Also, if you ever want to put Explorer seats into a Regular Cab Ranger… and this goes from 93- all the way to 2011. The easiest way to do it BY FAR, is to use the seat tracks from a Regular Cab Ranger 93-97. 1000 times easier than anything else I’ve found.
The seat tracks from 98-2003 won’t easily work, because the reclining mechanism is built into the tracks in a way that makes it extremely hard use. They are also bolted towards more of the center of the seat and NOT through the tracks themselves (like the Explorer seat). SO YES… It can be done, but you have to grind rivets and drill holes through the tracks to bolt to the Explorer seat. It’s a huge pain!
Then I believe it’s from 2004 on, you don’t want to try and use these tracks either. The reclining mechanism is no longer a part of the seat tracks… so that’s better? But the tracks are welded to the seats, and are also bolted more towards the center of the seat (same mounting points as the 98-2003 bottom seat cushion, top mounts differently though). So if you manage to get them all apart you still have to drill holes through the tracks in order to bolt them to the explorer seats. Again, it can be done, but it’s a nightmare.
Just do yourself a favor… If you are trying to put Explorer seats in a Regular Cab Ranger, use the seat tracks from a Regular Cab Ranger 93-97. EVEN IF they aren’t Explorer seats, just start with these tracks. They are much easier to modify and make work on basically any seat. You’ll see what I’m talking about when you get them.
I know this because I’ve been fighting this problem the past couple weeks. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen just about every iteration of Ford Ranger seat track at this point. And this only goes for Regular Cabs. Apparently the Extended Cabs are basically bolt-in and I’m jealous.
But I couldn’t find that much info in regards to this problem. So I wanted to put this out there for anyone else who is going to try and do this. IF YOU HAVE A REGULAR CAB… I promise this is the best way to go