1st and 2nd gen seats

[RSchwarzli]

Why is it so popular to convert a 1st gen bench to second gen seats? Why not convert to firts gen buckets? Are the first gen buckets not very comfy? What do people with red interiors do? No second gen came with red seats?







Robert

 

[tugboatphil]

Robert,



I'm not sure how old you are, but once you top 40, your body becomes somewhat like a 1st Gen truck. It still looks great to you (even though most people want the newer models) but it is a constant battle to keep it running the way you want it to.



When I'm on the road, I might spend 18 hours driving. I got to the point where the factory buckets were causing my leg to go numb after a long time driving. It was a lot to do with the seam on the seat being lined up with the nerve in my leg. I started taking my wallet out of my back pocket and shifting in the seat, but in the long run they were worn out. The foam was breaking down and it just wasn't comfortable.



I had my truck in the shop for an extended stay and got to drive my stepdad's 97 3500. Not only was the seat more comfortable, but it was higher in the front, which also seemed to make things better. So after looking at other posts where floor brackets had to be fabbed, I decided to go seat shopping. It was while I was at the salvage yard that I noticed the slide rails were the same width. I managed to install mine without the center seat/console. I already had a console/desk in place.



So I would guess that most people who have traded for the newer seats have also decided that the 1st Gen seats just don't hold up for long... . or else they are cranky old b**tards like me! :-laf



As to the red seats, I have turned down buying a truck because of red seats. I had a Bronco many moons ago that had them and one is enough.



Don't know if this answered your question. That's just my $. 02

 

["Mad Max"]

Rob,

I did the second gen seats mainly because... man are they comfortable. TJ's new rig has the buckets and they are also nice, but for me I really like the center console of the 2nd gen seats. They're kind of a pain to get to 'fit' the 1st gen floor as the different year floor pans are very different, but a little fab here and cutting there and viola, instant nice new seats. Some of the 2nd gen seats came with an electrical solenoid that has to have 12v power to it, usually from the key turned on, to allow the belts to retract and extand - a real pain, but I have that kind and we did a wiring harness to make it all work. Ben White on the 3rd gen forum helped me... . okay, he's a wiring witch and he did the harness, but it works slick and works every time. Anyways, long answer, but also some reasoning.

- Sam

 

[RSchwarzli]

Well, first of all I am the ripe old age of 19. :-laf Nothing serious right now, but am eventually thinking of swaping the bench from the front to the back (the two are identical except the back seat is WELL worn pronounced damaged). So that leaves me with the option of eventually needing front seats and even though I am young, comfort is good. So that leaves me with a red interior and mismatched seats? What options exist here?



Robert

 

[Philip]

If you want the 2nd gen seat in red. About your only option is to have it recovered at a commerical trim shop.



For me the 2nd gen bench seats are junk. I have around 3k miles on different 2nd gen 60/40 split seats. My legs go to sleep after about 2 hours of driving on 2nd gen seats. My legs do not go to sleep on the 1st gen buckets. On 2nd gen seats my lower back starts bothering me around 4 hours of driving. On my 1st gen buckets. I can go around 10 hours before it starts bothering me.



The 2nd gen console is a joke. Its good for a little bit of trash and inkpins. But not much else. My 1st gen console has a 6" drop class 3 reciever in it. It has a 3" drop class 3 reciever, a full set of converter ball trailer balls, a 30 cal ammo can with a 35' 6k proof test chain, gloves. tie downs and other item I can't remember off the top of my head. Ask Case500D he has had to dig around in my console before.

 

[MMiller]

Holy Crap Philip. Have you had to beef up the floor boards yet? :--) You must have 100#+ in the center console. Don't ya know they make these cool things called tool boxes? :-laf They mount in the bed of the truck were you are supposed to haul stuff like that!



I have some old seats out of a s/e truck from the 70's with center console in my 75. It has my spare plates for the old style lock outs in case I break one out goofin around. I like those seats except no head restraint. I fear the day of getting rear ended and having to pick the glass out of the back of my head.



My 93 bench is obviously form to my backside, and is starting to lean to the left. I too have been looking at options. Haven't decided what to do yet. a friend has some really nice aftermarket seats in his bronco. I could ride for days in that truck with no problems. I am not sure they would go far enough back in my regular cab truck though. This would be a big problem for me as I am 6'1" and I'm mostly leg. Old dodges are the only pickups that I can comfortably drive very long.



