How-To: Swap Bench 2nd row to Captains Chairs with Console

I was successful in removing the 2nd row Bench seats and swapping to 2nd row Captains chairs and center console. This should put to bed the whole argument around whether or not it's "possible". A bunch of people said it wasnt and Ford has told a bunch of people its not possible. That's bullshit.

These steps below can be used for either going bench to captains or captains to bench. Enjoy.

1) Start by using trim pry tools, a thin screwdriver or a pick (your choice) to remove the bolt access covers front and rear. Pictures below of what they look like on the seats and what they look like removed. Label/set aside.

2) Unbolt 2 front (13mm) and 2 rear (13mm) for the drivers side and passengers side 2nd row seats.

3) Unplug electrical connectors below seats. You'll see two per seat. Drivers side is Brown and White. Passengers side is Brown and Black. Each plug has a clip you press down and pull back on the connector. They were somewhat difficult to remove and I had to wiggle them aggressively to free them up. If you are having a hard time make sure the clip is pressed all the way down HARD before pulling apart.

Next, pull down on the wire to release the white press connector from the bottom metal seat frame. Now the wires going to each side should be disconnected and free from the seats.

4) Find a way to cover your doors and door frames. I used blankets taped to them. This is to make sure you don't scratch shit when removing the seats through the doors as they can be hard to maneuver.

5) Remove both seats. You'll now have just the middle seat remaining (if bench)

6) The middle seat also has covers protecting the bolt access area left and right side front and 2 rear square covers. Remove all as above.

7) Remove 2 front 13mm bolts, and 2 rear 15mm bolts. The service manual says to throw these away lol. I'm not sure if that is a mistake or not but they don't appear to be single use bolts. Not sure.

8) Remove 1 electrical plug from bottom of middle seat. Turns out this is just a seatbelt monitor wire.

9) Remove middle seat from vehicle.

10) You now have a completely empty 2nd row area. This is a great opportunity to vacuum up the whole area and collect the random change. My car is a Canadian export and I found a Canadian quarter. Cha ching.

11) Take note of what you see here, and you'll realize quickly there are a few issues that need to be addressed. The bench carpet is cut differently than the Captains chairs carpet to accommodate the plastic center console frame. Also, since we are removing the middle seat and replacing it with the plastic center console, what the hell do we do about the seat belt monitor connector wiring?

12) First the carpet situation. You can basically attach the center console plastic frame ON TOP of the existing carpet and bolt it down. This works fine, but cosmetically looks terrible. You will find that the actual "console/cup holders" piece that snaps down only covers about half the plastic frame assembly. Therefore, the rear half of the plastic frame will sit on top of the carpet. With the proper "Captains-specific" carpet configuration, the the frame is designed to bolt to the body metal and the special carpet, cut in all the appropriate areas fits on top if the back half and has a hole to accommodate the center console. The part number for the "2nd row captains-specific rug" is (will provide shortly).

Anyhow, because I decided to preserve the my bench-specific carpeting, I had to cut some pieces of carpet from another Explorer to fill empty areas and make a run at making this look cosmetically pleasing... I found a 95 with Black carpet at the u-pull-it and while not "identical" its similar. I cut pieces to cover the plastic frame area Left and Right rear, and two small pieces for small uncovered areas right and left front. Pics below. It turned out not bad. At least it's tough to really see where the cuts are once the console and all seats are installed. It will be even tougher to see once the all weather mats are installed.

Will I replace the carpet with the "captains-specific" carpet piece? Yes!

I have it a used one from the donor car and also ordered a new one. I'm gonna wait to do this when I do stereo work later and I Dynamat the interior. I'll be removing all carpet for that so it will make sense at that time.

13) Now the next problem. The middle seat seatbelt monitor wire. You have to address this or you will get the "Rear Belt Monitor Fault, Service Required" fault on each startup.

We eliminated the seat, now what to do with the existing wire? Two options.

A) find a 763 Kohm resistor and make a pigtail between the purple/black and white/orange wires. 763 Kohms is the value that fools the computer into thinking the seatbelt is there. Thanks Mac for this info.

B) Remove the whole seatbelt and associated wiring from the middle seat and stash it somewhere. This is what I did and it wasn't hard. T25 star bit to remove the belt, then release a few wires from under the middle seat. Use zip ties to secure it under the cup holder assembly in the open area around the bottom of the cup holders. See pics.

There is plenty of room! Tape it to secure it. I know it sounds silly but it just works and fits. No one will ever know! When ready bring the top piece of the center console over to the frame installed in the car. Plug in the seat belt monitor wire to the seatbelt assembly and wiring you stashed under the cup holders. Snap in the center console top to the frame, making sure any overlapping carpet is slightly edged under the cover for a neat look. Should now be good to go.

