BHPian abirnale recently shared this with other enthusiasts:Trying Something different With My Mahindra XUV 700Although #TheRedSparkle is a 7 seater variant, for 99.99% of the time, we kept third row of the seat closed! On top of that, the floor when third row is folded isn’t flat like it is in 5OO. There have always been the gaps where things fall and it can only be contained with better boot mat or something oversized to cover those gaps. In #TheRedSparkle, we always carry some stuff that is suitable for our excursions – including coolers, chairs, some accessories for rescue, first-aids, etc. The space actually ends up wasted with third row being there and unused. So one fine day, I decided to try making #TheRedSparkle as 5 seater variant! A simple DIY – 17mm Spanner, to remove the anchored bolts for the seats and about 15 minutes of time was all I needed. There are two seats in the third row – each have separate anchoring bolts, 2 for front and 2 for rear. Total 4 bolts each seat. The seats were out easily. Then came the important question – where to keep them if not in the car? The flipside of tiny apartment dwelling middle class family is that we are out of space to keep such things – I remember my dad preserving all our farm equipment even to this date in our home without such worries. Thanks to an idea that was sparked by my better half (yeah, sometimes bitter half too ), we crafted a base for the seats and kept them in the home for use as simple sofa! The seats are made to fit as plug-n-play. Four bolts each for the seats, 15 minutes flat, they can be removed from home and fitted back in the car or vice-versa. The best part of this exercise – immense satisfaction at home that we did something different and huge space freed up in the boot to stow more stuff! How about building a compartment that can be easily shielded from prying eyes to keep valuables hidden and at the same time – flat ground to use, extra space to stow our expedition luggage?! All ideas welcome! Here is the visual proof of what we achieved: One seat out – the space it has created – What goes in that one seat’s place: the space at the very rear end is about 6 inches deep and it goes on increasing towards the second row to up to 10 inches. The width of the internal space is little over 4 ft. Thats approximately freeing about 36 inches x 8 inches x 30 inches space! This is entire boot space that is freed up! The seats when mounted on the simple steel frame (costed Rs 1700 with material, workmanship, etc.) The seats do recline with one position – same as how they do in car. I am thinking of using some foldable and removable 5mm ply and wood based storage unit to fit in the car with nice foldable/ separately operable multi-compartment cover which can trolly bag weight. Goal is to stow our chairs, camping equipment, sleeping bags, our go-bags for travel, tyre inflator, additional equipment like tow ropes, and my DSLR camera/ drone accessories beneath it (easily accessible and safe to stow while on the move). So when the compartment is closed, it just appears flat to keep trolleys and other luggage bags there. EDIT: Ahem… forgot to mention, we now have an auto-diming IRVM in #TheRedSparkle – dedicating another post later this week for the same with details and overall experience.Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.
