Gee thanks Johare, now I have to go and get some explorer seats for my '96 and the center console as well. I'm just wondering if I can bypass the seatbelt mods. since mine are mounted to the side of the door jam?? Any suggestions, it is an extended cab but I do love the look of that center console, very nice. Rather than changing your rails couldnt you have just used the ones from your old seats and bolted them up to the newexplorer seats? I'm just looking for ways to eliminate work....any suggestions?

 

Well, over the weekend I got a chance to install the Eddy Bauer Explorer seats that I picked up at the junkyard. I was wondering whether I was going to have to dye the seat leather to match the "Prairie Tan" interior of my Ranger, but actually the "Medium Gray" color of the seats matches pretty darn nicely, much better than I thought it would. In fact, I liked the color co-ordination so much that I decided to paint the center floor console Medium Gray to match the seats! I used the SEM brand interior paint which is a great product for that kind of thing, picked up a few cans at my local auto professional paint store. The Gray "offset" looks good enough that I'm going to leave the roof console Gray w/Black trim when I install that, too.

As noted above by Jerry, the hardest part of installing the Explorer seats was fabricating the mounts for the seat belt "slider" brackets. To do that, I also used some angle iron and did the best I could with the tools that I had. Keep in mind, it's not like you can just throw the seats in in a few hours; it took me over the course of a wekend to do it the right way.

There are pics of the seats (and still-to-be-painted seat belt brackets) in my gallery: https://www.ford-trucks.com/user_gal...&albumid=18083

Here's a few of them, notice the 6-way power lumbar on both, and the additional bolster support on the driver's seat:

 

Rock, were the Explorer seats removed from a 4-door Explorer or an Explorer Sport?

If they were removed from a Sport, would retrofitting them go any easier?

 

Thanks for the info. I have installed the overhead console but have so far struck out finding the seats I want. I have found some possibles on Ebay, but they had some years on them and I hesitate to buy from a photo.
Dono

 

That is correct. Many have put in the overhead consoles without connecting the VSS, but I chose to do it and have found the reading to be very accurate. Since my '04 is an extended cab with the jump seats, I have been looking for seats from a 2-door so my seat backs will fold. Thanks again.
Dono

 

Dave, I'm not sure about the configuration for the Sport seats so I don't know if they would be an easier swap.

I wouldn't call the seat swap that I just did difficult at all; it just takes a little time to remove the old seats, run the power, make the "new" seat belt brackets, etc.

 

I stumbled onto mine, Dono, and I'm still tickled not only at my luck at finding some locally, but also the price I got them for. I was at the junkyard for something else (the roof console, actually) when the opportunity for the seats presented itself. So I had to pounce.

I guess all I can say is, drop by your local wrecker yard(s) every now and then, keep cruising eBay and the rest of the internet, until you find something you like. You might even post a "wanted" ad in the local classifieds ...who knows, maybe someone is just sitting on a wrecked Explorer in your area?

FWIW, the Explorer seat swap is worth it for the sake of ride comfort alone. I would describe the feeling I get with the new seats as similar to how it feels when new shocks or struts are put on a vehicle.

 

Hurry up cuz you're going to miss model Explorer front clip will fit a 2000 Ranger