Making XJ buckets work in a MJ

[DJM/78]

I used after market Best Top TJ , seats out of an 01 " . he he he

 

I remember all that work ....... wait , I don't want to remember all that work . :shake:

 

Very much worth it though ! :yes:

[one_bad_MJ]

I used after market Best Top TJ , seats out of an 01 " . he he he

 

I remember all that work ....... wait , I don't want to remember all that work . :shake:

 

Very much worth it though ! :yes:

 

so tj wrangler seats bolt right in???

[dasbrick]

Is their any way to mount XJ seat brackets in? My MJs are rusty all to heck and the boneyards up here never have MJs. :(

[DJM/78]

I used after market Best Top TJ , seats out of an 01 " . he he he

 

I remember all that work ....... wait , I don't want to remember all that work . :shake:

 

Very much worth it though ! :yes:

 

so tj wrangler seats bolt right in???

 

Not at all , it took some modification of the floor pan and the aftermarket seats have adjustable seat holes on the bottom .

Move those around a bit to fit the 95 XJ floor brackets .

 

Is their any way to mount XJ seat brackets in? My MJs are rusty all to heck and the boneyards up here never have MJs. :(

 

There might be someone here that has a set . My way is to have a weld shop , build you a set of floor brackets , to fit whatever seat you

want . Preferably XJ buckets w/ headrests or another seat thats close to dimensions .

TJ seats are taller , so modification is needed . However IMHO , custom seats are kick@ss !! :beerhead:

[Pete M]

Is their any way to mount XJ seat brackets in? My MJs are rusty all to heck and the boneyards up here never have MJs. :(

 

 

Not without a bunch of fab work. the floors are very different, with XJ floors being flat and MJ floors sloping up towards the middle of the truck. You might as well clean up your current set and weld a washer to the bottom to bring back the structural integrity. Or post up in the classifieds if you haven't already. MJ buckets and benches both use the same floor brackets.

[Akula69]

Bump (to keep in my posts for reference)

[Pete M]

If you "bookmark" the topic, it gets saved on your bookmark page. :cheers:

[Akula69]

Learn something new every day! Thanks Pete

[asm4mcc]

i jus don't understand how it works the bench only has 2 sliders and the comanche floors brakets are small then the cherokee

[cody4359]

I have also done the MJ bench brackets on the XJ seat swap in an 87 MJ. I used the curved tracks and found them to sit just a little higher than the MJ buckets. I drilled the rivet holes out so I could use grade 8 bolts hoping the head would hold in the track. It didn't but I wedged a screwdriver in between the track and head an was able to tighten them up. Just make sure the bolts are short enough to clear the slide. Then I tack welded the other end of the bracket to the track.I replaced the bench in my 91 MJ Pioneer with buckets from another MJ (got lucky the first time) Havent drove the 87 yet to find out wich setup I prefere. As far as seats go I from the ones I"ve worked on they have been the same four bolt pattern that holds them to the tracks up untill the 95 seats wich mount to the floor differently.

 

so the seat mounting to the tracks changed in 95 or am i misreading?

 

edit: tried making the seat from my 96 fit on the mj brackets. no luck, finally went to the wrecking yard and looked at earlier seats. wish i woulda known they were different before having the headache of wondering why i couldnt do it even with a few write-ups telling me how. musta been speed reading :doh:

[mj Mike]

Thanks!! ''mfpdm''

 

Worked for me! :brows: & easier then finding MJ bucket slider in the JY :fs2:

[Comanche County]

Awesome write up! Good job bro! :cheers:

[comanche87]

I have tan bucket seats in my truck for a while now and have had a pair of black recliner/slider seats. Whats the best way to get them to work in my truck?

[Butchershop]

Bumping for other newcomers.

 

Followed the write-up yesterday, got the brackets assembled and test fitted. All good. Sanding and painting next, then final assembly when the the interior is ready for them.

 

A drill press would have made the disassembly much easier - drilling the rivets is a pain with a hand held cordless drill! Additional patience too. As it stands I need to replace about 7 drill bits.....

