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I have not been able to find a seat that would work in my 53. The closest I found is the seat out of my dad's 1996 F250. I still sit about two inches to the left of center to sit in the seat correctly. I am going to narrow the seat. Is there anyone here done this before that can give me information on how they did it? Here is pictures of the seat.
I used 1990 Ford Ranger bench seats in my 48 and 49 but was limited to about 51 inches. The 53 is a bit wider so finding a bench seat to fit in there should not be that hard. I think I would do that rather than try to shorten the one you have.
Narrowing a seat would be a monumental task even for the most experienced artisan . Many have used benches hopefully they will chime in . The gauges in these trucks are situated where it makes it difficult to sit center . Even with my buckets I am a little off center but the option is either very tight to the door or a little off center .
A good buddy grew up around his dad's upholstery shop. He says they narrowed bench seats on occasion and built 60/40s regularly back in the 70s and 80s. He talks like it isn't much more than cutting down and rewelding the frame, mindful of where and how the springs are going to lay out, and modding track slider linkage rods, etc. Of course this comes from the perspective of a pro...
I would ordinarily offer to network you with him but he's working crazy hours right now as the pandemic has his work situation accelerating sideways. He only gets back to me about 1/3 of the time in this season.
BTW, I do like that HI-low-HI seat config of your dad's. You got me thinkin...
JML
It was free so if I mess it up no big deal. After I get the foam off and look at it, I might take it to a shop see how much they would charge. May just go back with buckets and nice console. Just not sure what to look for in buckets.
That's a center consul from a ford taurus I wanted cup holders and storage but wanted to be able to carry three people if I wanted . And yes the seats have center armrests also .
It's not leather like the seats but the color match is perfect .
I was surprised when I measured the widths on my stock 55 seat , 2005 F150 (front and rear), 2006 F250, and even the front and rear seats of a 2010 Impala, that they all were the same, or at least close as I could tell with a tape measure... Seems like it was 54" but can't remember for positive. Anyway, that made me believe they maybe all the same. Is the 96 F250 wider? Or is it just the way the seat make you sit, with the contours?? I am also thinking about what to do for a seat.
Pappy,. if you just want a common bench seat without bells and whistles a bench seat from a mid-80s Chevy truck fits perfectly... I found this one at a van conversion shop for 50 bucks... little fab work to raise it up and Bob's your uncle
I finally gave it to my body man for his chevy truck and went with buckets
Here are some pics of the seat I used we have talked about before.
As you can see from the front and back views the headrest set toward the outside some but I didn't think looked bad and was not too far off center to be uncomfortable driving
larryb346 what was the seat out of in your pictures? How wide is it and do you sit center in regards to your steering wheel? Mine has an arm rest in the center so that might be the difference
Last edited by Pappys53; Aug 15, 2020 at 03:24 PM.
Reason: Adding to it
That seat was from a 1999 ford custom, the really cheap truck. The xl and xlt used a different seat. It was off centered maybe a inch or so , but not enough to really be bothersome. If look at front and rear views can see its hard to notice it being off from the steering wheel. I wanted a full seat so could carry 3 people if I wanted too and wanted a head rest to protect my head from hitting the rear window in case of a rear end collision. That seat for filled those requirements and also was a design that was reasonable priced to make a seat cover for. I think if the off center bothered you that seat is a pipe frame and would be easy to remove a inch or what ever you wanted too from the center of the bench and back and weld it back together. I would find a piece of tubing either smaller or larger to insert the cut off ends into and use as a splice to reinforce the welded area..
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