Son and I weren’t fond of the 60/40 bench seats in our 2004 4WD 2-dr Extended cab that we are restoring and they were in terrible shape so we’ve decided to swap them out with modern bucket seats from a 2016 mustang we were able to get.

swapping to bucket seats means we need a center console and we were able to get one of the 2002+ Ranger center consoles that came with the pioneer 290w sound system.

working on getting the center console installed so that I can fab some seat brackets (I thought the original seat brackets might work but the mustang seats are a few inches bigger in width and depth and I’d like the seats to be lower to the floor so will fabricate something).

I’m having issues figuring out how this metal bracket that came with the center console is supposed to mount to the console and/or Ranger. Wouldn’t surprise me if it doesn’t line up with any existing mounting points on the ranger, I’m fine doing some fabrication to make that work too, but I also can’t figure out how or where it attaches to the center console or which part.

if anyone has one or knows where this metal bracket is supposed to go, either on the ranger or on the console, some insight would be appreciated.

 

The factory used studs welded to the floor. The trucks that didn't come with the shorty console (or this style full length) won't have the studs. On the truck below, I just drilled holes in the floor and ran bolts from the bottom with a thin nut to keep them from dropping down when mounting the pivot bracket.

The console only attaches to it via one screw that goes underneath the base of the armrest. From there, the armrest and it's base is what keep the console down against the floor.

If you don't know, the pivot bracket has two holes on either side of it, and that's where the armrest base attaches too. You access the bolts through the oval holes in each side of the console. The two little yellow things sticking out of the floor are how the front of the console mounts. There should be pre-existing square holes stamped in the floor in that location. Stick these in there after cutting the carpet, and then screws go through the console and into those yellow pieces which expand and grip the floor.

As for the front of the console near the dash, I assume there's a bracket that bolts where the ashtray/cubby mounts.

 

Perfect! That helped a ton.

 

After thinking about it, there may be dimples in the floor where the studs would be. Look for those because they will help locate the pivot bracket.

 

A couple of issues I've run into...
- I didn't get the yellow pieces for securing the front. Does anyone know a source or part number? Otherwise I will drill out the square slots a bit and use toggle bolts or maybe rivnuts/nutserts.
- The console I have doesn't have the integrated passenger airbag control up top. Instead it just has a blank coin tray. When I drop the center console in, the passenger airbag control module gets covered and I don't want that. So I'm either going to have to source the control module that goes in place of that blank tray, or relocated the existing one. I would prefer to do the former so it's more of a stock look. Does anyone have a part number for that passenger airbag control module that integrates into the center console in place of the coin tray? If not, any thoughts on relocating the existing control module? I am thinking the glove compartment but haven't looked to see if there is enough room or what that will entail.

 

98 Ford Ranger Center Console Mount Clips | eBay