is made by having big steel loops bolted to the floor pan to which hooks in the seat base connect. These are what release when you pull on the strap at the outer edge of the rear of the seat base.
The reel sits in the plastic surround to the rear pannier, the belt and the male part of the buckle hang from this and the lower part of the belt is secured to the wheel arch.
I am not familiar with the Freelander so I do not know if the rear seat is in two parts or not. If my seat was out I would weigh it for you but put it this way when I move it I use a sack truck! I won't be taking it out again for a while now!
 
Stanleysteamer said:
The seat I am talking about, Disco 2 2000, has the whole of the middle seatbelt equipment all on it, plus the offside seat buckle. This is why the connection to the floor is so essential. The buckles do not come from the floor and through the seat base. so sorry but the Disco does NOT have their seat-belt furniture bolted to the floor pan. I can put up a pic if you wish. The strength for the central buckles is made by having big steel loops bolted to the floor pan to which hooks in the seat base connect. These are what release when you pull on the strap at the outer edge of the rear of the seat base.
The reel sits in the plastic surround to the rear pannier, the belt and the male part of the buckle hang from this and the lower part of the belt is secured to the wheel arch.
I am not familiar with the Freelander so I do not know if the rear seat is in two parts or not. If my seat was out I would weigh it for you but put it this way when I move it I use a sack truck! I won't be taking it out again for a while now!
Click to expand...
Sorry bud, I hadn't noticed it was a Disc 2 that you were talking about, I'm not familiar with them, but the way you describe them sounds mechanically very similar to the FL1 setup, including the integration of the buclkes into the seat and the use of the hard loops on the floor, so probably similar weights...
 
Any seats where the belts are attached is going to be heavy, simply because it has to withstand enormous loads in an impact.
Having removed many seats over the decades, I've experience a massive shift in weights of seats, from the 70s where rear seats were little more than a light weight mattress shaped to fit a car, all the way modern 8 motor front electric seats with integrated belt anchorages and 2 air bags, which are a 2 man lift as they're so heavy.
It's no wonder that modern cars are so heavy, as crash worthiness dictates items in the vehicle which keep passengers safe are super strong.

Slightly off topic, on another LR forum recently, there's been a thread about EVs, and how the tyres are more pollution than diesel (completely wrong) but the cause of this excess tyre wear is due to the weight of an EV. Now this forum is an LR forum, but it seems that most people on there don't have a clue about the weight of a modern LR, and then are pointing fingers at EVs because they've heard that EVs are heavy. I wonder how many would admit being wrong about this, if they were aware of just how heavy their beloved LRs are. :oops:
 
Nodge68 said:
Any seats where the belts are attached is going to be heavy, simply because it has to withstand enormous loads in an impact.
Having removed many seats over the decades, I've experience a massive shift in weights of seats, from the 70s where rear seats were little more than a light weight mattress shaped to fit a car, all the way modern 8 motor front electric seats with integrated belt anchorages and 2 air bags, which are a 2 man lift as they're so heavy.
It's no wonder that modern cars are so heavy, as crash worthiness dictates items in the vehicle which keep passengers safe are super strong.

Slightly off topic, on another LR forum recently, there's been a thread about EVs, and how the tyres are more pollution than diesel (completely wrong) but the cause of this excess tyre wear is due to the weight of an EV. Now this forum is an LR forum, but it seems that most people on there don't have a clue about the weight of a modern LR, and then are pointing fingers at EVs because they've heard that EVs are heavy. I wonder how many would admit being wrong about this, if they were aware of just how heavy their beloved LRs are. :oops:
Click to expand...
Maybe they never open the bonnet and look down!;)
 
Stanleysteamer said:
Maybe they never open the bonnet and look down!;)
Click to expand...
The car in question doesn't have the curb weight on the chassis sticker, only the MAM and train weight, and maximum axle weights.
This particular LR (Freelander 2) has a curb weight of 1800kg give or take, and is the least heavy of any of the more modern LRs.
One of the EVs being discussed was the Ioniq 5 which I happen to like the look of. However if anyone bothered to check, they'd find that this EV also weighs in starting at 1800kg. Ok the long range duel motor version is a couple of hundred kgs more, but considering the I5 is also longer and wider than the LR in question, it makes me wonder just what is going on in people's heads sometimes. :confused:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

M
2003 FREELANDER HEATED REAR SCREEN
Replies
2
Views
274
andyfreelandy
andyfreelandy
B
Freelander TD4 Mk1 Rear Diff - Does anyone have any advice on how to replace the rear diff?
Replies
1
Views
199
Freddie17
Freddie17
M
SHOULD I BUY
Replies
7
Views
959
GrumpyGel
GrumpyGel
J
F1: leaking rear diff - repairable?
Replies
2
Views
305
JackGriffin1933
J
Andy Warren
Disco 2 Rear jump seats
Replies
4
Views
576
Andy Warren
Andy Warren
Back
Top