Ranger Generation 3: 60/40 Bench Seat Swapping - Easy, or......?

[larscot]

I have a 2006 XL (2.3, 5 sp. regular cab) where BOTH the driver and passenger (60/40 bench) seats are trashed.

The donor is from a 2000 XL, (2.5, 5 sp. regular cab)- same type 60/40 bench, completely reupholstered.

Is it a drop-in swap, all the way down to the sensor/airbag connections, or......?

 

[Dirtman]

The seats themselves will be a direct bolt in however the 2000 passenger side seat will not have the airbag weight sensor in it that your 2006 does. (2000 had an/off switch for the airbag instead of a weight sensor).

The seat covers are not at all hard to remove, they simply velcro on so you can replace the drivers side seat completely and then just swap the good cover from the 2000 seat onto your current passengers side 2006 seat. Unless the foam itself is also trashed. The foam is attached with hog rings so that can also be swapped but will require alot more work.

I do not know if it's possible to swap the weight sensor itself since its somewhat integrated into the bottom of the seat.

As far as I know the connections for the seat belt retractor and track position sensor on the drivers side are the same connection between 2000 and 2006.

You can also ditch the 60/40 split and get new seat covers for your current seats. I recently did this to my 2009

Die seat die!

Seat swaps being out of the question on a regular cab I gotta do what I can to make the stock seats more comfortable... Step one - KILL THE 60/40 SPLIT!!!! To my suprise removing the side seat on my 2009 is actually much easier than on videos I've seen of older trucks. There is no solid pan...

www.therangerstation.com

 

[larscot]

Dirtman, That's great information, thanks.

If I can summarize your response, the driver-side 2006 (out) to 2000 (in) is 100% drop-in and any/all electrical (switch/sensor) connections connect up with no mods.

But... Since you infer the 2006 base seat may be just a tad different from the 2000...and since there seem to be backrest differences (near the headrest) between 2000/2006 seats, could I solve the weight sensor issue by separating the 2000 seat backrest frame from the base part of the seat, and then move the 2000 backrest portion over and connect it to the 2006 base portion of the seat. Then all I do then is swap in the 2000 base seat cover. That assumes no foam differences between the 2 different year seats. Would that work?

Does what I've described makes sense...?
Thanks again
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The seats themselves will be a direct bolt in however the 2000 passenger side seat will not have the airbag weight sensor in it that your 2006 does. (2000 had an/off switch for the airbag instead of a weight sensor).

The seat covers are not at all hard to remove, they simply velcro on so you can replace the drivers side seat completely and then just swap the good cover from the 2000 seat onto your current passengers side 2006 seat. Unless the foam itself is also trashed. The foam is attached with hog rings so that can also be swapped but will require alot more work.

I do not know if it's possible to swap the weight sensor itself since its somewhat integrated into the bottom of the seat.

As far as I know the connections for the seat belt retractor and track position sensor on the drivers side are the same connection between 2000 and 2006.

You can also ditch the 60/40 split and get new seat covers for your current seats. I recently did this to my 2009

Die seat die!

Seat swaps being out of the question on a regular cab I gotta do what I can to make the stock seats more comfortable... Step one - KILL THE 60/40 SPLIT!!!! To my suprise removing the side seat on my 2009 is actually much easier than on videos I've seen of older trucks. There is no solid pan...

www.therangerstation.com

 

[Dirtman]

Yes what you described for the passengers side seat should work perfectly.

 

[larscot]

Cool, thanks. Appreciate your response and knowledge on this.

 

[Dirtman]

To be honest the seat weight sensor may be swappable to the new seat. I've never taken the passengers side of mine apart but its in the base somehow so I have no idea how it mounts?

 

[larscot]

We'll see....all these questions were in preparation for me (finally) getting my 2006 back from a long term loan.
The 2006 will be gussied up to again be my preferred truck. I'm excited (it doesn't take much to get me there nowadays.
Later this year I will report back on the entire swap. I'm assuming Ford made interchangeability a priority as to
cut production costs

 

[Dirtman]

I'm assuming Ford made interchangeability a priority as to
cut production costs

You must not have worked on alot of Fords.

In this one case it's true, but Ford is more known for randomly changing part designs for no logical reason and sometimes in the middle or a production year just to make it extra confusing.

 

[Ghetto jet]

Have you thought about taking the 60/40 out and just dropping in buckets? I did and I love it.if you reuse the tracks that came out of your truck even if you have to go through the trouble of drilling out the rivets it'll be really sweet to be able to just swap in different chairs of your choice. it's a single cab so you would want a seat that has a thin back like a mustang GT or something like that. All I know is if there was a sensor giving me a problem I would do like dirt man said and figure a way to adapt it into your new seat

 

[Shadowrider6661]

I was thinking about removing my 60/40 seats and installing buckets, out of what vehicle would be the best choice for the seats to fit my 97 XLT 4WD ? Any suggestions would be appreciated.