94 MarkIII buckets to 60/40 bench

[Bryan Dees]

Has anyone made the swap? The MarkIII buckets sat on a single frame held down by 4 bolts. Two on the drivers side, and two on the passenger side. The 60/40 seat is a little different. The drivers side (40) portion, will bolt right in because there are already bolt holes for the bucket base. The 60 side however bolts down near the passenger door and then there are two bolts that bolt down to the transmission tunnel. My truck doesn't have those bolt holes.

Should I have a reason to be concerned with drilling two new holes in the transmission tunnel, and bolting the seats down using grade 8 bolts, flat washers and neoprene lock nuts?

 

[Macfluke]

About a year ago I swapped my full bench seat which had 4 bolts, two on the drivers side, and two on the passenger side for a 60/40. I drilled the two new holes in the tunnel and used all grade 8 and also large washers on the underside. I haven't had any problems with that... On mine I did have to modify the 60 seat bracket on the tunnel, it had to be cut and re-welded so I had to break out the wire feed...

 

[Bryan Dees]

About a year ago I swapped my full bench seat which had 4 bolts, two on the drivers side, and two on the passenger side for a 60/40. I drilled the two new holes in the tunnel and used all grade 8 and also large washers on the underside. I haven't had any problems with that... On mine I did have to modify the 60 seat bracket on the tunnel, it had to be cut and re-welded so I had to break out the wire feed...

What was the need for the bracket modification?

Do you remember how much room you had between the trans and the tunnel, or did you pull the trans to install the bolts?

 

[Macfluke]

What was the need for the bracket modification?

Do you remember how much room you had between the trans and the tunnel, or did you pull the trans to install the bolts?

I had to cut and shorten the seat bracket height where it sits on the tunnel quite a bit both front and rear of it, I don't remember exactly how much I cut but it was a lot and then I had to weld it back together and I strengthen it with some gusset pieces and clean it and paint it black of course... During the process I had to bolt down the 60 on the passenger side with the tunnel seat bracket off to find out how much to cut off. It was more work than I thought it would be but it was worth it in the end... My buddy I got the seat from told me its a direct bolt up on newer years... oh well...


There was a lot of room between the trans and tunnel so pulling the trans was not necessary. I did a small pilot hole from the inside of the cab to check things out before I got crazy with the larger size drill bit.

 

[Macfluke]

I took some pics for you...

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[Bryan Dees]

That looks really nice! I went out earlier and sat the 60 side in and saw exactly what you were talking about. Going to get the metabo and welder out in the morning if the weather holds off and do the same thing. Thank you for the info, huge help!

 

[Bryan Dees]

Got it cut down and welded up today. Going to drill hole and bolt it in tomorrow hopefully.

 

[Macfluke]

Got it cut down and welded up today. Going to drill hole and bolt it in tomorrow hopefully.

Good to hear, I like the 60/40 so much more than my old bench...
One thing I haven't done... I should have was to put some sealer around the bolts and washers on the underside just to make sure no corrosion starts or water gets in, I bought the undercoating sealer in a can and its been sitting in the garage for a year me not enjoying the thought of crawling underneath cleaning and sealing it... It's been "raining" off and on here the last couple of weeks so I guess I should get around to do it...

 

[Bryan Dees]

I was thinking about putting some clear bathroom caulk on the bottom side between the washers and the floor when I put them in.

Ended up working late today, so I will have to wait to bolt them in. Supposed to be getting some bad weather here in the next few days, hopefully I can get it done before the weekend.

 

[Bryan Dees]

Got it bolted in today, really liking the new seats. Made the truck feel a lot better on the inside.

Thanks for the info Mac, helped me a TON!!