We found ourselves needing a little extra room for car seats in our 2015 Traverse LT with second row captains chairs. I stumbled across the post which discussed the opposite swap and found the encouragement I needed to take this on. I picked up a bench seat, seat bolts and trim pieces from a 2014 Traverse in excellent condition from a salvage yard for $200. Basic steps and pictures below.
1. Obtain a bench seat (60 and 40 sides), a few extra seat bolts, and the appropriate plastic trim.
2. Remove the plastic trim pieces around the seat tracks.
3. Remove the bolts holding each seat in place. I used an air ratchet/impact wrench.
4. Remove the captains chairs. Get help from a buddy so you don't hurt yourself or the car.
5. Install the passenger side (40) seat. Start the bolts on the passenger side seat track, do not tighten. Do not install the driver side seat track bolts yet.
6. Put the driver’s side (60) seat in position and align the holes. You will notice that one of the right rear seat track mounting pads does not have access to a hole because it is covered by carpet. Trace the seat track on the carpet with easy to remove chalk.
7. Remove the driver’s side (60) seat.
8. Cut a small portion of carpet around the seat track mounting pad. You have now exposed a bolt that will need to be removed.
9. The walkway between the captains chairs has a thick foam support, I chose to cut this out below the carpet where the new seat track runs front to back to allow the seat to sit flush. I did not cut the carpet for this, only the foam.
10. Install the driver’s side (60) seat and align the holes. Install bolts in all locations. Note that the right side mounting pads of the driver’s side (60) seat will install on top of the left side passenger side (40) seat.
11. Take a break, grab a beverage.
12. You will notice two carpet voids on the driver’s side where the old seat track was installed. After installing bolts in the unused holes, I covered the voids with sticky back mass loaded vinyl (sound deadening material). I then cut out heavy foam in the shape of the holes to level the spot with the surrounding carpet. Finally, I cut and installed a piece of black carpet to cover everything up.
13. Install the plastic seat track trim pieces.
14. Enjoy.
We are keeping our captains chairs so that we can revert back when our kids are older.
1. Obtain a bench seat (60 and 40 sides), a few extra seat bolts, and the appropriate plastic trim.
2. Remove the plastic trim pieces around the seat tracks.
3. Remove the bolts holding each seat in place. I used an air ratchet/impact wrench.
4. Remove the captains chairs. Get help from a buddy so you don't hurt yourself or the car.
5. Install the passenger side (40) seat. Start the bolts on the passenger side seat track, do not tighten. Do not install the driver side seat track bolts yet.
6. Put the driver’s side (60) seat in position and align the holes. You will notice that one of the right rear seat track mounting pads does not have access to a hole because it is covered by carpet. Trace the seat track on the carpet with easy to remove chalk.
7. Remove the driver’s side (60) seat.
8. Cut a small portion of carpet around the seat track mounting pad. You have now exposed a bolt that will need to be removed.
9. The walkway between the captains chairs has a thick foam support, I chose to cut this out below the carpet where the new seat track runs front to back to allow the seat to sit flush. I did not cut the carpet for this, only the foam.
10. Install the driver’s side (60) seat and align the holes. Install bolts in all locations. Note that the right side mounting pads of the driver’s side (60) seat will install on top of the left side passenger side (40) seat.
11. Take a break, grab a beverage.
12. You will notice two carpet voids on the driver’s side where the old seat track was installed. After installing bolts in the unused holes, I covered the voids with sticky back mass loaded vinyl (sound deadening material). I then cut out heavy foam in the shape of the holes to level the spot with the surrounding carpet. Finally, I cut and installed a piece of black carpet to cover everything up.
13. Install the plastic seat track trim pieces.
14. Enjoy.
We are keeping our captains chairs so that we can revert back when our kids are older.
