Swapping airbag to new driver's seat

[Unixsystem]

The power slides on my original PIU driver's seat are awful, entire seat rocks like crazy with any acceleration/braking. I'm looking to replace them but all of the junkyards in my area either have civilian seats with incorrect mounting holes (I bought a 2017 explorer seat and the rear mounts were ~1 inch too narrow) or they have PIUs with blown airbags. My current seat's airbag is fine but I've had difficulty on this forum or elsewhere seeing what's actually involved in swapping my airbag over to a new seat. Any photos/guides would be super helpful before I go and start tearing parts out of my (mostly) functional seat. I have access to Forscan if it's necessary.

Alternatively, if anyone knows if it's possible to swap the actual seat onto a new set of slides to stop the rocking, that'd be fine too. My existing seats are worn but I care far more about the seat staying put in motion than a few torn seams.

 

[Steve8316]

I swapped '15 Ltd. seats (& carpet & console) into my '16 PIU without any trouble. Are you sure there's a difference?

ForScan shouldn't be necessary for the airbag - just peel the upholstery off the same way it went on, and transfer what you need. Make sure you unplug the airbag at its normal connectors (which should be yellow). The airbag connectors should all have shorting bars on their airbag sides, including in the airbag itself. That makes the airbag safe - cutting wires is VERY dangerous because it can result in surprise detonation.

 

[DePolicify]

Sounds like your seat is worn out, it shouldn't be rocking like that. And it sounds like the seat you bought that wasn't lining up was bent or bowed, maybe due to an accident, because they are supposed to line up. I have done it many many times.

As far as swapping over the airbag, the only reason to do that is if the seat you are installing has a blown one. Its as simple as peeling back (or cutting) the cloth covers and fishing a socket (I think 10mm, maybe 8mm) to remove the 2 bolts that fasten the airbag assembly to the seat frame. After overhauling to the new seat get a professional upholsterer to sew it, or leave it open. I would avoid sewing it yourself as it could affect proper deployment.

 

[Unixsystem]

Is there anywhere to check the correct spacing for the rear bolts? The previous seat I bought was pulled from a '17 Explorer (not sure the trim) and was in excellent condition and all the motors worked, but the rear holes were off by over an inch. Before I returned it I did try to see if I could just pull them apart hard enough to sneak a bolt in and they wouldn't budge. If all Explorers really are the same that's great news, it's just weird that the '17 seat was so wildly far off despite looking practically like-new.

Photo is from my current crappy seat, right around 17" (maybe a tad under) for those rear bolts.

 

[DePolicify]

Do you still have access to the donor? If so you can compare measurements center to center on the bolt heads. If it is different for some reason you can just swap the big black metal brace bar that they mount to. I don't have my PIU's near me otherwise I could check, Did you try mounting both seats or just one side?

 

[Steve8316]

Is there anywhere to check the correct spacing for the rear bolts?

The seat & the mounting bar. But do the FRONT bolts line up with the holes in the floor? Are the front brackets bent (spalled paint, or distorted holes)? The tracks have to be parallel, so it should be apparent if the "new" chairs are bent. Post several pics of them, looking along the slide tracks, and at the front mounts.