L seats

What a timely question! I just discovered today that a 1995 Eddie Bauer Explorer with leather seats has more or less the same seat as the '95 Lightnings. I say '95 because the 2 metal bars that the front of the seat slides out on, are different from the '93 Lightning I just bought, which has a flat, vertical bar instead of a round bar like my '95 Lightning had, and which this '95 Explorer also had.

The j/y closed before I could finish inspecting the Explorer seats and I'll be going back tomorrow, but I also discovered that the driver side Explorer seat has operable side bolsters like the Lightning seat, but the passenger side does not. I think the switches are different but have yet to confirm. The overall shape of the seat appears to be identical.

Tomorrow I will also be at Russ's house and will compare the parts I took from the Explorer with his '94 which came with the jump seat. I'm guessing all of the jump seat trucks will have the round bar and the non-jump seat trucks will all have the flat, vertical bar.

The seat rails are definitely completely different because the EB Explorer had power seats.

The seat recline handles appear to be the same size and shape as the Lightning handles.
 
I removed the driver's side lever from the '93 L and compared it to the handle from the '95 EB Explorer and they are in fact identical with identical part numbers.

And check out the beginning of the part number, too: E4, so this thing has been used by Ford on some vehicles since 1984?

Guess which one came off of the Lightning:

 
needmorepower said:
What a timely question! I just discovered today that a 1995 Eddie Bauer Explorer with leather seats has more or less the same seat as the '95 Lightnings. I say '95 because the 2 metal bars that the front of the seat slides out on, are different from the '93 Lightning I just bought, which has a flat, vertical bar instead of a round bar like my '95 Lightning had, and which this '95 Explorer also had.

The j/y closed before I could finish inspecting the Explorer seats and I'll be going back tomorrow, but I also discovered that the driver side Explorer seat has operable side bolsters like the Lightning seat, but the passenger side does not. I think the switches are different but have yet to confirm. The overall shape of the seat appears to be identical.

Tomorrow I will also be at Russ's house and will compare the parts I took from the Explorer with his '94 which came with the jump seat. I'm guessing all of the jump seat trucks will have the round bar and the non-jump seat trucks will all have the flat, vertical bar.

The seat rails are definitely completely different because the EB Explorer had power seats.

The seat recline handles appear to be the same size and shape as the Lightning handles.
Click to expand...

Full photo documentation on all of this would be nice Ken.

It appears there may be some differences but in the absence of a better alternative this is pretty good stuff.
 
oilwell1415 said:
Are the L seats completely unique, or were they used in other trucks with different upholstery?
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Ironically enough, I was digging around the world wide web a couple days ago, to see what folks have done to their 92-96 trucks, in regards to seats.

Im guessing, your ultimately wanting this for your 90 I-6 truck, and recall your mention of making a L'ish tube bumper for it, so maybe your going for a period like, theme, but if not, and if you haven't, check over on ford-trucks (were I got most of my search results) came up with some interesting options, even from much newer models.
 
That's what I'm considering it for, but just considering at this point. My stock seat is really comfortable and I don't want to give that up. I can spend 9 hours straight in the current seat and it doesn't bother me. That isn't as important as it was before because we no longer travel in the truck, but I don't want to suffer either. My main objective is gaining a usable console and I want it to be a bolt in.

It's not really a period project,but I am trying to do things that won't be out of of style in a few years. The bumper really won't have anything in common with the L bumper other than being tube.
 
I'm afraid I have mostly bad news. Here's a photo of the seat after I ripped it out of the '95 Eddie Bauer Explorer.



The bolsters on the Explorer seat are not on the back of the seat like our trucks, they're on the base of the seat so they squeeze your thighs instead. You can see them in this photo of the seat base. It's the flaps on the left and right sides.



The motorized seat rails bolt directly to the floor and not to a pan, so they're not useable unless you ditch your pan and find a way to bolt them down. Who knows, maybe the bolt holes line up.



The switches are a different design, but they might fit.





Here's the seat recline mechanism without the handle on it. Anyone know if this is the same as ours? I suspect it might be. These are on the '94 and '95 E.B. Explorers and then in '97 and '98 they appear to be standard equipment on regular Explorers, but the metal that the handle bolts to feels stronger on the '97 and '98 units. There were no '96's in the j/y, so I don't know about those.



I suspect that this air pump will be the same as ours, but I could be wrong. The number on one end of it says 5ABMCM







I suspect these air lines might be the same as well, but I've never taken apart a Lightning seat and there are no part numbers on it, so I don't know.



The airbag for the lumbar support might also be the same, but again I'm just guessing.



No side bolster mechanisms on the back of the seat frame.



I'm almost certain this handle to pull out the front of the seat, is identical to the Lightning's. There's no part number on it but the width is the same and the bends are the same as well when I hold it up to the one on my seats.



I need someone with a '95 Lightning to confirm if the front of the seat slides in and out on round bars like the one in the photo below. My '93 has flat, vertical bars, as does Russ's '94 and as I mentioned he has the factory jumpseat. I swear my '95 Lightning had the round bars like this and if I'm right, then I believe the '95 trucks can use this from the explorer seats. No part number on it.



