[vinodv001]

I thought of sharing our experience of making our Ertiga more flexible by
1. Improving the space in the 2nd row (when the 3rd row seat is folded); lack of 2nd row leg space with 3rd row folded is a major complaint Ertiga owners have.
2. Adding a 50-50 foldable 3rd row seat.

Our Ertiga ZDi was purchased in 2012 immediately after the launch; the main drawbacks we could identify back then were turbo lag and lack of luggage space.

Lack of boot space was the major concern. Initially I though nothing can be done about this and fixed roof rails to carry luggage.


But later we found that keeping luggage on the roof was not so easy as we needed to tie things securely with proper covers (considering the rains in Kerala) every time and were worried about leaving the luggage there when we wanted to move away from the car.

One fine day we accidentally found some more space for luggage. The space behind the 3rd row seat was just sufficient for keeping a few backpacks only and the tray beneath was used to store the 3rd row headrest, camera tripod and other smaller items.


I removed the tray (by removing 2 screws and a few plastic clips) for cleaning the car as some juice had spilled inside; what we found was interesting. There is sufficient space to keep a big soft trolley bag (30 X 40 X 75 cms approx.) and may be a smaller one too. Now we are thinking of keeping this setup permanent. Carpeting in this are is yet to be done.

With the tray removed: luggage space is significantly improved.


The absence of a 50-50 foldable third row seat:
We travel with 6 people on board on most of the long drives - me, wifey, parents and two children. The bags need to be placed either on the 3rd row seat (sharing with one passenger) or on the roof rack, which is a cumbersome process. The proper solution for this is a 50-50 foldable seat which Maruti has not provided. One workshop in Coimbatore is doing such an alteration, but going there for getting this done is not practical. I tried inquiring with many local workshops and finally found one person who was ready to do this by cutting the seat. He promised it's a small job. Apparently we found that it was not as simple as we thought.

In the process of cutting the seat into 2, the arch like portion is removed by reducing the height of the seat back by 2 inches, so that we get additional space in 2nd row when this seat is folded.


The seat back and base are cut at the red lines shown. The cut in the center is 2 inches wide to accommodate PU foams at the sides. There are two mechanisms on each side one in the front which allows the movement of the seat forward and lower while folding and one in the back side allowing similar movement with a more complicated mechanism than we initially thought. Finally the mechanic duplicated the mechanisms from the original design.

The two new mounts at the rear were mounted on the car body with the screw which was already present for the seat belts. Two additional mounting points were welded at the front for mounting the hinge mechanism and finally the outcome was satisfying. Total damage was Rs 8,000, but the result was really worth it.

Some random pics:

[mooza]

@ Vinod, thanks for sharing the mod !

Very useful tips and pics. Will surely show this to my friend who owns an Ertiga.

[sumeshmani]

Brilliant. The final product is superb.
I wish you had captured more steps via photographs. If you have any more snaps of the refitting please do share them.

[vnabhi]

Wonderful, worth every penny spent! I'll show this to many who shied away from the Ertiga due to the issue you've posted about.I wonder why MUL did not think of something this simple.

Can you post some more pictures of the last row with both seats up and also with both down? And some with a front view of the last row please?

[shantonob]

This is wonderful, this can be applied to all non-split rear seats. Could you share some more photographs of the seat after the conversion and some photographs of the frame under work, if you have them. This is some good DIY and could solve issues for a lot of people. Looks pretty neatly done from what i can see.

[paragsachania]

I think I had seen this mod in some other Automotive forum last year and may be it was you?

The workmanship looks executed quite well and a split seat for the 3rd row is what many ask in the Ertiga.

My only concern with this mod has been this -

With the 3rd row now split, you don't have a single long back supported on either ends for resting but 2 split backs supported on one side each.

Note - I have not yet explored whether the 3rd row has a hinge mechanism running across or just on the corners.

What I normally do when I need leg space in 2nd row and luggage is simply dump the baggage on the 3rd row itself.

More on this experiment on this post:

Baggage management in the Ertiga with 3rd row up.

That additional utility area in the boot is such a nice place to keep your Jopasu, Air Compressor, Torch,Glass wiper, Microfiber cloths, Newspapers etc that I wouldn't want to lose that .

[vinodv001]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

My only concern with this mod has been this -

With the 3rd row now split, you don't have a single long back supported on either ends for resting but 2 split backs supported on one side each.

Note - I have not yet explored whether the 3rd row has a hinge mechanism running across or just on the corners.

