96 Ranger Seat Swap

[ColdDeer23]

I have a 96 XLT 4wd 5-speed (gear shift in the floor). I've had it about a year and a half. This is my second 90s Ranger (RIP Ol Red). This is my toy for hunting and fishing and general outdoorsy play. Wanted to make sure it was good and reliable to run before dumping money into "extras" (I had an old Jeep between Rangers, never again. $$$$$ and the thing rarely ran). Have had to do a little work, but not much so after deer season this year, I plan to do some mega work on making it mo' better for my needs. It's got 60-40 seats in it. It has never made sense to me that the middle seat/console is attached to the driver's seat. When I have the driver's seat forward enough to drive, the middle seat is right up on the gear shift. You can forget putting a passenger there; even a pizza box doesn't fit well. It's basically wasted space. Has anyone tried putting different seats in their truck? If so, what kind (drop a link or pics if possible please)? I'm thinking maybe I could do bucket seats with a low profile stationary console or even having nothing right there (the dog would prefer the later option). I plan to mount a gun rack on the back wall so having an open space between seats would make accessing the gun easier. If there are 60-40 options with the console on the passenger seat, I'd be interested to know about that too, though I'll prolly go with buckets. I know I'm likely to have to put different seat rails in, that's fine. Drop me your thoughts and thanks in advance! (Also if anyone has any gun racks they're particularly fond of, hit me up with those too!)

 

[Shran]

Single cab or extended cab?

I have seat swapped just about everything I have... including a '96 single cab 2wd. I put seats from an '03/04 extended cab in it. I had to use my '96 tracks but they were NOT a bolt on deal, had to grind off rivets, drill some holes, etc. Your easy option is going to be finding seats from a truck around the same year as yours, or an Explorer, those often came with buckets and nice center consoles.

'98 up, the seats are built differently, up to about '05/06 or so when they changed again and I believe there was another style after that around '08 and newer that had airbags.

Keep in mind seat belts too, the buckle part changed... in the 80's and early 90s it was attached to the floor or seat track, then later it was attached higher up on the track, and there were a variety of tensioners and stuff... you will want to use your seat belt components.

 

[ColdDeer23]

It is an extended cab with those pitiful jump seats in the back haha
I had not even considered the seat belt so I am very glad you mentioned it! I will keep that in mind when looking at my options.....to save money, I am hoping to find someone that it parting out a dead/wrecked vehicle. I'm not in any particular rush so I will take my time in looking for a good deal on something that will work well. I know a few mechanics and a tower near me that end up with old "useless" vehicles on their lots so I should be able to have some options. I hadn't thought about an Explorer. I'm gonna look those up. Thank you!