And possibly also these plastic sleeves, which are what the seat front slides back and forth inside. Part number is F2TB-15610D78-AD



I have a few other photos of the seat in disassembly if anyone cares.
 
Not withstanding the different means by which the seat mounts in the vehicle, I wonder what the result would be if those seats were mounted on the L seat pan?
 
oilwell1415 said:
My main objective is gaining a usable console and I want it to be a bolt in.
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Gotchya. Seems the more attractive options I seen, newer model seats, still require some modification of the new seat and old seat track but doable.

I remember back in 2000, I got the big idea, I want bucket seats and a center console. Head to the JY, find a super cab, think it was 94, mines 95 (mines regular cab) with buckets, console, ask the owner, will it fit? Guy was a character, "OF COURSE THEY FIT, THEY ALL HAVE THE SAME FLOOR PAN!"

Took about two second after removing the bench to realize, there is an obvious difference between supercab and regular cab mounting points, in regards to buckets. but later I was told, the bench type seats, are likely the same between either. I was too busy to tinker with chit back then to make them work, luckily the grumpy old bastard give me my money back.

Like most aspects of truck modification, the idea comes around every year or so, Ill ponder it, research it, then just accept I really don't care enough to change it. lol
 
needmorepower said:
The motorized seat rails bolt directly to the floor and not to a pan, so they're not useable unless you ditch your pan and find a way to bolt them down. Who knows, maybe the bolt holes line up.
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bumperquip said:
...I wonder what the result would be if those seats were mounted on the L seat pan?
Click to expand...
I've heard from a guy on another BBS that they DO line up with '90-96 F/Bronco floors, and he posted pics. http://www.fordf150.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=118769&p=772725&#p772725
needmorepower said:
...these plastic sleeves, which are what the seat front slides back and forth inside. Part number is F2TB-15610D78-AD.
Click to expand...
Those are the same as '92-97 F-series bench headrest sleeves.



This diagram seems to show the flat bars for the thigh bolster, and a totally-different catch system:

 
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bumperquip said:
Not withstanding the different means by which the seat mounts in the vehicle, I wonder what the result would be if those seats were mounted on the L seat pan?
Click to expand...

I wondered that as well and I believe you would have to use the Explorer seat foam and modify the Lightning upholstery because there are 2 deep grooves in the Explorer seat foam in which the fabric is fastened at the bottom which allows the side bolsters to move without pulling or bunching up the fabric and our Lightning fabric does not allow for that. You'd have to add fabric.
 
My 94 has the round bar that the front pulls out wth. Is the bottom seat cushions the same as the ones on our trucks? My seat back is fine but my bottom cushion is showing some wear. It would be nice to pull a pass. seat bottom to replace the seat "bun"
 
Steve83 said:
This diagram seems to show the flat bars for the thigh bolster, and a totally-different catch system:

Click to expand...

Right, so it appears the '93's have what's shown in your diagram, as well as at least some of the '94's, even the ones with jump seats, but then some of the '94's like mojo's have the round style and I'm guessing all of the '95's have the round style also, just like the Explorer seats.

So according to that diagram, the lumbar bag is in fact the same. They are both part number 65500.

The seat recline mechanism (with handle) are the same in the '94/'95 E.B. Explorers (part number 62649 as I photographed above), but then the '97/'98 non-E.B. Explorers have the same handle but a different mechanism which as I said, feels stronger, so this may be an upgraded part option for us.

As far as I can tell from the tag on the back frame, the Explorer is a 24543, so that does not match, even though the frame in the diagram looks very similar.

I wonder if the metal bolster flaps on the Explorer seat base are the same as the bolster flaps on the sides of our seats? If they are, we could use the air bag in them to repair ours.

mojo racing said:
My 94 has the round bar that the front pulls out wth. Is the bottom seat cushions the same as the ones on our trucks? My seat back is fine but my bottom cushion is showing some wear. It would be nice to pull a pass. seat bottom to replace the seat "bun"
Click to expand...

The Explorer seat foam looks like part number F5TB-864810-AA and also has a 50541 on it, so not a match according to Steve's diagram, plus it has a couple of deep grooves in it which allow the thigh bolsters to move. I think someone told me that a good vehicle upholstery shop should be able to replace the seat foam, but I know nothing about it.
 
needmorepower said:
So according to that diagram, the lumbar bag is in fact the same. They are both part number 65500.
Click to expand...
No, that's not how Ford PNs work. Every Ford lumbar bag in a corresponding position within a similar chair will have that base PN. But for various years & applications, the prefix & suffix will be different.
http://www.fordification.com/tech/partnumbers_overview.htm
needmorepower said:
...a good vehicle upholstery shop should be able to replace the seat foam, but I know nothing about it.
Click to expand...
It's not complicated or expensive: buy some foam (any fabric store should have it in various sizes & densities) and carve it to shape using a hot wire or an electric carving knife, or a grinder, or a wirewheel, or...

 
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