Hello everyone, I am helping my son with an installation on his '02 Edge. I have an Explorer console ready to go in and he has some Recaro type seats that he wants installed as well. The console is no problem but the seats are turning out to be a bit of a snag. My main concern is the seat belts. Since the buckle part of the belt is attached to the seat (and connected to the pre-tensioner which is connected to the air bag controller), what would be my best option for using the as much of the stock seat belt system as possible without messing up any electronics. I dont want to use a harness (a PTA for daily use). Any and all ideas are appreciated.

-The grumpy old man.

 

welcome to the forums norm. youve come to the right place.

the only thing i can suggest is fabrication. it may require drilling in those seats but it is your best way to go. fabricate a way for the stock hardware to fit on that seat and make it look good. you could always tie the buckle to the mounts of the seat at the floor and then wire to the airbag. just my opinion.

 

Thanks for the reply. I've already fabbed up mounts that will let me use some of the original hardware but I don't really want to dismantle the original seats beyond repair. Do the older Rangers have the buckle that mounts to the floor and if so, will they mate properly with the original? I may just have to try the local wreckers to see what I can find.

 

These are what I fabbed up for my seatbelts and seats. I lowered the total height of the new seat and also mounted it up so that it is about 3 inches further back than the original. Better for us taller people ya know :)

 

Very nice!

Now the $1,000. question. What did you mount the the buckle and pre-tensioner to and how sturdy is it? I'm always somewhat apprehensive when it comes to safety issues. Just don't want to send the boy off in something that's not perfect.

 

It held me in my seats when I rolled it :)

 

Ouch!

Thanks for the info. I still may scrounge the boneyard for some seats that I can cut up.

 

damn!

 

ditto!

i would have just deemed that a loss and bought a new car!

 

Well, finally done. Got the seats in this afternoon. Used the seat brackets from an older Ranger (Mazda) and fabbed up some adapters to join the new buckets to the sliders. I raised the back of the factory brackets about 1-1/2" to level the seat out with another fabbed part and also used this to attach the buckles from the front seats of a Wndstar van. Actually turned out pretty good. Now for the Explorer console!