Bench To Bucket Seats

[Kona]

Hi y'all, so picked up a pair of buckets from a 01 XJ, anyone done this swap? Thinking grind the brackets of the bench and weld to the XJ seat with some obvious mods since its wider, will it be to high in the cab?

[krustyballer16]

i havent personally done this swap. ive actually done the opposite, bucket to bench. the previous owner had newer 4 door xj seats in it. he just drilled two holes, diaganol corners from each other, in each floor board, and bent the front two brackets, where the bolts go through, flat and made them fit his holes. the seats fit just fine and everything, but how he had it, instead of the seats having a 3-4 inch slope leaning backwards, they leaned forward that much so the seat was flat and somewhat uncomfortable. i put temporary spacers under each seat to kinda make it sit right but it wasnt what i wanted. and the since the seats didnt fold forward they sucked to put stuff behind. so if i was you i would either find the older xj seats that fit right or do what youre going to, mount them on the bench frame. it would probably sit just fine. I personally like my bench seat now better than i did the bucket seats.

[Kona]

Thanks for the info, I'm still debating on that, keep the bench or buckets.

[Comanche County]

Yeah lots of guys have done it. But its best to find 2-door XJ seats because they flip forward. But ZJ leather seats are easier to find and they tilt forward quite a bit, not as much as MJ seats but far enough to get behind them.

[Eagle]

Hi y'all, so picked up a pair of buckets from a 01 XJ, anyone done this swap? Thinking grind the brackets of the bench and weld to the XJ seat with some obvious mods since its wider, will it be to high in the cab?

Whatever you do, DON'T "grind" anything off the bench. IIRC, the MJ pedestals are simply bolted to the seats. And the pedestals are the same for the bench and for the buckets, except the right side for the bench doesn't have the handle for the fore-aft adjustment.

[87Warrior]

I put 99 XJ buckets in my 86 MJ that had a bench. Used the XJ seat, brackets and the front brace (cut out of the XJ) and stuck it all in my truck. Seats sit about 3" taller than the worn out bench, but are comfy for me, even at 6'3".

[Comanche County]

Just put a bench in mine, I think the bench offers more leg room. I'm 6'2", but I've been working really hard on my beer belly and I'm very proud of my work. So my leg room ideas may be slightly skewed.