.

Even I have seen such a modification in some other forum/ thread and that motivated me to explore this option.

Regarding dumping luggage in the 3rd row was the one I was also doing, but taking it out either above the seat back or through the rear door is slightly difficult.

And yes I do like to store smaller items in the tray and moreover you will get a flat loading bay with the tray in position. Removal of this an option when there are 7 passengers and we don’t want to use the roof rack.

In the original seat there are 4 sets of hinge mechanisms (marked in Red circles) at each corners; two at the rear are locking the seat in position.





sorry I don't have a better snap showing the rear one.

Two locks are preventing the seat from folding; which are unlocked by pulling the straps on top and are used for the same purpose after the mod.

There is a pin in that hinge which supports the seat back in upright position (Marked in Green) ; this pin is duplicated in the additional hinges at the rear ( Marked in Orange circle). Now each seat in the 3rd row has pins at each side to hold it in upright position.



Two additional mountings were fabricated similar to the OE one and welded to the body for fixing the additional hinge mechanisms at the front at the place marked in Blue circle.



The mounting points in the rear hinge mechanisms are made in such a way that they can be mounted along with the seat belts to the body ( Yellow circle).



PU foams are fixed after applying primer on the frame.

Please note the Rust in the seat frames in the first four photos; they haven't even applied metal primer. Don't know whether it is not required if welding is done in some Oxygen free environment in the factory.

[ganesc]

Good job there vinodv001 . Never thought removing that rear most hidden console will free up that much space! Thanks. Swift in India does not have a similar tray but in other markets, its present and removable.

The car would have been that much more versatile if Maruti had given a split seat themselves especially with the limited luggage space.

I was shocked to see rust in the head rest frame. Isn't there any plastic sleeve inside to avoid the head rest support rod hitting and making noise?

@Parag Bro, another DIY suggestion: Can you try your Wagon-R rear seat on the third row in Ertiga? If it fits with fewer modifications, I think it will cost almost the same (for a used one) and less work.

Below photos are from Koyas Coimbatore (I had shared it earlier as well). Sharing it here as it may help someone thinking on the same lines. Remove if inappropriate.

http://www.koyas.net/upholstery.php







I would also love to have that arm rest (Scorpio's I think)



and the 2nd row Captain seat (Yummy looking seat cake ) arrangement!

[Partha80]

Vinody001@ That's a novel idea & very well executed. But the most important requirement remains of finding the correct fabricator who is equally enthusiastic about the project.
I have an idea of placing a detachable see through plastic partition between the second & third rows (when folded) during long journeys so as to improve the cooling for the second row passengers. Presently the plans are on the conceptual stage, looking for the right material & perfect design. Hope to update you all soon on the progress.

[vinodv001]

Partha, As you rightly said, Getting an enthusiastic fabricator is the difficult part; even if we find one, the perfection wont be as good as The Koyas' work.

Your idea about transparent partition is cool; In fact I have also thought about that earlier.

[rajivtelang]

How easy it is to remove and put back the tray? Latest ertiga has the third row split in place already. So I can remove the tray when needed in case of more people or else put back.
Regards

[vinodv001]

Hi Rajiv,

Yes it is simple, removing 2 screws and 4 plastic clips will enable you to lift it off..

Originally Posted by rajivtelang

How easy it is to remove and put back the tray? Latest ertiga has the third row split in place already. So I can remove the tray when needed in case of more people or else put back.
Regards

[venki.bala]

Originally Posted by ganesc

Below photos are from Koyas Coimbatore (I had shared it earlier as well). Sharing it here as it may help someone thinking on the same lines. Remove if inappropriate.

http://www.koyas.net/upholstery.php

Is there someone similar to Koyos in Chennai who can do this kind of job on my 1st gen ertiga. I am looking to get a split seat arrangement for my 3rd row.

[ganesc]

Originally Posted by venki.bala

Is there someone similar to Koyos in Chennai who can do this kind of job on my 1st gen ertiga. I am looking to get a split seat arrangement for my 3rd row.

Not really sure of any in Chennai, but when I was looking to retrofit the split seat from the facelifted model to my Gen 1 Ertiga, I was told it would cost around 18K or so from Maruti itself. Didn't try it but worth checking again with the part numbers.

Around 6 individual pieces for frame & cushion constitutes the 3rd row seat (each <2K) I believe: https://boodmo.com/catalog/4920-seat...ti_ertiga-1_3/