# how to recline rear seats in 96 camry LE 4-door sedan?



## DIherself (Apr 26, 2011)

All the manual says is "Unlock the seatback and fold it down." The rear window brake light and whatever it is mounted on is in the way. 

Do I have to first remove ALL the liners in the trunk? Then crawl inside the trunk and unlock the locks that are on the back of a BLACK thing (another liner?) that are not shown in the picture? My seats are BEIGE. 

Just the first three steps in the proper order, and I can probably figure out the rest....:whistling2: thank you from Florida


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## Brainbucket (Mar 30, 2015)

I can't picture it in my head but I'm thinking it folds forward. Either a strap is on the side by the door and you grab it and pull torwards the front of the car and it releases the back latch to fold forward. Or there is a latch handle of some sort to release the seat back.:thumbup:


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## DIherself (Apr 26, 2011)

Latch. That's the word I was looking for. There are two of them imbedded into BLACK fabric (lining?), and those latches are only visible and accessible from inside the trunk. Inside the car, the seats are beige. The manual says "unlock the seatbacks" period. Maybe the seatbacks are black and only show inside the trunk? So I don't know what would happen if I unlatched the ..... I'll try to send pictures. Thank you, bucket o' brains.


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## Brainbucket (Mar 30, 2015)

If you have the owner’s manual, you can get the info from there. I googled it but I couldn't find 1 for a 96. 98's don't move. You tube offers some insight. Good luck.:thumbsup:


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## SPS-1 (Oct 21, 2008)

Sometimes, folding rear seats is an option. So just because its in the owners manual does not guaranty your seats will fold.


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## Oso954 (Jun 23, 2012)

Is your rear seat a 60/40 split ?
If not, it probably does not fold.


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## McSteve (Dec 8, 2009)

If it's like the older Toyotas, there's a latch on the back of the seats, accessible only from inside the trunk. Once it's unlatched, the seats should just pull forward. The idea was to make sure no one could access the trunk without a key, even if the car doors are unlocked.

If it's like the newer Toyotas, there's a couple little plastic handles mounted under the lip of the trunk opening; pushing each one releases that half of the seat.

If it's neither of those, then I'm at a loss. I haven't dealt with a lot of Toyotas.


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## DIherself (Apr 26, 2011)

I have the original paper manual. It gave short general instructions for sedan, coupe and wagon. All it said for sedan was "Unlock the seatback and fold it down." There are two latches inside the trunk abutting the rear of the rear seat. That is consistent with what McSteve said, "pull it forward" if that is the same as what the manual said "fold it down." I guess I should just unlatch the two and see what happens. Now it's just a matter of dogged curiosity.

U tube was no help. I tried that.

I'm not sure what a 60/40 split means, but the entire back seat looks like one piece. There is an arm rest in the middle of the back seat that reveals nothing when it is down. 

I'll post pictures in a day or two before I do too much unlatching, pushing and pulling. I really appreciate the help. 

Later
Jean


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## SPS-1 (Oct 21, 2008)

Found this - see link below for web-page to download pdf. A bunch of pictures in it -- might help.

https://carmanuals2.com/get/toyota-camry-1996-seats-10762


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## DIherself (Apr 26, 2011)

thanx, SPS-1. I'm looking at it right now.


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## Brainbucket (Mar 30, 2015)

If there is a 'bar' or an 'X' brace behind the back seat, it doesn't come down.


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## DIherself (Apr 26, 2011)

Most of the pics on the car manual PDF download were for the wagon. The one picture for sedan is the same as in my paper manual. 

Attached are my pictures. Inside the car, the only splits I can see and feel on my rear seat is between the thing where the seat belt hangs nice and neat and the seat next to it on each side. 

In the trunk shots, you can see the two latches -- one on each side. Looks like that curved black lining, framing the latches, is in the way so....


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## DIherself (Apr 26, 2011)

here's a couple more


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## SPS-1 (Oct 21, 2008)

Seems there should be another set of latches behind the headrests. Do you have these?


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## DIherself (Apr 26, 2011)

On closer visual inspection:whistling2:, yes, headset latches (see picture) but does the shaded area mean that only one seat goes down at a time, because it sure looks like one seat to me in real life. The other picture is the only real split on the seat, except for the same split on the other side, if that means anything.


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## SPS-1 (Oct 21, 2008)

Seems that fold down seats normally are 60/40, but I don't see any reason they couldn't be un-split. From some angles it could look like your seats are split. I would say unlatch everything and push hard.


