Another seat question

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Jan 14, 2007 | 07:08 PM

56panelford

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From: northwestern Ontario

Another seat question

Hello, I am planning to put bucket seats in my 56 panel and have a set from a Mercury Villager van that are quite comfortable, but if you place the seat centered with gauge cluster and have the steering wheel directly in front of you the seats are in my feeling to far away from the door and to close together to leave room for a console. What have you fellows done? Will it look odd with the seat off center with the steering wheel. I haven't installed my steering column yet but will be wanting to soon. Your opinions please.

John

Jan 14, 2007 | 07:25 PM

51PanelMan

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From: San Jose, CA

We used seats from a mid 90s Caravan in our 51 Panel. No problems there. Still plenty of room for a center console.

Ilya

Jan 14, 2007 | 07:34 PM

ksmith203

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From: Massillon, Ohio

Would the caravan seats work in a 51F6 as well?

Jan 14, 2007 | 08:18 PM

56panelford

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From: northwestern Ontario

Quote:

Originally Posted by 51PanelMan

We used seats from a mid 90s Caravan in our 51 Panel. No problems there. Still plenty of room for a center console.

Ilya

The cab of the 56 is wider then your 51,I'm not sure by how much, but with the hump of the instrument cluster of the 56 it seems a bit odd when I move the seat closer to the door to be able to rest my arm on the arm rest that I intend to mount on the door. I have considered putting in a bench seat but really like buckets mainly because I was also considering a rear seat as well and think that the buckets would allow better access to the back.

Jan 14, 2007 | 08:26 PM

bobj49f2

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From: SE Wisc. (the Rust Belt)

First, if you don't have the steering wheel installed yet I would install it, or at least temporarily mount it and place the seats in place and see how it feels. If you're off and it doesn't feel right you'll regret once you start driving the truck. I think it would be better to have the seats look a little off than feel off when driving it on a long trip.

Second, if the seat setup, any kind of seat, fits in a panel it will work in a conventional cab. They both have the same floor and cab width. The only other consideration is you have a little more back and forth room in a panel truck. I drove my '48 panel for the first time on an extended ride today, about 3 miles and I was surprised on the difference between the stock bucket seats in the panel and the stock bench seat in my F-2 pickup. There was a little more room between the steering wheel and the seat.