hi everyone i have a 65 f100 that i bought with a set of ragged out bucket seats. i want to install a bench seat with a fold down console out of a mid 80 early 90 f150. has anyone tried it. wil they bolt in place of the factory bench. these buckets are a poor custom job. also can i use the late factory seat belts gotta be safe you know? thanks Don

 

The seats will fit, I think you have to use the original sliders, though.

Nathan

 

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 22-Jun-00 AT 10:30 PM (EST)[/font][p]Yup- Nathan Is right- the seats will fit in the truck. I like the seat in my 1990 Lariat. I think they were called "Lariat Flight Seats" or something like that. I want to put one in my 64, so one day I got ambitious and pulled the seat out of my 90 and set it in my 64- just to make sure the heigth and width would be kosher with the 64 cab. It fit real nicely. Although there were some changes in cab designs between 64 and 65, the internal dimensions are the same and it should fit in the 65 as well. As far as the seat mount rails, a little fabricating should make anything adaptable

As far as using the seat belts- I haven't figured out a way to use shoulder belts without some major work. Sure, there's room to mount them in the rear cab corner, and the opening behind it would make it easy to bolt on, but the metal there is simply not hefty enough to support the force required to stop your body when it is going 55+ mph. I fear that relying on it would give little more than a false sense of security. There would probably have to be some sort of brace welded in behind the rear cab corner to support the shoulder belts in a crash.
With that in mind, I have thought about cutting out the spot welds (with a spot weld cutter) that hold that rear corner in, and then welding a brace between the interior and exterior sheet metal to provide the support needed. It would take a lot of work, including repairing the heat damage to the exterior paint (not to mention replacing the interior cab corner)- but it might work. These trucks simply were not built for safety in today's driving situations, but then again, the antiquity is part of their appeal.

Appealing, that is, until you crash, that solid steering column forces its way into your chest just before your head hits a solid metal dash, or glass, whichever you choose- and you continue flying forward without the vehicle because there are no belts to hold you in place. Hmmm.... maybe I should check into that seatbelt thing again.....

Nate

1964 F-100 Custom Cab 292 V-8 3 spd
1964 F-100 292 V-8 3 spd
1990 F-150 5.8L