Replacing bench with 2nd row bucket seats

[peterk9]

Hey everyone, new to the site. I'm a member over on the Powerstroke forums and find them extremely helpful for my SuperDuty. Hopefully I can get some help here too. I'm sure this has been asked before but here it goes. I'm searching for a black second row captains chair. I currently have the 60/40, obviously. From what I've found researching, you can't buy a complete seat from Ford (go figure, that'd be too easy). I have to purchase it piece by piece, every little part. I can't seem to find a used one on eBay or at any salvage yards around my area. I'm wondering if anyone knows where to find one or has seen one near them? Another thought I had was to piece a 60/40 passenger side seat onto a frame from a drivers side captains chair, if that makes sense. Any info on this would be greatly appreciated.

Welcome to the Forum.
Your thread has been merged with this one. There are a couple others about this issue as well that can be found using the 'Search' feature (top right). Here is one of them; http://www.explorerforum.com/forums...-2nd-row-bucket-seats-so-hard-to-find.397411/ Good luck.

Peter

 

[Tony91Sport]

Welcome to the Forum.:wavey:
I've merged your thread with this existing one. The correct term is 'Bucket Seats'. Captain's Chairs usually have arm rest while 'buckets' don't. FYI, the 40 part of your bench is a bucket seat. You'll only have to replace the 60 section. I believe your dealer is correct in that Ford does not sell the seats as an after market option. Some members have been lucky and found them from auto parts/wrecker sites as a member mentioned in this thread.
Please add 'Limited' to your profile so we know which trim level you have by checking the margin for future posts. Thanks.
Good luck.

Peter

So the RH 40 seat is the same as the RH bucket? All you need is the LH bucket?

 

[peterk9]

So the RH 40 seat is the same as the RH bucket? All you need is the LH bucket?

So I was led to believe. Unable to confirm though. Looking at a parts website, the one I checked doesn't show fully assembled seats, just all the parts.
http://parts.autonationfordwhitebea...ond-row-seats-scat/?part_number=fb5z7866600he
I'm not aware of anyone here ordering a bucket seat or if it is even possible.

Peter

 

[Andrew Jenkins]

So I've found some explorers with almost all my desires but I've yet to find the perfect one. The one thing they're all lacking is the 2nd row bucket seats option. I'm curious to see if anyone knows if it would be possible for the dealer to add them to a vehicle on their lot if I was to purchase that vehicle and pay for the 2nd row bucket seats option during the transaction.

 

[ExPlat]

There are some other threads that discuss this but the basic answer is yes. The 2nd row buckets can be exchanged into an Explorer with a bench seat, the mounting holes are all there. Finding and ordering all the separate matching parts from a Dealer is the problem, it is very expensive. Swapping out a complete 2nd row bucket seat set from an identical car would be the easiest, if you could find such a scenario. Why not just order an Explorer exactly the way you want it?

 

[peterk9]

So I've found some explorers with almost all my desires but I've yet to find the perfect one. The one thing they're all lacking is the 2nd row bucket seats option. I'm curious to see if anyone knows if it would be possible for the dealer to add them to a vehicle on their lot if I was to purchase that vehicle and pay for the 2nd row bucket seats option during the transaction.

Welcome to the Forum Andrew.
Your thread was merged with this one that ExPlat identified. I think it would be easier to order the vehicle you really want as suggested above if that is an option. Several members have wanted to replace a bench with buckets but finding them seems to be the biggest hurdle. FYI, the 2018 won't be out until the end of November at the earliest so you should have plenty of time to order a 2017 should you decide to go that route.