Michael

 

[boatpuller]

If you are comfortable with the original seat but it's just looking shabby and broken down a little it's probably cheaper than you think to get it recovered. Don't go to a big upholstery shop with a lot of overhead, find someone with a mobile truck that goes around to car dealers, auto body shops and detailers. I found one in my area and they recovered the seat in my 85 for $125, the price has probably gone up some but I droped the seat off to him in the morning and that night it was done, didn't have to fab brackets and I got to pick the color and material I wanted, he reused the vinyl skirt part around the bottom and edge of the back but redid the rest. The other option is a trade school with an upholstery class, they sometimes will do that kind of work cheaply.

Just another idea,

Caleb

 

[DPetrey]

Here is one for you guys i have a 1st Gen with x-cab front buckets and console but now my hinge bracket for the passenger seat just broke and it wont sit in its latch bar i can reweld it but why i do like the 1st Gen seats alot i guess i might try to find a new bracket.

 

[McCRam]

I've seen red seats in person. I also have this picture i found somewhere on the net

 

[bgilbert]

Why is it so popular to convert a 1st gen bench to second gen seats? Why not convert to firts gen buckets? Are the first gen buckets not very comfy?

I think it has more to do with AVAILABILITY. Finding a 1st gen WITH buckets in a junkyard, lol yeah right, but a wrecked 2nd gen with split bench or what have you, much more available. I'm waiting for someone to remove a 2nd gen bench and install a air ride seat then sell it to me. .

 

[Philip]

DePetrey the hinge for the right side seat is still avaiable at Dodge. I had to replace mine last fall. It cost me less than $25. for it.



MMmiller I had a cross the bed tool box at one time. It seemed like everytime I wanted to haul something in the bed I had to remove it. So it found a new home. The console is doing what I need it to do. The floor boards are holding up good to. LOL



Another seat you might want to take a look at is early carivan captains seats. They are very close to the orginal buckets that our trucks have. I am not sure about the mountings. They might be to low for our trucks. A Carivan has lower head room than a 1st gen does.

 

[MFalkinham]

I think it has more to do with AVAILABILITY. Finding a 1st gen WITH buckets in a junkyard, lol yeah right, but a wrecked 2nd gen with split bench or what have you, much more available.

Bingo! Plus, if you want leather seating like I did, you gotta go 2nd Gen. I'm glad I did!



- Mike

 

["Mad Max"]

Cool - I just scored my second set of 40/20/40 seats (ebay rocks!) for my crew cab. Both sets are identical incolor and style, and both have the integral seat belts so no worries about cab-to-seat differences - the integral belt seats are all inclusive - no swapping issues, just remove all the 1st gen belts and the newer ones have everything needed, clasps and all.

And, to let a little secret outta the bag, I'm grafting the club cab portion of my '93 onto the back end of my '85 crew cab, then stretching the frame, and this will allow whoever is in the back seat to recline the seat back and snooze... . all the way to whatever event we're heading to, plus room for the cooler, luggage, a 'fort' for the kids (when I have 'em), and all that. So basically, I'm building a SuperCrew long bed 4xdually, and it'll have a pair of 40/20/40 2nd gen seats inside - way comfortable and roomy - crazy?... not really, but surely plenty of rig, The wheelbase aught to more than account for the 33'-long, 10,000 lb trailer, ja? Have plasma cutter, will modify... ! Oo.

- S

 

[MFalkinham]

And, to let a little secret outta the bag, I'm grafting the club cab portion of my '93 onto the back end of my '85 crew cab, then stretching the frame, and this will allow whoever is in the back seat to recline the seat back and snooze... . all the way to whatever event we're heading to, plus room for the cooler, luggage, a 'fort' for the kids (when I have 'em), and all that.

- S

Holy cow, Sam! Are you building the first Dodge "Suburban"???



Sounds way cool!!!!