14) Now that center console is installed, you can install the drivers side and passengers side 2nd row captains chairs. Yes they of course fit the existing holes! Ford isnt gonna make the attachment points different as that would be a pain in the ass on the assembly line.

On reinstall, be mindful to not pinch the floor wiring with the heavy seat frames. I also had good luck making sure the seat tracks were as far forward as possible. Remember the fixed post positioners that secure the seats to the floor can't be adjusted, they will just fit into the holes. Once those are located, I had good luck with keeping the other side track all the way forward, then once the posts are in, just use the seat lever and slide the other side of the seat frame toward the back to match the holes. If you don't follow this process it may take you some experimentation to locate the seats the right way. No big deal, do what works for you.

Rebolt all. 4 13mm front and rear for each side. ReInstall bolt access covers front and rear.

15) The test. Power up the car. You should no longer be getting "seatbelt monitor" warning on the dash. Test seats for heat as well to make sure it's all working.

The process of moving from captains to bench will be similar to the above, but you'll just need to consider the carpet situation (Bench-specific carpet part number TBD).

I suspect going to the bench will be slightly more difficult mainly due to lacking that seatbelt monitor wire. I havent yet and probably will not follow that wire to figured out where it plugs in. I'd imagine it's part of the body harness somehow so to add it could be a real disaster. You can spend time trying to sort that out, or what I would do is just punt on the whole seatbelt monitor wiring situation. Is not having a seatbelt monitor for the 2nd row middle seat really a big deal? Nope!

Overall this job isnt really that bad. Probably a days work all in. Toughest part is finding a crashed ST with the seats, center console and carpet. I got lucky and found a crashed 2020 with 40k miles only 15 miles from me that literally juat arrived days earlier. The yard was willing to sell the 2 captains, center console (complete) and rug for $725. Not too bad in my opinion. The seats are in amazing shape.

Thanks for reading and I hope this is helpful to anyone considering the swap.

Amazing writeup. Bravisimo!!!!

This is super helpful, thanks! I’ll need to do the opposite swap… I’d buy your bench if I was anywhere close to MA, but guess would just need to try to find one here in TX… Any idea if a bench from a different trim would fit?

Yes it should work but because the ST benches have special stitching and are all black leather I bet any other version of the bench will look "out of place" in your interior.

The white stitching is exclusive to the ST. The bench or captains chairs out of a Limited or XLT is the same seat but does not have the white stitching.

Im surprised this DIY isn't a sticky.

Far as swapping, from what I remember it was swapping the captain chair's to a bench seat what people wanted to do, not the opposite. Which was not "doable" I believe since there aren't any bolt holes on the bottom to bolt down the middle seat with the standard captain chair's option.

And based on what I saw this is incorrect as the bench uses the same 4 bolt holes as the center console.

Based on this I am 100% sure that captains to bench is good to go. The issue is finding a bench from an ST. It's basically impossible from what I can tell.

Very few STs with bench option to begin with

How about adding a floor console/armrest/removable seat between the existing captain chairs.
I'm open to Ford/aftermarket/Lincoln products.

For my 22 the gap between the seats looks so big, feels like something is missing.

How hard/easy will be the installation, if I get the right part?

PS: Not planning to throw a lot of money to fill that gap either.

The aviators get a real console between the second row seats. but they don't sell it as a complete unit, you have to buy it in pieces. I believe it will run you about 2K to buy everything and build one from scratch. Or you could get lucky and find one in a junkyard in black to match the ST interior. @UNBROKEN has done it, check out his build.

I've been thinking about getting one from a 16-19 explorer and trying to make it fit. the sport models from then had red stitching on the console lid to match the seats. The limited got white stitching like our ST's do. you can pick up one from Ford accessories new for less than 5 bills.

Your biggest problem here is money and time. First of all like Bleed Ford Blue Said, you'd have to find the part. Which will 100% be pricey from Ford or impossible to find in the junkyard.

I have to imagine the holes are still physically in the body area to mount it.

The other issue is I believe it would look awkward as each captains chair has an arm rest that folds down on the inside. I believe if u try to squeeze a middle seat in there there would be an odd gap between each captains chair and the middle section as the seats probably wouldn't sit flush with each other.

Finally there is the issue of the carpet. To get either a console, where in your situation one doesn't exist, or a seat, you are 100% cutting holes in your nice new carpet. After that there is no going back.

The areas where I cut up my carpet and it looks a bit sketch are now covered with TuxMats so it doesn't bother me as much.

But to do this right, you may consider buying a new 2nd/3rd row carpet piece. Those are at least $600. So like Blue said I bet all in this is a $1000+ job. That's about what it cost me to buy my captains chairs used.