Peter

 

[rookie1011]

I have a 2015 Explorer XLT and had the bench seat for 2nd row. I recently had a baby and wanted to swap out to captain seats to still access the rear without having to fold the seat forward. I located a set of seats from a local junkyard that had a 2013 model with captain seats. I purchased them for $125 a piece. They bolted in easily. My only grip was having to swap out the female ends on the seat belts to work with the 2015 male end of the seat belts. On the XLT model there is a wire that attaches to the bottom of the seat. I thought it was for a airbag sensor, but my model doesn't have an airbags on the seat. The clip attached to a dummy end that did nothing. Other then that it wasn't to difficult. Check out car-parts.com

Only thing I have to do next is swap the rest of the cloth seats to leather.

nbeezy, I currently have an 2013 Explorer with 2nd row bucket seats, and have a couple questions when you did your swap. I bought a 60-40 bench and the brackets are not the same at all. The buckets have a rear bracket release that allow them to flip forward and the bench has all bolt down patterns. When you did your swap how did that work, was the bench bolted completed down (front and back). Thanks for any information anyone can provide.

 

[peterk9]

nbeezy, I currently have an 2013 Explorer with 2nd row bucket seats, and have a couple questions when you did your swap. I bought a 60-40 bench and the brackets are not the same at all. The buckets have a rear bracket release that allow them to flip forward and the bench has all bolt down patterns. When you did your swap how did that work, was the bench bolted completed down (front and back). Thanks for any information anyone can provide.

Welcome to the Forum.
Please complete your registration by adding the requested "trim level" (Base, XLT, etc.) to your profile so it shows in the margin. That can at times be very helpful.
Do you have inflatable 2nd row seatbelts? If so, that is something to take into consideration when swapping out seats.

Peter

 

[rookie1011]

Welcome to the Forum.
Please complete your registration by adding the requested "trim level" (Base, XLT, etc.) to your profile so it shows in the margin. That can at times be very helpful.
Do you have inflatable 2nd row seatbelts? If so, that is something to take into consideration when swapping out seats.

Peter

Thanks Peter, I added it, I have a Limited and no I do not have the inflatable seatbelts.

 

[Eric F]

nbeezy, I currently have an 2013 Explorer with 2nd row bucket seats, and have a couple questions when you did your swap. I bought a 60-40 bench and the brackets are not the same at all. The buckets have a rear bracket release that allow them to flip forward and the bench has all bolt down patterns. When you did your swap how did that work, was the bench bolted completed down (front and back). Thanks for any information anyone can provide.

It looks like nbreezy was a hit-it-and-quit member. He hasn't been active since the day of his first post. At this point, I wouldn't expect an answer to your questions unless another member has some relavent info to share.

 

[rookie1011]

Thanks for the info. Seems like a hard subject to get a solid answer on. That user and the other user in the thread that I posted the second thread in are the only two I've found claiming to have done the bench seat to bucket swap. My second reply was deleted for posting in too many threads, can I go and post that question in there too or no? Thanks, I'm new to being involved with forums.

 

[peterk9]

Thanks for the info. Seems like a hard subject to get a solid answer on. That user and the other user in the thread that I posted the second thread in are the only two I've found claiming to have done the bench seat to bucket swap. My second reply was deleted for posting in too many threads, can I go and post that question in there too or no? Thanks, I'm new to being involved with forums.

As per Forum rules (bottom right), you may only post the same question in one Forum. I found three threads on replacing a bench with bucket seats and they are now all in this one thread. I was not able to find any thread on changing buckets to bench so I would suggest starting a new thread (Replacing buckets with bench seat) on that topic to see if anyone can help out.

Peter

 

[mrbbq85]

Cliff Notes:
Second (2nd) Row Bucket Direct Swap Options for Explorer
2005-2007 Ford Freestyle
2008-2009 Ford Taurus X
2009-Present Ford Flex
2010-Present Lincoln MKT
2011-Present Ford Explorer (obviously)
Temporary option for carseat use only is using 40 split from passenger side on driver side.