- Mike

 

[DSteimle]

how bout using seats and console from early ramcharger-should bolt right in.

sam, i,m gettin ready to do the same thing. have the club body but need a good crew body(they don't exist down here in the land of eternal rust) it's gonna be nice to recline in the back and snooze on those long runs

---------------

daryl

 

["Mad Max"]

... suburban... RV... tank... something like that :-laf . Actually, the whole thing came about as a result of owning 6 other trucks in the past 13 years, including an '87 Ramcharger LE 4x4, a '78 short box club cab 1/2 ton 4x4 w/ a 440, a '79 Rancharger LE, a '78 long bed club cab 1-ton with a 440, a 74 long bed crew cab 4x4 dually (home made, now deceased... but learned a LOT), the '93 diesel, the '85 crew cab dually, and lastly my '78 Ramcharger.



In the process of owning (read - test driving) all these trucks I discovered what I needed to have, and for the longest time I was going to try to build one truck to do it all, and essentially the SuperCrew will be it, but I love to go 4xbashing, and I'm not about to take my big beautiful BLU OXX in the thick backwoods and beat it all to hell - so the decision was madde that I needed two rigs - one to serve as the long-haul RV type, and the other to be the off road basher.



Since I love Ramchargers (IMHO the ultimate sport-utility vehicle) I found the last one I'll ever own - my nice little '78, in Denver for $800 bucks. It's being fitted with the SRW rear axle from my '93 diesel (a Dana 70 w/ a posi), and I just got a '79 Dana 60 from a 1-ton. Both will be 3. 54 ratio which will allow me to get to the mountains without an overdrive, but when in 4-low axle gears are nearly indifferent. The rear will have the posi and the front an electric locker - just coming on the market in Novenber. It's also getting the bulletproof divorced np205 and stubby 727 (from the deceased crew4xdually in my readers rigs) which will make the little ole Ramcharger a part time 4x4 with 1-ton axles and new 1/2 ton Skyjacker suspension. The fronts are the 2. 5"-over packs and the rear are the 6" over packs, which will allow me to remove the 3" lift block from the rear completely, allowing the leafs to bolt directly to the axles - the best way to avoid axle wrap and allows the most articulation. The engine, a factory 400" big block, is getting a fresh Crower cam, head work, new Carter 625 AVS, and fresh chain, pumps, etc, just to remove 26 years of 'old'. After all that's done it'll pretty much be a nearly indestructible off road beater with lots of power and guts. The part time will be easy on tires, and the 4x4 will be a real 4-wheel drive. Should be fun, but that it what the diesel is not really meant to do.



The diesel is the long-haul RV that'll tow any thing, any time, any where. It'll be 4WD but that's more for bad weather and mild trail riding/camping, etc. With the twins and DTT and Dana 80 it'll handle all kinds of power and haul the trailer without even knowing it's back there, right up I-70- going over the little hill called the Rockies.



I've been wanting to do these two rigs for years, and am finally at the point that I can make it all happen. Gonna be a fun Winter - sheesh I can't wait!

Can I write a book or what! And yeah, I'm single... . but if my wife calls get her number for me!

- Sam

 

[RSchwarzli]

Samsrams,

Good luck in the parking lots with the ship. And corners. Sharp corners are nonexistant. You have to turn corners like you do with a reg cab with a trailer on. I hate to see what happens when I have a trailer on the crew! But good luck, you'll need it! :-laf



As for a Dodge surburban, I saw one a few years ago. They welded on the back half of a Ramcharger onto the back of a D350 crew. If I remember corectly it was even a cummins. Looked awsome.



What about the Ramcharger seats. If I am not wrong, they where still making them until 93? Would the buckets/console not be the same?

 

[Philip]

The Ram Charger and the trucks used the same seats. The buckets were more common in the R/C's than the trucks.

 

[wtrenholm]

I have a Flexsteel aftermarket seat in my 91. A buddy of mine also has a Flexsteel in his 92 Club Cab. Nice seats but the cost a little if you have to go buy one outright.



You could also find a seat reasonable at a conversion dealer, we have a place that does van/truck conversions and they sell the take out stuff from their rigs.



Later,

Wayne

 

[EZ]

The reason for the 2nd gen buckets is availability and price (and the console is nice). I replaced the old original bench seat because it had a curvature where my back didn't. I picked up my set of '94 red buckets at a salvage yard that I found online for $150 cash. I took some cutting/welding/guessing but I think I got them in ok and I sure like the way they ride!