Replacement Seats for 79 scout 2

[Joe M]

Hey Guys-
Im trying to decide if I should have my lowback bucket seats re-done or go to the pick and pull and grab some new seats? Seat covers are not an option, the drivers seat is pretty worn out.

If you have gone with seats from another vehicle and it worked out well for you can you tell me what type of car you pulled them from?

Only negative to putting in seats from another car is that I will have to fab up seat brackets I suppose...

-Have a great weekend-
Joe

[rbelflower]

Joe,

The seat subject has been covered in detail here. Most people seem to like PT Cruisers, others, MiniVan seats. I personally looked at some Dodge RAM seats with the center fold down armrest, so I could have a 3 seat up from and a nice armrest when not in use. I ended up going with bucket seats from a 98 Yukon. My seats are power adjustable, heated, leather and half lumbar support.
Now the leather is not the best thing in the summer (HOT!!) but the heated seats in the winter are VERY nice. My little one loves them during the ride to school each morning.
Yes, you will need to fabricate some brackets, but the larger seats sometimes have their own bases and just need a little bracket on the outside to level them.
I will tell you that you should REALLY measure the distance between your doors to find out the total distance you have to work with. The Yukon seats are a tight fit and some have even trimmed them to fit. I chose not to as I like how and where they sit.
Oh yeah, the RAM seats were too wide to fit. Just an FYI.
I hope this helps, and let me know if you would like some pics of my seats...

[raleighrugger]

I guess it all depends on what look you are going for, and how much you want to spend.

If you're trying to keep it stock looking, get your seats reupolstered. If you're covers aren't too shabby, pull them off and send them out to be copied. This way you can have them done in what ever fabric you want or any color combo you decide. It sounds like the foam or springs are bad in your seats. If it's just the foam, it's not that big of a deal. When the springs are broken or the frame is bent, then you need to start looking for a donor seat or look to the non stock realm since repairing that is a PITA.

IIRC, first gen Ford Exploder, I mean Explorer, seats fit on the stock SII bases with little modification. I agree with rbelflower that you need to take a ton of measurements before you buy something. I'd scour the pick-n-pull or craigslist for donor seats. Some times you find junk, other times nice stuff.

You can always find knock off high dollar racing style seats on eBay that are reasonably priced.

I've been toying with the notion of swapping out the stock SII buckets, let us know how your mission goes.

[Chris Keck]

1979-1993 Fox body mustang seats fit really well with very little work, uses your stock bases and seat tracks just drill 2 holes.

[Fred Demmon]

I used seats from a PT Cruiser and the were basically a direct bolt in on the stock bucket seat bases

[Joe M]

Wow- Thanks guys! Anyone have pics of the seats in the truck? I would love to see what a pt cruiser seat looks like or even the early mustang seats?

-Joe

[crnbndr123]

I bought steel horse brand buckets. Very little work to install. But I think they're out of business now? Very nice seats for not too much $$. Cheaper than reupholstering job. And they match the tuffy security console real nice.

[Joe M]

Hey Guys-
I have a line on a set of 02 cloth Pt Cruiser seats. The guy wants 150 for the pair. I think I can get them for 125. Has anyone used the 02 seats?

-Joe

[bdgn01]

It's funny this came up this morning, because I was just over at my friend Brian's place helping him work on his rig, and he just did the PT Cruiser install. I've got one picture taken from the rear of the garage I can show you, and he can go into more detail about the specifics, but the three things that I noticed are:

1. His came with captains' armrests on the inboard side, which interfered with his Tuffy console. I think we used a Torx 45 bit to pull them off, as well as the female side of the seatbelt buckles, which are also built into the side of the seat. The driver's side needs some kind of plastic plate to cover over the bolt mounting cutout, while the passenger's side had one built into the seat. Strange.
2. The driver's side seat does not lean forward at all. Rear passengers will need to enter on the passenger side (where the seat folds forward almost flat, which is very cool).
3. If you run a stock full-size wheel without a tilt column, there isn't a whole lot of clearance between the bottom of the wheel and the top of the seat. You will probably need to switch out the wheel to a Rallye-style or an aftermarket Grant model.

Other than that, they are VERY nice replacements. Extremely comfortable. I'm going to look for a pair in our local junkyard and yank the lousy aftermarkets I've got.

[Patrick Morris]

Originally Posted by bdgn01

1. The driver's side seat does not lean forward at all. Rear passengers will need to enter on the passenger side (where the seat folds forward almost flat, which is very cool).
2. If you run a stock full-size wheel without a tilt column, there isn't a whole lot of clearance between the bottom of the wheel and the top of the seat. You will probably need to switch out the wheel to a Rallye-style or an aftermarket Grant model.

Just thought I'd add an observation or two to this.

If the Scout's got a roll bar, factory or otherwise, I doubt that passenger seat would fold back very far. (My Mastercraft Baja RS is limited to about 45* of recline due to my factory type RB.)

The reason for the steering wheel clearance issue is because those seats are probably a bit thicker than the stock seats. Thicker seats will also make the occupants ride a couple of inches higher than normal. I don't think it would be too much of an issue in a topless Scout, but with the hard top you make feel a little claustrophobic. And have some difficulty looking 'up' out the windshield.