Seat swap to rears from a 2014-2018 Silverado...

[83Stepper]

Found an amazing deal on a 60/40 split rear bench out of a 2017 Silverado in the right color for $40, next to nothing, near me. Hard to say no when it's for less than filling up my 16 gallon tank lol. Currently have some buckets that the PO fab'd into the truck using some earlier 70's seat brackets and some heavy modification to them. Purchased a bench out of a 85 C30 that has some tears in the vinyl for $40, mainly for a temp bench until I could get something better. The cost to cover the current bench is more than I want to spend on this daily for now.

So I'll be documenting the process and figuring things out as I go along. Yeah there are others out there that have done it before, but I want to do this with a much more simplistic approach that just about anybody can do for next to nothing. Yeah the new split bench needs to be cleaned up, but that's part of the fun!

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[EvilGenius]

As someone who has ridden on the factory bench seat and those same back seats in my daily, I think you'll be happier with the oem bench seat. Those back seats are cheap. Not much pad to them and they are thin.

I'm curious how you will end up liking them when you are done.

 

[Chevy 88]

As someone who has ridden on the factory bench seat and those same back seats in my daily, I think you'll be happier with the oem bench seat. Those back seats are cheap. Not much pad to them and they are thin.

I'm curious how you will end up liking them when you are done.

I have spend a fair amount of time in the back seat of my rig too, but to be honest - the comfort of the bench seat has always been the last thing on my mind. Never heard any complaints about it from the ladies either.

 

[Scott91370]

I look forward to this write up. Been eying them myself but after my first go around with a set of 2005-ish Ram 40/20/40 seats (and not having enough room to get away from the steering wheel) I've been a little gun shy trying another swap.

 

[83Stepper]

As someone who has ridden on the factory bench seat and those same back seats in my daily, I think you'll be happier with the oem bench seat. Those back seats are cheap. Not much pad to them and they are thin.

I'm curious how you will end up liking them when you are done.

Really just looking for something that'll get me by cheaply where my wife and teenager can come along for the ride and not get slid into each other during turns lol. Plus the PO moved the shifter from the column to the floor, so not sure how that'll interfere with the geometry of the original bench.

I look forward to this write up. Been eying them myself but after my first go around with a set of 2005-ish Ram 40/20/40 seats (and not having enough room to get away from the steering wheel) I've been a little gun shy trying another swap.

Same, I'm 6'4" and 240 and being a taller guy these trucks aren't the most roomy. Not planning on making a lot of modifications to it and I've always got the oem bench just in case.

 

[83Stepper]

So I did a few things this weekend to get ready for the seats to go into the 83. Had to at least clean them up a bit with an upholstery cleaner. Still in the very early stages of mocking it up and getting them tossed into the truck.
1. Need to remove the covers on both sides, the outermost piece clips in and has a few slide locks that hold them into place. The inner most cover has a slide and a few torx holding it into place.
2. Next you'll need to remove the spring for the seat brackets. No real easy way to do it, I just pryed the everloving sh-t out of it until I was able to distort the inner most coil enough to slide it out of the pin.

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3. Once that spring has been removed I drilled out the edges of the backside on the pin. That was the easier way that I found to do it. Did it on the passengers side differently, thus learning it's easier to shave off the flats than trying to drill it out. Might've been easier if I had a step bit, but working with limited tools here.

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Pin is shaped just as seen here, bit of an oblong rectangular shape. Once you've got the ends of it cleaned up, you just have to knock it clean outta there.

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Once those were out, I was able to remove the outer most seat brackets that I won't be using from both sides. Ended up removing the seat covers for the lower cushions to expose the seat foam and frame. Just tossed them into the truck to see how they'd feel with the current setup used for the Fiat X1 9 seats installed by the PO. They feel like they're at a good height and they actually feel more comfortable than the buckets now.

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Slapped the buckets back in for now until I can get the square tube stock that I'll need to mock up the frame using a set of original bench seat brackets. Think I might end up using a set of mid 70's that have the slide on the door side instead of the one between the legs in the front of the seat just to make things fit easier. Will keep the post up to date as I go along with it.

 

[ErnS]

Looking good

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[83Stepper]

So had some spare time this week and finally got the bench swap finished! Ripped out the old Fiat seats and makeshift brackets from the PO. Honestly there wasn't much modification at all to get it installed. Used the OEM seat brackets from another 81-87 C10 since mine were mangled by the PO when they installed the buckets. Hardest part of the whole job was actually lifting the seat in and out of it a few times after getting it mocked up and the final install.

Started off by removing the lower seat foams on both the left and right sides. placed it centered on the oem seat brackets and got the rear mounting tabs to fit between the outer edge of the frame. Added 1/2 x 1 1/2" black iron nipples to bring the front of the frame up so it doesn't feel like you're sliding down the front of the seat. Drilled new holes in the top of the seat bracket on both sides to accommodate the new frame mounting point.

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Drilled holes through the rear seat frame to fit the inside mounting tab hardware on both sides.

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Used a piece of angle iron to keep the two halves together in the front side of the bench.

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[83Stepper]

Once I was happy with the fit, took everything apart and brought it inside to get the lower seat foams back installed and the brackets installed. This is the underside of the lower seat frame with the rear bolts drilled and bolted to the oem brackets.

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Reinstalled the lower seat foams, installed the angle iron to brace the front of the bench seat, and installed the oem brackets. Also reinstalled the spring so that the bench will actually slide just like the original bench.

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Installed 1/2x 1.5" black iron nipples as spacers up front to keep the front of the seat from pitching down too much in the front. Bolted it back together into the truck and it feels pretty nice, plus I've got a cupholder now!!!
Had to drill a hole about 3/4" back from the original mounting location on the bracket to accommodate the new bench, but the brackets have not been modified so that if I ever wanted to go back to the oem bench, it's just a matter of just removing the nuts from the bottom side of the seat frame and bolting the original bench back in place.

 

[83Stepper]

And the finished product! Still have more to do inside the truck, but one thing at a time...

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Cupholder!!!!!

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[EvilGenius]

Wow that actually looks really sharp in there. Aligns nicely with the rear window too. Can't wait to hear your verdict on the comfort!

 

[EvilGenius]

Did you find a way to make the backs fold forward? On the stock truck those seats lift up and fold from the bottom. Part of that mechanism is that the seat back kinda slides upwards to accommodate. There is a mod to cut the guide mounted on the back of the cab so that when it slides up it pops off the guide and you can fold them down instead of up.

Without that guide are the seat backs just floppy? I haven't seen a set of these out of a truck.

 

[bshoop]

Seats turned out great and I love that you have the cupholders now!

 

[BigT]

That does look pretty darn nice!!

 

[83Stepper]

Did you find a way to make the backs fold forward? On the stock truck those seats lift up and fold from the bottom. Part of that mechanism is that the seat back kinda slides upwards to accommodate. There is a mod to cut the guide mounted on the back of the cab so that when it slides up it pops off the guide and you can fold them down instead of up.

Without that guide are the seat backs just floppy? I haven't seen a set of these out of a truck.

Backs fold forward because the bottoms are stationary now. Basically ripped the entire mech off the sides, aside from the hinge mech that allows them to fold forward. The seatbacks hold together tightly because of the angle iron bracket and the bolt in the rear section where you feed the belts up through that I put on the lower frame to keep the two sides together. Really liking the feel of them, only been in it and driving the truck for about an hour total since installing them. Kept the oem seat brackets as original as I can so if I ever wanted to swap back over to the oem bench I stole the brackets from it wouldn't be an issue.