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seat swap

john112deere

caffeine junkie
Staff member
10,807
405
central Vermont
Starting a thread...haven't done much research yet.

Friend is parting out a '96 Ranger- low miles but rotted to bits. I would like to put the seats in my '09 Ranger, as the older seats (with springs!) are more comfortable.

Known points of concern:
-His is a single cab, mine's an extended cab. This may require retaining my seat tracks.

-The seat belts changed somewhere along the way, so I'd need to retain the female end of the '09 belt.

-I believe the '09 has some sort of pretensioner on the seatbelt that's tied to the airbags. Maybe it comes along with the buckle as noted above?

-The passenger seat, anyway, has a weight sensor to turn the airbag on/off. Not sure if the driver's seat does or not. Maybe it can be bypassed somehow, maybe installed on the newer seat?

-His seats are 60/40, I have buckets in my truck, and would like to retain the center console. I don't think it's too hard to cut the middle cushion off the driver's seat and remove the drop-down armrest....need to make the upholstery work, but since the seats are the wrong color I'd have to get covers anyway.


What am I missing...??
 

CowboyBilly9Mile

Charter Member
7,118
442
USA
Starting a thread...haven't done much research yet.

Friend is parting out a '96 Ranger- low miles but rotted to bits. I would like to put the seats in my '09 Ranger, as the older seats (with springs!) are more comfortable.

Known points of concern:
-His is a single cab, mine's an extended cab. This may require retaining my seat tracks.

-The seat belts changed somewhere along the way, so I'd need to retain the female end of the '09 belt.

-I believe the '09 has some sort of pretensioner on the seatbelt that's tied to the airbags. Maybe it comes along with the buckle as noted above?

-The passenger seat, anyway, has a weight sensor to turn the airbag on/off. Not sure if the driver's seat does or not. Maybe it can be bypassed somehow, maybe installed on the newer seat?

-His seats are 60/40, I have buckets in my truck, and would like to retain the center console. I don't think it's too hard to cut the middle cushion off the driver's seat and remove the drop-down armrest....need to make the upholstery work, but since the seats are the wrong color I'd have to get covers anyway.


What am I missing...??

*I think there is a track difference between 4dr/super cab and standard cab seat tracks. On fordrangerforums.com there is a longgggg thread addressing seat swaps I'd go have a look.

*pretensions became part of the restraint system in 2004, they and the female part of the seat belt are bolted to the seat frame. Prior to 04, the female section of seat belt bolted to the floor. You will have to somehow address this.

*I have read people claim that they have removed the weight sensor from the passenger seat and add it to a seat that didn't have one. Some cutting of the foam us required to make it fit. As so the post author reported.

*People have reworked the 60 seat into a 40 and added consoles. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and every one I've seen looks like quality that most high school children would be thrilled about. My standards and probably yours......would never tolerate thus. But.....maybe with attention to detail an adult can produce a professional, adult quality job.

Again, go find that thread I mentioned. And fwiw, most people swapping seats go for 95-01 Explorer seats. In fact you can probably indulge in the luxury of power seat (s), power lumbar, and possibly high priced vinyl (aka, leather) snd heat. If you find a limited, there is a good chance it will have......gasp, memory settings. So the issues with the Expl seats will be, foam and upholstery condition and the female seat belt section. Maybe check out a 2000 or an 01 Explorer limited and see how the female seat belt section is mounted as maybe.....the limited with side air bags has what you need. Maybe; research and confirmation required.
 
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john112deere

caffeine junkie
Staff member
10,807
405
central Vermont
Yeah, I started in on that thread. Boy, is it long...

*This isn't prompted by an urgent desire to upgrade my seats, but rather by a friend saying "is there anything on this truck you want before it goes to the scrap yard"? He's using the motor and trans in another project, but has zero interest in Rangers. So seeking out Explorer seats isn't likely, at least for now.

One possibility that thread suggests IS interesting, though- it may be that the recline lever/mechanism on the passenger seat can be swapped with the drivers without much trouble. If I could put the passenger seat out of that truck (which is, in effect, a bucket) into the driver's side of mine, and slap a sheepskin (or whatever) cover on it to hide it's mismatched shape and upholstery...that might be an acceptable alternative. Doesn't make the passenger's side any more comfortable, but that seat doesn't get much use- and almost never by me. Might look a bit odd, but I don't spend much time looking at the seat under me...

I'll get the seats whenever is convenient for him, and start monkeying with fitment once it's warm/sunny and I have the bike back out (so I won't care if my truck goes back together every night).

Thanks Bill!
 

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