Mod: 60/40 Bench to 40/40 Buckets
Difficulty: 4/10 (for removal of seats and cutting of excess metal)
Time: ~4hours

Author: Jeff Browning (solodos)
Please direct all questions and comments to the author.

This MOD will convert your 60/40 Bench Seats to 40/40 Bucket Seats.


Always wear protective eyewear when working with metal and cutting tools.

Tools/Equipment needed:

• Torx Bits
• Sockets
• Sawzall

Step 1:

Unbolt the drivers seat and pull it out to a work area (i.e. Tailgate).


Step 2:
Pull back the fabric, cut the foam along the line/crease.


Step 3:
Unbolt the center console. Cut the metal section off, I used a sawzall.


Step 4:
Sew the fabric together to fit, and I zip tied the bottom to the underseat to make it fit tight.


Step 5:
Bolt back in the truck.



Now I have room for a custom console I want to build.


Mod Complete:

Now I have room for a custom console I want to build!




Edited by Jason Gonderman (rngprerunner) for grammar and format.

 

I see what you have done but I have a 2005 ex cab with leather seats 40/40 and I am trying to swap them in a 2009 with 60/40. The delema that I am coming across is that the airbag harness under the seats are way different. Can the harnesses swap straight across??

 

I think I just found a project for next week. Thanks, mgprerunner! I can finally get rid of that useless, 60/40 console that does nothing but get in the way of everything.

I won't be running three-wide in the Ranger, anyway.

My girlfriend doesn't need to sit there, either. I don't have a girlfriend, and I'm not looking, but that's beside the point. LOL!

 

Thanks for posting this. Side note, if you don't like your seat fabric and want too replace it, would be a great time too do it before putting seats back in. Think I'm going too do this too my 94. Tired of scouring junkyards for seats.... Makes more sense too mod the ones I have that just need new fabric!

 

or if you wanted a super clean look replace the whole cover

 

Local upholstery shop quoted $110 to do the same thing professionally in one day. I have no doubt that you did a good job on this but the interior is important enough to me to have the job done in a long lasting and correct way...with a warranty.

 

Ever get around to building that custom console? Really want to build one, just looking for ideas.

 

My 2003 Std Cab seat tracks unbolted.
Find a passenger seat that un bolts and swap the tracks, that is if your unbolt too !

The seat pan, which is part of the seat and on mine separate from the track assembly, has holes on both sides allowing for all of the levers.

 

this worked perfect thank you saved alot of time and money i have a 96 with the green interior i dont see too many at the junk yard like mine with decent interior

 

This is a great idea I plan on doing this this weekend I have the manual transmission and its just an inconvenience to get your drinks and the console is a nuisance so I'm gonna by a console from Walmart and build a custom stand to sit it on.

 

Couldn't do the swap with the leather seats (air bag wiring said NO!!!) so I pulled out the console out of the 2005 before the insurance totaled it (along with everything I could grab off of it including the new front grill). My 2009 had a splice in the 60/40 air bag wiring for the middle seat so I just yanked it out and did this job to the buckets. Put in the console from the 2005 and I am good to go. The other problem that I am having is the truck over heats when I tow a small travel trailer. A friend suggested that I put an electric fan in but I found a better way. The V8 Explorer runs a 4 core radiator that bolts straight across, works fine now. And I would like to bury the jerk that invented the fan clutch for these trucks. They don't work, run at the wrong temp., and the take down water pumps with them!!!!! I pulled mine off, cut it off and welded a new bracket for the fan now it doesn't sound like the "transmission is not whining any more". That is what too mechanics told me when they heard the truck run.

 

Sorry, I am running the 4.0 motor w/ an automatic trans.

 

The middle seat shouldn't have wiring. There's no center air bag. I did this on my 2008 and there was no wires indicating a sensor.

Like the pics show, the middle is connected to the driver side and the wires go to the driver seat.

 

My 2009 XLT Extra cab 4 door has a sensor wired and strapped under the middle seat. I guess I might share the passenger air bag??? If the wiring was the same on my 2005 I would have just changed over the leather buckets I had in it. Ford if I ain't broke, don't fix it!!! (I guess the engineers and the insurance companies need to justify their jobs).

 

I just finished converting mine like Scrambler82 said. The thing to remember is the shape of the floor pans, and seat tracks are different between Standard cab and extended cab. Extended cab tracks will not work on a standard cab, and vice versa.

I bought a passenger seat that was in good condition, unbolted the tracks and hardware, leaving a bare seat base. I took the tracks and hardware from the driver seat, cut off the bracket, and swapped all the stuff over to the passenger seat. All I had to do was after swapping everything around, was to cut an "X" in the upholstery so the splined shaft for the seat recline lever could stick out thru the upholstery.

When I bought the used passenger seat, which was in very good condition, I also bought a drivers seat with torn up upholstery, which I used for seat parts. Not hard to do at all if you have a sawzall and side arm grinder. Did mine start to finish in a couple of hours taking my time. Don't be afraid to do it that way, it is easy. Mine is a Standard cab, so 40/40 from a wrecked truck is impossible since Standard cabs only got 60/40 or bench seats (unless somebody modded them up). I changed the seat because the upholstery tore up. I didn't realize how bad the foam had sagged in the stock seat until I sat in the "new" seat.

 

Thanks for the reply. I sold that truck (put 100K miles on it) and got another one. Now I have a 1999 same model w/ the 60/40. I cut mine and then sent it to the upholstery shop to have it refoamed since the fabric was in good shape. And I found a black stock center console in every good shape on ebay for $225, so it looks stock.

 

 

So what console is this? Custom?

 

that same console i have from walmart 30 bucks falls right in

 

@hcash9

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Auto-Driv...-Gray/36259986