I have a 98 Ranger single cab with badly worn seats and a badly clapped out center console.

A local junkyard has a newer extended cab Ranger with decent black/grey seats. This yard has really good prices, I think the pair will be 40-50 dollars.

I've been reading some confusing and conflicting information.

From what I gather, I will need to swap the tracks from my old seats to the new ones? Does this work for all years 98-11? I'm not sure what year the donor truck is.

 

Yes. The tracks are interchangable on the seat bottoms. The newer ones could be riveted on, which would require drilling then out. But it can be done.

 

The seats I wanted were gone, but I got a pair of grey/black seats out of a newer extended cab Ranger on Craigslist today.

Swapping the tracks requires removing the seat backs and unbolting them from the bottom. They did fit, but it's a job.