88-98 Bucket seat alternatives

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John Cunningham

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Figured I'd post this here for those who may have not seen it elsewhere.
Several others have performed this as well. Some may like them, some don't, but this is an easy swap that can be performed in an afternoon.

'88-98 manual seat bases bench and bucket, are comprised of of the same components.The risers are interchangable;
If you have a factory bench, unbolt the horizontal bars that go across the trans tunnel, and you have the riser for one seat.(obviously you will need a shorter spring).
You will need another bucket or bench, set of risers for the second seat. There is some variation with extended cab trucks that have rear seat entry. I have never owned an extended cab truck. You will need to drill 4 holes for the inner mountings of both seats.
I have owned 4 C/Ks since '88 (88,90,94& 99)All of them had dimples (markings) in the floorpan for factory bucket seat mounts. My '94 suburban had the un-threaded nut and backing plate welded in the proper location beneath the un-drilled floorpan.
Mid size '92-'00 pontiac bonneville (and other GM midsizes on the same platform) bucket seats will bolt directly to '88-'98 seat risers with NO MODIFICATIONS, they both share the same riser-to-seat bolt pattern. These seats are cheap, and plentiful,and come in cloth and leather,recline and power lumbar was avialible.
I purchased 4 seats for my suburban for $100.00
In the case of SUV's, the rears are not straight bolt in, new holes and mounting points have to be fabricated, but this mainly addresses the front seats.
The power seat units in '88-'94 and '95-'99 C/Ks will also bolt directly up to these seats with no modifications.
The Pontiac seat bolts directly to the C/K seat motor without modification. Therefore, the new seat is at the correct height for the truck, the riser already fits the truck, and no fabrication to make the Pontiac mechanism the proper height, or bolt pattern is necessary.

Check the pic of my '94 sub. The driver side power unit is from a '98 Tahoe, and the passenger side is my original '94 bench seat riser.
No mounting holes were enlarged,slotted,or modified in any way.

I find these seats to be EXTREMELY comfortable, and they fit the wide physical dimensions of the cab nicely.


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In my '91 reg. cab...

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Bench seat riser. The end sliders are identical to bucket risers. If you have a bench, unbolt the cross bars, and you have the riser for one bucket seat. You'll need to get another pair for the second seat.



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Use the outer two original seat mount holes from the bench as your starting point. (passenger side shown)

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The inner holes that need to be drilled for the inner riser/slider need to be 13 and 3/8" inward from the original mount holes, center to center, and will end up on an embossed (raised) section of the floor pan intended for bucket seat mounting. (driver side shown)

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If you are using a Bonneville seat, or a fullsize GMT 400 bucket, I strongly recommend bolting the riser to the seat, and determining your measurement this way.

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The hole distance from front to rear (on one riser) is 10 and 5/8" The distance on the slider portion where the seat itself bolts to the slider is 14" There is some room for adjustment, or possibly another seat option, as the front holes are slotted.

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Underneath on the passenger side, there is a knockout portion on the heat shield for the exhaust to access where the inner front hole will end up (in the recessed area)

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Passenger side, inner rear hole. This area is unobstructed.

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Driver side inner front (I did not driil this, because in this case,I installed a 60/40 and the holes are on the transmission tunnel)

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Driver side inner rear.

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For safetys sake, you should weld a nut to a piece of 3/16" (minimum) plate roughly 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" square, or a very large fender washer to prevent the bolts and nuts from pulling through the sheetmetal floor pan in the event of a collision.

I hate my bucket seats in my 97 1 ton...1 owner truck and the interior looks flawless...however there is no real support for the lower back even with the lumbar pumped up. There is very little side support in corners either............what could I replace these with?
 

83GMCK2500

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I hate my bucket seats in my 97 1 ton...1 owner truck and the interior looks flawless...however there is no real support for the lower back even with the lumbar pumped up. There is very little side support in corners either............what could I replace these with?

