[anarkietown]

Hey guys,

I am faced with moving to a new house in the near future, and I started thinking. I don't have a lot of furniture, so getting a moving van wouldn't be very practical. I would love to use my 9000 CD to move my stuff around, but the problem is the rear seats: they don't fold down! I know in 1990 (my model year) only the hatchback models had folding seats. The booted models only had a hatch for skis to pass through.

So, is it possible to modify the rear seats so they fold down? it doesn't seem like it would be too much of a job, but I'm not sure how to go about doing it. Has anyone attempted anything like this? Does anyone have any suggestions? And don't tell me to get a hatchback model

 

[microcat36]

It has always seamed a bit dumb that the seat base folds up but the backrest does not fold at all, why go to the extra expense of fitting hinges and a catch to the base if it will never be used ?.

 

[drioux15]

Hi there! I see there are others from canada on this site! I moved from North Bay to toronto last summer and rented a trailer from u-haul. This would be the easyest alternative if you've got a trailer hitch.... Are you moving localy or out of town? The trailer cost me 70$. It was a 7 or 8 ft long trailer by 5 ft wide, the closed in type that looks like a horse carrier... Fits quite a bit of stuff! They price their trailer based on how far you go with them (for me, was about 400km's) so if you're moving in town, shouldn't be very expensive.

 

[anarkietown]

Yep, I'm a fellow Canadian Saab-head!

Unfortunately, I have no trailer hitch! I could get one, but I'm not sure how much use I'd get out of it. Also, I don't want to destroy the transmission by towing... I have an auto box, but if I kept the weight below the recommended weight, it should be OK, right? Also, how much would a trailer hitch cost (purchased and installed)? Would I have to get a specially-designed one, or would any passenger car hitch fit on my Saab?

My concern is that if I get a trailer hitch and trailer, it'll end up costing more than just renting a van, which kind of defeats the purpose . Also, I'm just moving down the street, so naturally I'd like to make this as cheap and simple as possible!

As for the other fellow who posted, I agree, it's very odd that the CD would be designed with the seat bottom to fold up, but the seat back stays fixed. I'll check it out, and let you guys know what I find.

Cheers!

 

[drioux15]

If you think you may need a trailer hitch in the future for a small boat or ski-doo's or anything else, then I would suggest call Canadian Tire and they could give an estimate on a "Reese" brand trailer hitch.... The hitch would cost roughly 60-100$ I think plus wiring for the lights and a tow ball and a tongue, you're looking at prolly around 175$ ...... ya, maybe you're right, not worth it... but you will know most if you need it. Just find a friend that has a pickup truck!

 

[anarkietown]

I had some free time this afternoon, so I headed out to take a look at the back seat situation. I discovered (after much confusion) how to flip the seat bottom over. There's a little nylon strap in the centre of the seat, which you pull up on. Once this is pulled, the seat unlatches, and folds upwards, towards the front of the car. This leaves a nice, flat surface underneath, which I imagine you could use for carrying tall objects which wouldn't fit with the seat bottom in place. I also discovered that there are 4 bolts which secure the seat back to the structure. There are two at the bottom (on either side of the seat back), which are only accessable when the seat bottom is flipped up. The other two bolts are up at the top corners, and you'll have to fold the fabric/leather back to expose them. These four bolts are all hex bolts, so pretty much any metric socket will do. I'm pretty sure the bolts are different sizes (10mm for the bottom, and maybe 8mm for the top???), so just bring an assortment of sockets when you do this. I also noticed I needed to use an extension for those bolts, since they're a little hard to get to.

So, there you have it. The CD's seat back does fold down, but you need a socket wrench to do it, along with a bit of know-how.

I'm surprised the owner's manual doesn't tell you how to do this!!

 

[microcat36]

I am going to have a look at the back seat on the Griffin and on one of my CSE's and see if hinges could be fitted on to the base of the seat so you could fold the seat down if needed or if the mounting points on the CD are the same as the hatch, so you could fit the CSE back seat to the CD,it's worth a look.

 

[djtaylor]

Rocky, the seat doesn't fold down but yes you can remove it and you have already found the 4 bolts so it's a simple job.

David.

 

[anarkietown]

I think the mounting points are different on the CSE. Doesn't the rear seat attach to the parcel shelf up top? Also, the seats are split, rather than being one piece like on the CD. I think it might be possible to fit hinges on the CD's seats, but the problem is, how do you secure the upper part? You could leave the upper bolts in place, but that's still kind of inconvenient. If you were really motivated, you might be able to rig up some kind of latch system for the top... Now that would be impressive!

Let me know how you make out with all this!