60/40 to Bucket Confusion 98+ Reg Cab Solved
 

This is on a 2000 reg cab.

At the JY yesterday I saw some nice 2002 Explorer buckets. They were having a 20 buck seat sale, so I grabbed em thinking it was going to be an easy swap. I have glanced over some of this stuff in the past here, was thinking track swap and done. Pulled the 60/40 out of the truck and discovered the tracks are integrated with the recline mechanism. The Explorer tracks are much shorter, more like my ext cab 06, but the front mounts seem to be the same ?

I went again to the yards this morning looking for those elusive 60/40 removeable tracks in reg cabs, finally found a set I pulled from a 96, just the tracks and slide lever, totally different setup from the 2000. Pulled the tape measure out at the yard and it seems to be the same floorboard bolt pattern ?

Now I have on hand:

The original 60/40 from the 2000 reg cab
Buckets / tracks from 2002 Explorer
Tracks from 1996 60/40 reg cab (do these actually fit the 2000 ?)

My daughter drives this truck, seats are shot (like sitting in a hole). It's not here at the moment and I'm thinking things out. Should I bolt the older 96 tracks to the floorboard to give me a base to adapt to ? Has anyone adapted the 60/40 rear brackets to the shorter Explorer tracks ? Am I totally lost here ?

I left the little seat belt track thing in the Explorer, didn't have my torx sockets with me. If I succeed with this swap, where to mount the belts ?

This seat stuff is somewhat confusing when you read through all the posts.

93-97 ext. Cab floor brackets will bolt into 98+ ext cabs. There are no bolt in options for 98+ regular cabs other than stock bucket seats out of a 98+ reg cab.

I put expo tracks from a 96-01 in my 99 ext cab with a set of buckets from a 99 mustang and only had to drill two holes in the tracks where the seat mounts. 96-01 explorer tracks are the same as 93-97 ext cab tracks. Troy where are you???

you are correct on the reg cab (and ext cab) 98+ having integrated seat tracks/recline. i try to tell people of this, but no one ever listens....LOL. and the explorer seats will bolt in on an ext cab, but the difference in length of the tracks won't allow them in a reg cab.

You have done the right thing by going and getting a set of gen 3 reg cab tracks. they will bolt up to the explorer seats (you'll lose power if they were). the gen 3 tracks should be really close to bolting up to your 98+ reg cab. some say they lined right up, while a couple others have had to mod the rear mounts a little. but much easier than trying to adapt 98+ tracks/feet whatever to the seats. i would love to see detailed pictures on the install. if this doesn't make sense, feel free to PM me!

I was at work when I first posted, just got home.

Yes, the earliier tracks bolt right on the one seat, so I'm guessing the other will do the same ! Measurements look good, but it will be at least tomorrow before I can try them in the truck.

These are not power seats. I've been keeping an eye out for decent manuals for this truck and these are the best I've seen so far. I'll get some pictures of parts and stuff.

Should the seat belts just bolt to the side of the seat frame somewhere ?

yes, i forgot to mention that. if you pull the cover up a little (under the hinge point on the inside), there should be two holes in the frame. you will probably have to drill them out a little, then get a bolt and nut and bolt them on.

Picked up a center console to go with the seats, I'll definitely be doing the swap this weekend.

I didn't read all of the post so bare with me !

I have an '03 EDGE Std Cab... And did the 60/40 to Ext Cab Bucket Seats.

I do not know if the backs on '04 up Rangers are attached with rivets or bolts but...

The tracks on the '03 Seats unbolted, and yes the backs are attached but can be unbolted and the portion of the Driver's Seat Frame that extends for the 60% can also be unbolted.

If you have a set of buckets set keep them but you can use a passenger seat for the drivers seat, just chg over the tracks.

Take the back off first, then the lower track.

Luck,

Seats are in the truck, here's those pictures.

First I removed the Explorer tracks:

Next I checked the '96 60/40 Ranger tracks for fit. Inside rear hole didn't line up exact on both driver and passenger sides, so I notched them out.

Also had to elongate the hole a bit on the inside front of the drivers side, passenger front holes were fine.

After they all fit good to the floorboard, I bolted the older tracks to the newer seats. It used the same two holes on the front of the seat pan, but different existing threaded holes on the rear. You can see this on the top right of the third picture below.

I tapped one existing hole on the side of the seat for the belt latch (12mm x 1.75 thread) and added one 7/16 hole for the angled piece that holds the belt from rotating.

2002 Explorer seats in 2000 regular cab.

cool. one other person who did it this way has basically identical pics as yours. had to mod the inside holes to get them to line up. nice work!

Thanks for the help ! With all the differing info everywhere it was a bit mind boggling at first. Pretty easy swap though.

One more question on the short console install. Does the regular cab floor pan have the two slots up front and four indentations for the rear brace bolts or do you just wing it on these ? Every picture I see seems to show an extended cab floor.

Put the console in yesterday. The front slots were there and the front pair of indentations for rear bracket were fine. The rear pair of indentations were way off for the bracket I have, just drilled where they actually fell and it worked out fine.


https://www.ranger-forums.com/attach...1&d=1323624754

That looks great. Good to know now that seats from expos will work in my regular cab. I always see good seats out of expos but never in the rangers. I guess now its time for me to find some expo seats and 93-97 regular cab tracks.

Thanks Mr. Awesome ! Maybe these pictures will help out others, I was very confused myself.

So, if I found a set of extended cab ranger seats, could I do the same thing? Put 97 and older seats tracks on the 98 and up extended cab seats?

no. 97 and older and 98+ seats can't mingle together. if you want a set of 98+ seats, you will have to swap your stuff over. it's all bolts, not really hard, but a lot of parts.

Ok, so my choice is Explorer seats with '97 Ranger brackets or '98 and up extended cab Ranger seats with just alot of work to make them fit in a regular cab.

Probably anything that the brackets simply unbolt from the seats ? Nothing with the integrated backrest when you use the earlier brackets.

That looks great and I bet it is more comfy too!

Okay, I have to say as a new b3000 owner I find a lot of this discussion doesn't make sense. I would like to install bucket seats in my 2001 b3000 supercab. It has 60/40 spilt seats. Are there any seats that will just bolt in? If not what are the easiest seats to convert? I am sure this has been discussed several times over, so I appreciate your patience with a newbee. Thanks

ext cabs = explorer seats bolting in. you can make mustang, bronco II, and other rbv seats work using gen 3 extended cab or explorer seat tracks.

So if I understand correctly, a set of bucket seats from a 1997 explorer will bolt directly into a 2001 B3000 with an extended cab.