Rear Bucket Seats in a Sport Trac

[zadigadabop]

I always liked the look of the Sport Trac concept, especially the rear bucket seats. Well, I found a way to safely swap a matching set of bucket seats and console.
Here's the finished project:

Turns out the Sport Trac and regular Explorer/Mountaineer share the same seat front crossmember. The rear is slightly different but close. The extra holes are not drilled but the welded nuts are there (not tapped).
The console, most of the seat frames and hardware are the same as eary Aviators. The seat floor mounts are unique to 06-10 Explorer/Mountaineers and hard to find though.

 

[Risky Bizness]

Nice !!!

 

[1996EB]

This is great! I've actually got this in mind for my Sport Trac. I did the same swap in my 03 Explorer. Do you have any further details about the swap? I'd like to know what you did to bolt the buckets in correctly- extra hole drilling, etc, and if you had to trim or remove any of the rubber flooring.

 

[zadigadabop]

Here's some random details:

• The left rear seat mounting holes are there except for one of the outboard bolts. I could be there under the floor pan but I just couldn't find it without drilling holes or dropping the exhaust. I did have to drill 1 hole in the floor bracket to align with one existing one.
• On the right side I had to open some of the holes in the floor pan to expose the welded nuts on the cross member. The nuts are there but just not tapped. From what I've read they get tapped by the fastener during installation so the only thing I had to do was to drill the hole.
• The 2 studs for the left side of the console were there but I had to expose the 2 for the right side.
• All the seat belt mounting holes were there.
• I used threadlock on all the bolts and sealed the new holes before final installation.
• I had to trim one small area of the flooring at the rear inboard side of the left seat and cur 2 slits for the left side of the console. So if I ever needed to go back to stock I could. I noticed that there were features in the flooring that seemed indicate that it was modeled for this layout. For example, there are "dimples" for the new studs and the console bracket. I doubt this was really in the plans but who knows. The Ford "Way Forward" stuff at that time could of killed all sorts of engineering efforts.
• Sourcing the parts might be the hardest part with the seat support (6L2Z-78606A50/1-GA) floor brackets being the hardest to find. I just happen to stumble on an 06 Explorer with the 2nd row bucket seats in a local junkyard and snagged everything for under $50. The seat covers were trashed but I found another set I could use. I went back and measured the mounting holes and matched them with my truck. I even cut into the other vehicles floor pan to see the cross members and all.

All and all the installations was really easy and well worth it. My wife says it's a lot more comfortable and having the console it a big plus.
I might have some pictures and other details if you are really interested.

 

[1996EB]

Here's some random details:

• The left rear seat mounting holes are there except for one of the outboard bolts. I could be there under the floor pan but I just couldn't find it without drilling holes or dropping the exhaust. I did have to drill 1 hole in the floor bracket to align with one existing one.
• On the right side I had to open some of the holes in the floor pan to expose the welded nuts on the cross member. The nuts are there but just not tapped. From what I've read they get tapped by the fastener during installation so the only thing I had to do was to drill the hole.
• The 2 studs for the left side of the console were there but I had to expose the 2 for the right side.
• All the seat belt mounting holes were there.
• I used threadlock on all the bolts and sealed the new holes before final installation.
• I had to trim one small area of the flooring at the rear inboard side of the left seat and cur 2 slits for the left side of the console. So if I ever needed to go back to stock I could. I noticed that there were features in the flooring that seemed indicate that it was modeled for this layout. For example, there are "dimples" for the new studs and the console bracket. I doubt this was really in the plans but who knows. The Ford "Way Forward" stuff at that time could of killed all sorts of engineering efforts.
• Sourcing the parts might be the hardest part with the seat support (6L2Z-78606A50/1-GA) floor brackets being the hardest to find. I just happen to stumble on an 06 Explorer with the 2nd row bucket seats in a local junkyard and snagged everything for under $50. The seat covers were trashed but I found another set I could use. I went back and measured the mounting holes and matched them with my truck. I even cut into the other vehicles floor pan to see the cross members and all.

All and all the installations was really easy and well worth it. My wife says it's a lot more comfortable and having the console it a big plus.
I might have some pictures and other details if you are really interested.

That's a great price for the entire 2nd row! Thanks so much for the great information that you have already provided. I'm definitely interested in any other pics or details that you may have available. I still have the 03 Explorer that I installed the late 3rd gen buckets and console in. It's a black interior, like my Sport Trac. I also still have the original split bench 2nd row. So I'm thinking I can swap the buckets and console out and reuse them in the Sport Trac. The 1st and 2nd row seats in 3rd gen and 4th gen Explorers/Mountaineers and 2nd gen Sport Tracs all seem to have common mounting and bracket setups. But I would really like to get hold of a little more info, before I do swaps in the 2 vehicles. The 03 Explorer is still in use, but doesn't need buckets. I basically have the parts I need, but would really like to be sure it will work. You're the only person that I've come across who has done this. It reminds me of when I installed Aviator mirrors on the 03 Explorer, several years ago. There was literally no info available on it. I went ahead and did. I ended up posting about it in the 3rd gen forum. It's still active and has been added to by others who subsequently did the swap. I've also done this swap on the Sport Trac. So yes, definitely interested. Thanks again.

 

[Ddempsey328]

I always liked the look of the Sport Trac concept, especially the rear bucket seats. Well, I found a way to safely swap a matching set of bucket seats and console.
Here's the finished project:
View attachment 317034 View attachment 317035

Turns out the Sport Trac and regular Explorer/Mountaineer share the same seat front crossmember. The rear is slightly different but close. The extra holes are not drilled but the welded nuts are there (not tapped).
The console, most of the seat frames and hardware are the same as eary Aviators. The seat floor mounts are unique to 06-10 Explorer/Mountaineers and hard to find though.

I have an 07 Explorer Limited and I have bucket seats with a console in it. I have only owned for short while. I do know the previous owners though. I dont know if this was done custom or factory. I really like it and so do passengers that ride in the back. It looks good too.

 

[06bluez]

I would definitely do this if I didn't have 3 kids.... haha