Hi all,
I have an opportunity to buy a 2001 f150 King Ranch with 38,000 original miles on it and it comes with rear bucket seats w/ center console. I have 3 kids so before I decide on this truck I need to know if I can swap the rear bucket seats for a bench/split bench without too much trouble. I see a lot of info about swapping the seats the other way but not much about installing bench where buckets used to be.
Anyone know anything about this? Do the mounting holes line up, will I need to drill more, what about seat belts, etc? Will other model rear bench seats fit the 01 King ranch f150?
Any help is appreciated!

 

I got a King Ranch bench seat from an '03 and replaced the bucket/console rear seats in mine.
Overall a simple swap. Pull out seats and console. Remove back panel (you need one from a bench seat or go without, the bump in the stock one will not work) and then remove console bracket (6 spot welds if I remember correctly). the passenger side rear seat is identical mounting so no issue there. The "bench" part of the seat needs to have I believe 2 holes tapped to mount it (the holes are there, just not threaded) and then thread the hole for the seatbelt (again, hole is there, just not tapped).

Any Supercrew seats will fit, but of course they will not match the front (unless you replace those too). I have read that Expedition seats ( from '97-'02) will also bolt in (front and middle row), but the Expedition will not have the back panel.

 

So, if I correctly understand, no drilling or welding is involved, only tapping the existing holes? Do the three holes that need to be tapped have a mounting or reinforcement plate (for strength/safety)?


Is the "back panel" the thing that lays over the seats when they are folded forward? You reference "6 spot welds" in regards to removing the center console bracket. Forgive my ignorance, but do those have to be ground out with a grinder? Could that bracket instead be left in place, in case I want to easily reverse the conversion (back to two seats) in the event my MIL kicks it or disowns me?..

 

Nope, no drilling at all, except to remove the spot welds for the console mount. That has to be removed since it is too tall to put the bench seat over it. If you wanted to reinstall it, then you could just use some nuts and bolts to hold it back in place, not a big deal.

All the holes are there and are reinforced, just not tapped.

The back panel is the tan part you can see on the back of the cab that has the "cover" on then that goes over the seats when folded over. The one with bench seats has a hump where the console is and is in the way of the bench seat locking upright.

This is what I took out of mine:


and what I put in (the back piece is not in the pic, but I got that also):


The passenger side seat is the same, so you don't have to replace that. As I said in the other post, any Supercrew rear bench will work (and I believe the same gen Expedition too), but it is hard to find a King Ranch bench (only '03 had them as an option I think), and if you want to have matching seats, then you would need to get the front seats from the donor vehicle.

 

Thanks so much for all the helpful info! Do the 02 & 03 seats look the same (style/color)? Is there a way to remove the spot welds, other than grinding?

 

'01-03 King Ranch seats are identical material and color. I could not tell a difference between the seats in my '02 and the seats from the '03.
The hardware, mounting, seat size and fit is the same from any Supercrew, just the KR has the special leather.

Drilling is the easiest way to get the spot welds off. I used one of those step drill bits and it worked great. I just sprayed some primer paint on it to prevent rust and then put some sound stick on sound deadener to seal it up.

 

In '03 Ford "allegedly" upgraded seat foam used on all vehicle lines to make it more comfortable. And there was also a big ambitious sound deadening upgrade across all passenger vehicle lines that year. Allegedly.

If it was me and I was shopping for anything seat foam related, I would select '03 over any previous year. The King Ranch models likely already had all the best available "everything" already anyway, so I doubt there was much room for improvement on those, but on cheaper vehicles like my '03 XL 4X4 or my '03 ZX2 the seat foam is "supposed" to be an upgrade from previous years.

 

No idea on the upgraded foam, I thought my '02 seats that were pulled out felt just the same as the '03 seats I put in.