3rd row seat question?

[Wal92tt]

We just got a 1999 Expedition Eddie Bauer 4x4 last week and I have a question. After folding up the 3rd row out of the way, it feels like it will easily fall back once I accelerate? I can't find/see anything to hold it up in place? Am I missing something or did Ford drop the ball here? Am I supposed to tie it off to the 2nd row somehow?

 

[Joseph3]

It seems to me it latches somehow. It's been so long since I had the seat in the vehicle. It makes a nice garage seat though.
Seriously, on page 102 of my 2000 Owners Manual it has the answer. Tilt the seat forward. You lift the latch up out of the center of the floor so it is vertical. Then you pull down the support bar and it hooks under the latch. It won't go anywhere once you latch it.

 

[Joseph Tator]

Mine has a u shaped metal bar that comes down and pops into a latch holding the 3rd row up

 

[hwy73]

Fold the top of the 3rd seat down. Pull the adjustable strap of the center seatbelt between the cushions toward the rear of the vehicle. Slide the buckle to the end of the strap. Rotate the 3rd seat forward leaving the front “feet” engaged in their attaching points. Toss the long strap over the seat into the 2nd row. Go into the 2nd row and buckle the seatbelt tang you tossed over into the 2nd row center seatbelt female buckle. This will hold the 3rd seat upright.

 

[Wal92tt]

Thanks, I'll try these....

 

[Wal92tt]

I tried hwy73's seat belt method and it works, as long as there are only two people in the 2nd row.
Joseph3, I have no idea what latch you're referring to? My '99 has no such latch. They probably decided to correct this idiotic design for the 4th year of production. How did the designers/engineers miss this? There's not much space with the 3rd row in use. There are times when you need to flip it up for more space without taking the seat out. You make the wrong move and the heavy seat comes crashing down onto whatever it is you uprighted the seat for!

 

[Tonyray]

I have a latch on the bottom of the 3rd row seat that fold down and locks the seat.

 

[eb20004x4]

This set up was added for the 2000 model run.

 

[Joseph3]

Well that explains why I have the setup and the OP doesn't. Mine is just like the TonyRay photo. Sorry about that! So it sounds like the seatbelt method may be the way to go? seems strange that Ford would have designed it that way.. but I am not an engineer.