...aren’t they supposed to flip forward so you can get into the back seat? Either they’re broken, or I’m not pulling on the right lever the right way... I don’t have the owners manual...

 

It's been a while since I had an extended cab Dakota. I think there was a lever, either on the side or rear of the seat back you lift and the seat will slide forward and fold.

 

Yeah, I’ve tried all the levers, and they won’t fold. I’m guessing somethings broken...

 

Something I've found over the years is there will be a wire underneath that goes across the bottom of the seat. When you pull the slide lever, it will have stretched and only releases one side. I've even seen them broken. Reach under and see if there is one and pull on the middle. You might need to pull the lever at the same time. If this is the problem, you'll need to fix the wire.

 

Thanks! I’ll check it out tomorrow after work...

 

You can slide the front seats forward and then tilt them forward to make it easier to get in. There is a release handle under the seat (directly in the centre) that allows you to slide the seat.

However on my 95 the adjuster cable that goes from the release handle to the locking mechanism on the seat slides broke. The cable, as I remember, is very thin and rusts over time, then snaps. I drove without a functional handle for some time.

After some time I took the seat out and replaced the cable with an unfolded coat-hanger. It's lasted for around 10 years so far, so you could try that. Wasn't particularly difficult.

 

The cable that runs across is good. The seat adjusts fine front-to-back, and I can recline the seat back normally, but the seat back refuses to fold forward. It’s almost like there’s a “lockout” that’s not releasing...

 

Look for a small tab on the lower outside edge of the seat back. It's been years since I fooled with one of these.

 

Yeah, the tab/button/whatever you want to call it only moves a little bit, then stops dead... I had the plastic trim off, but didn’t see anything that looked wrong or out-of-place...

 

Okay I understand now. On my I just pull the top of the seat and it folds forward. I'm thinking that maybe it's broken but in the opposite way