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## DIherself (Apr 26, 2011)

From the blue lines you have drawn, it looks like the seat would clear the two curved sides of the lining when reclined, leaving the two seat belt panel things upright where they are now. That would mean I don't have to monkey at all with the lining. That is even consistent with the simple direction of unlatch and fold down (but it should have said push). Just from looking at the back of the car, if I don't push, the brake light and speaker mount would be in the way. So, thank you very much, and now I am ready to give it a try -- fresh tomorrow morn. 

Now, whether I can get them back up again -- well, I'll let you know.


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## Brainbucket (Mar 30, 2015)

I see the latch release on each side of the seat. Right where the blue lines hit the seat. Pull it foward or down? Also is that the latch release on the back of the seat? Maybe just push down? Hard the tell from here.


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## SPS-1 (Oct 21, 2008)

look at the picture on post 14


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## DIherself (Apr 26, 2011)

In the picture of the seat with the latches circled in red, that wide white arrow that points to the left? Don't know what that means. I went back out for further examination. I do have 60/40 seats after all, as I could stick my hand inside the seam on the 40 seat (the right side of post picture 14). 

The only thing now is where to push and with what? The palm of one hand? 

I'm inclined to climb in the trunk and push with both feet to keep the bottom seat on track. Surely Toyota did not intend such a gyration, but the manual said the bottom seat will go up as far as up to the back of the front seats, and the bottom seat is a long drink of water. You know, if you've ever tried to push something along a track, it can get skewed if you don't use even pressure all across... so I chickened out unlatching for now.


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## Brainbucket (Mar 30, 2015)

Instead, Go to a local mechanic shop and have them show you how to do it. Then you'll know. Maybe a local parts house?


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## DIherself (Apr 26, 2011)

Maybe an auto upholstery shop. Thank you for oiling my brain.


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## jimmyfloyd (Sep 29, 2008)

First off, let's establish what you are trying to do:

A) Fold the rear seats down so you can get a larger item into the trunk
OR
B) Recline the rear seat just like the front seats do so the rear passengers can take a nap more comfortably? 


Once you have established what you are trying to do, it will make helping with the process easier. I'll outline the steps for both here.

A) If you are trying to fold the rear seat forward so you can get a larger item in the trunk, then you'll follow the steps in the manual, or as I outline here. 


First, you can put each side of the seat down independent of the other side.
Starting with the driver's side, you can use either the latch at the top of the headrest, or the latch in the trunk for this.
For the Latch on the headrest, Pull the latch mechanism up to release the latch, then while releasing it, pull on the head rest towards the front of the car. This will cause the back of the seat to fold forward and down so that it is flat with the bottom seat cushion. It might be required to move the front seat up slightly to get it to fold completely flat.
For the latch in the trunk, you will need to reach into the trunk and release the latch. While holding it in the released position, push on the seat back next to the latch. This will cause the seat to move forward and fold down against the bottom seat cushion.
You can now place large items in the trunk and use the extra space in the rear seat area.
To put back, you will simply pull the back seat cushion back up and into place, and pressing firmly to reengage the latch.


B) This is not possible and the car was never intended to have this function. There is a large metal support bar directly behind the upper portion of the seat, under the carpetting that is part of the unibody frame of the car that holds it together.


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## DIherself (Apr 26, 2011)

I'm trying for A); specifically, transport a framed map 3' x 4.5' AND put the seats back in the passenger position when transport complete.

Knowing that the rear-seat back flips down atop the bottom cushion is a breakthrough. I thought the "forward" meant something else, like when you use the lever and push the whole seat forward. This makes a huge difference in which direction to push. 

What about the lining? It still seems to be in the way. If you look at the posted picture of the trunk latches, the lining frames the latches and takes up crucial corner space. Maybe the lining stays where it is? Those lining curves seem to be behind the seatbelt panel wraps, which are stationary? 

Two latches: The posted picture, showing unlocking the one on the headrest AND the one in the trunk, is ambiguous. Are you saying the driver has a choice of which latch to unlatch? 

Just a few more answers, and I'm ready to get out there and unlatch something. Thank you very much. 

P.S. Yes, I was expecting the rear-seat backs to flip backwards, keeping the beige upholstery, like the front seats do, so that is a monumental clarification. 

P.S.S. The white arrow in the picture pointing to the left? Now I know that it is pointing downward/forward.


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## jimmyfloyd (Sep 29, 2008)

Take a look at this video, but only 40-45 seconds in, which shows them folded down (These are folded down more than yours well be, because this guy removed the bottom seat first. ) 




The rounded part is not meant to be removed, and the opening that you can view the latches from is all that opens. Behind the fabric sides with rubber trim is more metal. If you watch the whole video, which shows disassembling everything, you can see the opening in the metal is the same size roughly as the opening.


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## DIherself (Apr 26, 2011)

Reclining my seats will be a breeze after that video; I watched it all. Thank you!


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