SO I have been trying to figure out the best way to mount a rear seat in my FJ 40 so that I can put the kids car seats back there. Yesterday I got to thinking that since they'll be sitting in the car seats do I really need a bench seat at all? I could fab up a steel plate for the seats to sit on and then fab a latch system and seat belt system for redundancy in attaching it to the truck. Am I nuts? I'm sure that this is in no way shape or form illegal in California.
forward facing or rear facing seats are usually good to go for carseats, side facing not so much, but you'd likely have to really piss off the cop to get a ticket for it. (That position is simply not tested by the DOT for carseats, and is not approved. For example, Series I Discovery jumpseats = not approved for carseats. )
Fabbing your own mount using steel plate, unless it's to mount a DOT approved off-road seat like a PRP preemie seat, is very much outside the law, AND if you get into a wreck, and God forbid, something were to happen to your kids, you could be charged with tampering/negligence, etc.