Hard to convey this through type, but I'm not trying to sound like a smart ass when I say: what're you willing to pay/what're comfortable seats worth to you? Asking because if you're the original owner and have taken good care of it like it sounds I assume you want good quality and/or something that looks like it belongs in the truck. I would honestly take it to an upholsterer, find someone with examples, good reviews, etc (@sewlow is the first one who comes to mind as a resource for recommendations or questions to ask). My dad put late GMT-400 buckets in his squarebody after having the foam replaced and extra springs added, he also took the seats out of his low mile 2011, had them increase bottom support and redo the foam on the seatback for more support. I don't know what it cost, but it was worth it to him, he can now hop in and drive across a couple states.
 

John Cunningham

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Hard to convey this through type, but I'm not trying to sound like a smart ass when I say: what're you willing to pay/what're comfortable seats worth to you? Asking because if you're the original owner and have taken good care of it like it sounds I assume you want good quality and/or something that looks like it belongs in the truck. I would honestly take it to an upholsterer, find someone with examples, good reviews, etc (@sewlow is the first one who comes to mind as a resource for recommendations or questions to ask). My dad put late GMT-400 buckets in his squarebody after having the foam replaced and extra springs added, he also took the seats out of his low mile 2011, had them increase bottom support and redo the foam on the seatback for more support. I don't know what it cost, but it was worth it to him, he can now hop in and drive across a couple states.
Yea that crossed my mind..........Im not sure if anyone else feel this lack of support...right now a pillow works...I have a 2011 GMC with no issues with that area. My seats are power and if I could get more back adjustment it might work. I just drove it 1600 miles without the pillow and it was not a good couple of days trying to get comfortable.
 

John Cunningham

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Yea that crossed my mind..........Im not sure if anyone else feel this lack of support...right now a pillow works...I have a 2011 GMC with no issues with that area. My seats are power and if I could get more back adjustment it might work. I just drove it 1600 miles without the pillow and it was not a good couple of days trying to get comfortable.
Oh yea...Money is not the object when it comes to your back. I would put in late model seats and reupholster them to match...but I do not want to spend a fortune building brackets and finding somebody in the auto upholstry business that would know what they are doing might not be easy.
Thanks for the reply too!
 

83GMCK2500

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Yea that crossed my mind..........Im not sure if anyone else feel this lack of support...right now a pillow works...I have a 2011 GMC with no issues with that area. My seats are power and if I could get more back adjustment it might work. I just drove it 1600 miles without the pillow and it was not a good couple of days trying to get comfortable.

I had an MRI earlier this year that identified 4 compressed/bulging discs in my lumbar...I wish there was more support in my trucks. I'm also 6'4" with a much longer torso than the average that these seats were built for...I wish the seat was built differently for that reason as well. The physical therapist I was seeing for my back loaned me a support pillow for my work truck (vinyl manual devil seat) and it made it tolerable. It is too much when used with my power leather GMT400 seats, but the seats aren't enough by themselves.
 

1993GMCC2500SLX

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I put 5th Generation Camaro Buckets in my truck. There's at least as much room as the bench had, and it's got the added bonus of leaning back.

My process: pull the bench out, remove the brackets from the bottom, and disassemble until you have the two side brackets (the parts that bolt to the cab). You'll need to pick up another set of these from a yard for your second seat.

Remove the seat brackets from the Camaro buckets and install the bench brackets. Put your seat in the cab and bolt down your existing holes. I found my drivers side didn't line up correctly, so I couldn't use the pre-existing holes. The passenger side was perfect. Figure out where you want it, mark your floor for drilling new holes, drill the holes, then install your seat.

The hardest part for me was getting the damn seats out of the Camaro.
,yes I love camaros,especially third gen but working on gm f body cars is a pain in the ass!!!!!
 

1993GMCC2500SLX

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Not really. Is the dimple the same height as the front mount? If it isn't, you'd have to adjust for the difference when you cut. I'd have to look at mine. It's been a while.
Sewlow,you sir are quite knowledgeable on these,and just as a point of reference I put a 93 GMC Sierra SLX c2500 blue bench seat in a 86 Chevy k20.
 
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