 

But well worth the effort. Thanks again for the instructions (and website).

[ftpiercecracker1]

Has anyone tried power XJ seats yet? I have a set of nice gray ones sitting in storage and if they won't work I need to get rid of them.

 

Never heard an answer to this.

[redcomanche]

This is what i did for mine, Unbolted my bench took the brackets off of it, got the buckets took the brackets off of those. Then i welded the brackets from the bench onto the buckets. It was fairly easy and didnt take muck time at all. :thumbsup: :MJ 1: :thumbsup: good luck

[NHMJXJ]

New to the site and knew that someone must have done this before but, Welding? Bummer.

 

I was hoping my socket set was going to make this happen. I've been accumulating interior stuff to clean up my truck. I have a pair of super clean buckets and console from a '96 XJ with which I plan to replace the bench.

 

I was planning to replace the carpeting too, and after reading the "Best Tip" forum, I think I'll look under the existing carpeting sooner than later.

[Bam86]

Drilling out the rivets was the hardest part for me, I just bolted the xj buckets in using the bench seat brackets. Broke a few drill bits but overall not super difficult to do.

[onlyinajeep726]

Sub'd.

[pitbull4x4]

Just got done changing from a bench seat to buckets out of a XJ, late 80s. Used brackets off bench and bolted them to the curved tracks. Both work great. Never used a drill. Used what we around here call it, 90% DYE GRINDER and punch and hammer. Did both seats in under 15 minutes. Just grindoff the part of rivet you see then use punch and hammer to knock rest of rivet out.

[2toneComanche]

could you use an air chisel to remove rivets

[88ComancheMitch]

What I did for mine was keep the faactory xj bracket on the driver's side (wanted to keep power seats) and drilled a hole and bolted the seat on the front left. Widened the hole on the front right. Rear right fit fine, rear left we cut a groove into the "channel" running down the middle of the floor (I have no carpet) and "slid" the head of a bolt in where the head was too large to come out of the groove.

 

 

Works great. I was slightly concerned about safety. Then I thought about it...in a wreck bad enough to shear 4 grade 8 bolts held down that tightly...in a 88 truck w/o airbag, etc...thats going to be the least of my worries...

[AeroNautical]

 however if you had bucket brackets and the rails were good, you would only need to move the cushions. That is unless the MJ buckets cushions have different mounting holes. 

 

 

This is true, just found out today. Got some seats from the JY thinking I'm gonna have to drill out rivets and move rails, but all I had to do was move the bracket from the MJ buckets to the XJ buckets, absolutely ZERO modification. Man was I pleasantly surprised, to say the least! 

[onlyinajeep726]

 

 however if you had bucket brackets and the rails were good, you would only need to move the cushions. That is unless the MJ buckets cushions have different mounting holes. 

 

 

This is true, just found out today. Got some seats from the JY thinking I'm gonna have to drill out rivets and move rails, but all I had to do was move the bracket from the MJ buckets to the XJ buckets, absolutely ZERO modification. Man was I pleasantly surprised, to say the least! 

 

 

You were lucky enough to find some 2-door XJ buckets?

[AeroNautical]

 

 

 however if you had bucket brackets and the rails were good, you would only need to move the cushions. That is unless the MJ buckets cushions have different mounting holes. 

 

 

This is true, just found out today. Got some seats from the JY thinking I'm gonna have to drill out rivets and move rails, but all I had to do was move the bracket from the MJ buckets to the XJ buckets, absolutely ZERO modification. Man was I pleasantly surprised, to say the least! 

 

 

You were lucky enough to find some 2-door XJ buckets?

 

After easily a year of searching and waiting for the right ones, I said screw it and got some 4 door buckets. No tilt forward, but I rarely used that anyway, got my fire extinguisher, beater stick, CDs and winch control behind the passenger seat so I can just reach over and grab it from the drivers seat. They are nice buckets, too. Got the butterfly flaps and everything, haha.