How to remove under-seat drawers?

I've been putting this job off for a while now, but it's got to be done. I need to remove the complete side-facing seat assembly on my van. It's a 1999 Flair which is (from the fact that I've never seen another one anywhere) a fairly rare model, but I'm sure other models like the Duetto use a similar mechanism.

The problem is that I can't figure out how to remove the drawer so that I can get to the screws that fix the seat assembly down. The drawer runners are in 3 sections, and there are 3 screws into the side of the drawer which hold the runner in place on each side. But I can only get at the front 2. There seems to be a stop somewhere that prevents the drawer coming out far enough for the heads of the rearmost screws to be accessed.

Does anyone know if there is a hidden release for this stop (or if there is some other cunning way to remove it which does not involve the sound of splintering wood)???

I don't know your particular model, but I have several office cabinets & all have different drawer types, so, this may be a long-shot, but one type

the drawer is pulled all the way out & the front is lifted up, this releases it from the runners.

Second type has a small slot in the top runner, a pin comes out of this slot, when the drawer is pulled out, the pin is pushed foward or back & the

drawer is released.

The third type we have has a lever on the drawer side, somewhere on its runner, again this is moved to release the drawer, worth a look!!

Unfortunately, none of those apply.

Spoke to AS and they say the way to do it is to slide the runners to expose the rearmost screw, but that simply isn't possible! The drawer comes up against the stop while the rearmost screw is still inside, behind the face of the seat, and the runner itself won't move anyway when it's up against the stop.

Anyone here actually had any success in removing one?

-mojo- wrote:Unfortunately, none of those apply.

Spoke to AS and they say the way to do it is to slide the runners to expose the rearmost screw, but that simply isn't possible! The drawer comes up against the stop while the rearmost screw is still inside, behind the face of the seat, and the runner itself won't move anyway when it's up against the stop.

Anyone here actually had any success in removing one?

From what you say i'd be tempted to take it along to A/S and ask them to show you!

I'd like to know how to remove the drawer under the back seat on my Trident. I'm sure there are some mystery objects lurking in the gap. Managed to fish out a few items including a Michelin guide left by the previous owners, but there's only so much you can reach with the drawer in situ.

Bulletguy wrote:
From what you say i'd be tempted to take it along to A/S and ask them to show you!

I'd like to do that, but it would be a long round trip!

Looking at the same runners which were fitted to the shorter drawer - which I have been able to remove - I don't think the runners are designed to come apart, as it looks like all the ball bearings will drop out! I'm starting to wonder now whether they fixed the drawer in place from above, before the seat base was added.

Removing the seat squab doesn't really help - just 4 long screws from below, but awkward when you can't get the drawer out to get to two of them! Fortunately I've got a short-bodied Bosch impact driver which fitted inside the drawer.

It doesn't help because the seat "box" was covered after it was assembled - so to get the top off I'd have to remove quite a lot of the covering.

I'm now seriously considering grinding off the threaded part of the rear screws from inside the drawer - a godawful job as it means grinding through the side wood at the same time. I'll hold off on that for a little while in case someone else comes up with any ideas... please!

No ideas forthcoming, so I did the grinding out from inside the drawer of the rearmost 2 fixing screws. Took about 30 mins, and I will obviously need to make good the slots cut in the woodwork.

Having completed that, I still can't see any way that I could have released the runners from the outside. I ~think~ I can see how the drawer could be released to slide out further if you can get behind it, but that doesn't help when all of the upper panel fixing screws have been covered over with fabric...

Well, my curiosity got the better of me, I had to go & look at mine, I have 3 under-seat lockers with drop-down doors & another which is a drawer,

& guess what???? It looks to be the same as yours! Looks a right cow to get to as well, but It may be a bit easier since I have 4 seperate bases

& the frame mount nuts are accessable from above once the cushion back is removed.

They must all be the same.

-mojo- wrote:.............

I'm now seriously considering grinding off the threaded part of the rear screws from inside the drawer - a godawful job as it means grinding through the side wood at the same time. I'll hold off on that for a little while in case someone else comes up with any ideas... please!

Hi there,

Personally I hate grinders; and even more so in confined spaces!!

May I suggest that with a bit of patience a Dremel, fitted with an appropriate disc, would be a better option? (I have a knock-off that came from Lidl at a quarter of the price and with loads of attachments.) It will give a neater and more controllable finish.

Alternatively, maybe that was the kind of "grinder" you were thinking of anyway!

Best regards,

I should have guessed that the advice would arrive ~after~ I'd finished the job!

I do own two angle grinders, but I wouldn't use one for that sort of job. As suggested, I used a miniature grinding wheel, but I used a cordless drill instead of my Minicraft "Dremel", as I reckon that would stand up to the prolonged sideways-loading of the chuck better.

Hence the resulting slots are quite small and neat, and with a few applications of wood filler should be pretty much invisible.