My wife and I were in the same boat, we have 3 kids in carseats with not enough room on the bench so we had to resort to not using the infant carrier base for our newborn so that our oldest could climb into the 3rd row. I did some research on how the Explorer uses the Ford D4 platform, a modified version of the Ford D3 platform that is used on the Ford Freestyle and Taurus X and figured that the seat bolt patterns were more than likely not modified between the two. So I finally made it to the junk yard yesterday and sure enough I found a limited Freestyle with black leather sliding buckets and they were a direct swap in our 13 XLT. The stitch pattern and headrests are not the same but for a temporary seat to strap in a carseat it will do just fine and we can swap back in the bench when they are all older and regain the 7 passenger option. Also if you will only be using the seat with a carseat using the built in anchors you can also use another passenger side 40 split on the driver side as they have the same bolt pattern. You just won't be able to use the seat without a carseat as the seatbelt buckle is on the wrong side. Just be sure not to sell or trade your vehicle in until you have put the correct seats back in.

Here is the wikipedia on the Ford D3 platform that lists all the other vehicles based on it.
Ford D3 platform - Wikipedia

This is gold. Thanks for sharing.

 

[peterk9]

Keep in that when it says 2011 - Present Ford Explorer it should now read 2011-2019 since the 2020 Explorer is on a different (D6) platform.

Peter

 

[fullwoodj]

I do believe that the like year/model Flex second row seats will also bolt up directly to the explorer. I haven't tried it, but I remember reading that somewhere as they have a similar pillar system.

 

[Tanner Sanders]

I’ve got a 13 Sport. If anyone is in the Phoenix area that wants buckets in trade for their bench.. message me!! I’ll trade ya!

 

[mrbbq85]

Did the swap. Put a '13 Flex 2nd row RH as a LH bucket. The seat belt buckle is on the wrong side, and the style is different. At least the tan leather kinda matches. But all I need it for is to strap in a baby seat, while allowing access to the 3rd row for my 6yo. It was four bolts. Two of the holes in the seat were slightly off from the mount holes in Ex. I had to bore them out a little with a rotary file, no big deal.

I'm 99% happy with the swap. My only hang up is this: The old bench had a wire harness attaching it to the Ex. I don't have heated rear seats; it's for the seat belt airbags. The flex seat has no such wire. Not a problem: Obviously I don't need the seat belt airbag for a baby seat. However, without the harness I have a permanent airbag light on my dash. Chilton's doesn't have a wiring diagram, does anyone else?

 

[peterk9]

You may want to confirm that the other airbags are still functional. I've read posts that said if the light is ON, that the system as a whole may not work. I'm not sure if that was ever confirmed.

Peter

 

[pdxgeek]

Did the swap. Put a '13 Flex 2nd row RH as a LH bucket. The seat belt buckle is on the wrong side, and the style is different. At least the tan leather kinda matches. But all I need it for is to strap in a baby seat, while allowing access to the 3rd row for my 6yo. It was four bolts. Two of the holes in the seat were slightly off from the mount holes in Ex. I had to bore them out a little with a rotary file, no big deal.

I'm 99% happy with the swap. My only hang up is this: The old bench had a wire harness attaching it to the Ex. I don't have heated rear seats; it's for the seat belt airbags. The flex seat has no such wire. Not a problem: Obviously I don't need the seat belt airbag for a baby seat. However, without the harness I have a permanent airbag light on my dash. Chilton's doesn't have a wiring diagram, does anyone else?

Ford makes dummy plugs for that airbag light for like... GTXXX mustangs or Shelbys or one of those sportier versions, I believe. You can wire them up with the proper resistance easy enough. Not sure what that is for explorers, but here is a link detailing how others are doing it in the Focus and such.

Euro Recaro Shells in US-Spec RS with NO AIRBAG LIGHTS? Yes you can!

There are also ways to do it in Forscan from what I understand, but that may be more difficult.

 

[skyeyes70]

I'm looking to switch my 2nd row bucket seats with the bench seat. I was under the impression that I need to look at 2013-2015 models. I've got a 2015. After reading though the this thread, I'm thinking I can expand my search to 2011-2019. Could someone confirm this?

Also, my model has the air bag seat belts. I am wondering if anyone has insights into switching the buckle on the seat if I find one without the air bag seat belt.

Thanks!