gogetemturbo Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 Has anyone ever built a split bench seat for an MJ? I like having the bench seat, but REALLY want a center console. I've got buckets I can drop in, thought about building a center seat that the top folds down into a console like you'd find on most late model full size trucks. Then when I want to utilize the full bench, flip up the center top. I also thought about cutting up my bench seat. The other reason for making a split bench is so that when my 5'2" wife hops into to drive (how ever rare it may be) - I wouldn't be eating the glove box door cuz I'm so freakin close to the dash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
watchamakalit Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 I don't know if its a split bench or not but someone on here used a bench from a late model dakota I belive. Looked good and had the fold down center. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 I saw a split bench with a fold down middle in a Ranger today. Might fit. :dunno: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Car RamRod Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 I don't know if its a split bench or not but someone on here used a bench from a late model dakota I belive. Looked good and had the fold down center. That was me. I never got around to doing a full write-up, and my laptop had to courtesy of crashing with all the pics on it. But I'll try to snap a few pics for you. I got the seat out of a ~97 dakota. I'm very happy with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddzz1 Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 I think either TNT or CE were working on something like that too. Not positive tho. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gogetemturbo Posted February 19, 2009 Author Share Posted February 19, 2009 I don't know if its a split bench or not but someone on here used a bench from a late model dakota I belive. Looked good and had the fold down center. That was me. I never got around to doing a full write-up, and my laptop had to courtesy of crashing with all the pics on it. But I'll try to snap a few pics for you. I got the seat out of a ~97 dakota. I'm very happy with it. That would be really cool. Thanks. Was it a 60/40 split or a 40/20/40 split? Doesn't really matter, as long as its a split. How hard was the bracketry conversion? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gogetemturbo Posted February 19, 2009 Author Share Posted February 19, 2009 Surprisingly, eBay has a decent amount of middle seats. Most of them are for fullsize trucks which makes them too wide :???: But I think I'll take some measurements off my truck and go Junk Yard crawling this week-end :yes: That's always fun just by itself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbhill Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 the ranger seats are acutally a hair narrower(have a ranger bench in my MJ) and the armrests on the ranger 60/40s sucks as far as lasting and not sagging. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Car RamRod Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 I don't know if its a split bench or not but someone on here used a bench from a late model dakota I belive. Looked good and had the fold down center. That was me. I never got around to doing a full write-up, and my laptop had to courtesy of crashing with all the pics on it. But I'll try to snap a few pics for you. I got the seat out of a ~97 dakota. I'm very happy with it. That would be really cool. Thanks. Was it a 60/40 split or a 40/20/40 split? Doesn't really matter, as long as its a split. How hard was the bracketry conversion? It's a 40/20/40. I had to make all new brackets, but it wasn't too hard. I did the whole project by myself in I wanna say around 6 hours. (If I had help it woulda be 10x easier.) The only thing I don't like is that the way all the seats are held together, even with the middle seat sitting on the trans tunnel, you sit a good bit higher than a stock mj seat. I'm 5'10" and I have no problem, but if you're way tall its something to think about. Here's a few pictures I way able to dig up: On the front I basically just welded a piece of angle to the bottom of the dakota rails, then bent/cut the stock mj front mounts and welded them up. On the outside rear mounts, I welded a bolt to a small plate, and welded that to the frame rail. On the inside rears, there was a height difference so I used tube as you can see to space myself up. Lastly, I used washers on the rear mounts as shims to make everything level and slide nice. That's about it really. I'm really happy with it so far. The seats are comforatable, and the optional middle seat is great. This seat also has a great cupholder built in. The only problem that I've had is that the recline handles on the side are real close to the door pockets on my truck, so its a pain to adjust with the doors closed. Hope this helped. If you have any quesitons, feel free to ask. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gogetemturbo Posted February 20, 2009 Author Share Posted February 20, 2009 Wow, that's awesome, thanks! The height thing would really be any issue for me though. I'm 6'2" and even at the height of the factory seats, I feel I am a little too high. I might even try just getting my hands on a middle seat like that one (love the cup holder!) and fit it in and re upholster to match. Thanks again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wranglercory Posted February 20, 2009 Share Posted February 20, 2009 Keeping the bench would be a great way of keeping the wife from driving it I would think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gogetemturbo Posted February 20, 2009 Author Share Posted February 20, 2009 HaHa, the theory is good, but she doesn't really like the truck, so anytime that she actually wants to drive it, I definitely let her! She kinda resents my truck (cuz it's my girlfriend) sometimes. I go through spurts a couplefew times a year of a 2 to 3 week (or more!) period of working on the truck until the wee hours of the mornin everyday. Oh well, it's my crack. I got have it, gotta use it, can't live with out it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darren Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 That's about it really. I'm really happy with it so far. The seats are comforatable, and the optional middle seat is great. This seat also has a great cupholder built in. The only problem that I've had is that the recline handles on the side are real close to the door pockets on my truck, so its a pain to adjust with the doors closed. Hope this helped. If you have any quesitons, feel free to ask. Wow, that looks good. I don't think I've seen that before. Good idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Car RamRod Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 Wow, that's awesome, thanks! The height thing would really be any issue for me though. I'm 6'2" and even at the height of the factory seats, I feel I am a little too high. I might even try just getting my hands on a middle seat like that one (love the cup holder!) and fit it in and re upholster to match. Thanks again! Yea, the height's an issue. But the thing is, if you break the 3 pieces apart, you can definitely mount the buckets lower to the floor. The problem that arises here is that then the middle seat would be higher that the buckets, and so the armrest would be kinda wierd. I wasn't sure which way to go, so being time-limited I went this route first, and the little extra height's been fine. Wow, that looks good. I don't think I've seen that before. Good idea. Thanks. Somebody on this site picked up a similar set of seats, but I think they were only gonna use the buckets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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