Bench seat in newer ranger

[craveman85]

Has anyone on here put a bench seat in one of the newer rangers since they made the cab 3" longer? I've got an 08 regular cab and I kinda miss the old leather or vinyl bench seats. When was the last year they used them?

 

[Mark_88]

I havent' seen a bench seat since the first gens...my first 88 regular cab had one...oh, and I just remembered my 92 regular cab had one also...but I think after that they went to the 60/40 slit bench or buckets...

 

[RonD]

Shouldn't be to much of a problem, although in the later years the mounts were welded instead of bolted to the seat frames.

Some good info here: http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/Seats.shtml

Saw a for sale '05 Ranger that had 60/40 bench, but not sure if it was a 4-door.

 

[craveman85]

I think my first truck, a 95 xlt refuse cab 5 speed 2.3 4x2 had one. It was an odd factory order though. Xlt with manual windows and locks, no radio, manual steering, vinyl bench, cruise control and a.c.. I know that was how it came because my dad ordered it that way. Well except the cruise but that was a free screw up on Ford's part. I think it also had the cargo light in the 3rd brake light.

 

[PlumCrazy]

Seat belt buckles may be an issue. The newer seats have the buckle integrated into the seat vs the old style that bolted to the floor. You could grab the buckles from an older truck, but they are not compatible with the newer retractors (male side)...so you would need to swap to the old style belts as well.

 

[craveman85]

I could probably undo the bolt holding the female end to the seat and bolt it to the bench seat frame.

 

[PlumCrazy]

I could probably undo the bolt holding the female end to the seat and bolt it to the bench seat frame.

DO NOT do this. The bench seat was not designed to take the belt loads from an integrated buckle....I personally see dozens of seats go flying down the track on a crash sled on a daily basis....trust me when I say just adding a buckle is not kosher. There is A LOT of R & D that goes into a seat frame...IMO stay with the factory style seats... A bench seat with no head rests is death trap (do as I say not as I do...lol I personally daily drive an 86 with a bench and no airbags)

 

[Alberta 7.3]

Isn't there a "passenger butt detector" as well in the newer trucks that is integrated into the airbag system? You'd have to transfer it to the new seat and properly mount it for the passenger airbag to work correctly.

 

[PlumCrazy]

Isn't there a "passenger butt detector" as well in the newer trucks that is integrated into the airbag system? You'd have to transfer it to the new seat and properly mount it for the passenger airbag to work correctly.

There most likely some type of "SBR" (Seat belt reminder), but If it is left unplugged it will simply disable the passenger air bag. The driverside has a switch in the buckle if I recall correctly...it just dings and turns on the belt light.

I know in passenger cars and vehicles trying to achieve a 5 star IIHS top safety pick...the passenger seat actually has Seat Weight Sensors that can detect the passenger's weight +/- 2 KG...the driverside typically has a slide rail position sensor to control how the air bag is deployed based on distance from the steering wheel. 90% of my job is testing safety sensors on automotive seats.lol

 

[craveman85]

Do any of the explorer seats work in a newer regular cab ranger then? With all of the sensors and seat belts working. Why is no headrest unsafe?

 

[craveman85]

Maybe I could put a switch in the airbag circuit so it's always on. Children and old ladies aren't allowed in my truck anyways. I could also put in an override for the seat belt warning I think.