XJ Front Bench Seat

[JZLAJeep]

Have a guy locally that wants to give us his gray bench out of his Comanche. This has got me thinking about a crazy idea of putting it in our red '96 XJ as a front seat.  I've previously noted that I have a handicapped daughter that can't sit in the front seat (because she grabs stuff) and can't sit too close to anyone in the back seat (because she grabs stuff). A bench seat in the front would mean we can put three in the front and give her more space in the back seat. There are some pros and cons of course, and here are some that I see:

 

Pros:

1. Get three seats across the front (will need to get a middle seatbelt) - makes the XJ a 6-seat vehicle
2. Should bolt right up (except conflict with hand brake)
3. The bench is free!

 

Cons:

1. No head and neck support from the bench
2. Lose the center console and air to the back seat
3. Conflict with hand brake?

[89 MJ]

I'd do it as proof of concept if nothing else. Take the free seat, get it mounted and all of the kinks worked out, then start watching for a bench with headrests (90-92 had headrests). You will need to use XJ seat brackets on the floor. The other thing you're giving up, in my opinion, is a ton of comfort up front. I can't remember if your MJ has a bench or buckets, but in case it has buckets, I think it is worth noting that being 3 wide in an MJ is not exactly my definition of fun. 

[TheNerfsmith]

My only thought for the hand brake is if it could be moved to the Pedal style that the MJ has (Not sure how that would convert). I have no ideas other than that. 

[JZLAJeep]

9 minutes ago, 89 MJ said:

The other thing you're giving up, in my opinion, is a ton of comfort up front. I can't remember if your MJ has a bench or buckets, but in case it has buckets, I think it is worth noting that being 3 wide in an MJ is not exactly my definition of fun. 

The MJ has a bench. And you are right, three across is not the most comfortable, but not terrible if the two passengers up front are little (like my 4 and 3 year olds). Only driver air bag so at least some of the concerns about kids in the front goes away...

[JZLAJeep]

6 minutes ago, TheNerfsmith said:

My only thought for the hand brake is if it could be moved to the Pedal style that the MJ has (Not sure how that would convert). I have no ideas other than that. 

Have had that thought too. If this gets too complicated, then not worth it and the bench will become a couch in the garage. 

[89 MJ]

14 minutes ago, TheNerfsmith said:

My only thought for the hand brake is if it could be moved to the Pedal style that the MJ has (Not sure how that would convert). I have no ideas other than that. 

 

6 minutes ago, JZLAJeep said:

Have had that thought too. If this gets too complicated, then not worth it and the bench will become a couch in the garage. 

I really like that pedal idea. I know @Gjeep has gone from pedal to handbrake in at least one of his MJs. Maybe he'd be able to shed some light on going the opposite way too? Who knows, you might be as lucky as being able to swap in the front MJ parking brake cable.

[eaglescout526]

Trans hump is probably too long compared to the MJ if I recall. But XJ seats do sit higher. 

[pizzaman09]

1 hour ago, JZLAJeep said:

Have had that thought too. If this gets too complicated, then not worth it and the bench will become a couch in the garage. 

If you can source a pedal, then it should be a bolt in arrangement.  All you would need is the cable, I think it's the short bed one you need.  The cable has a lot of flexibility and really just runs across the floor under the carpet to the same hole that the center console hand brake lever cable would run.

 

I have seen a video of a guy that drag races an XJ who has swapped in a bench seat and a parking brake pedal.

[eaglescout526]

Hell. Thinking about this and doing an MJ e-brake pedal just has me thinking about the wiring mess that’s right there. 

[Gjeep]

It's been done. Seen it back in late '90's. Guy on NAXJA. He had opted out of parking brake all together. More or less bolted right in with XJ seat tracks. Remember he also swapped MJ AW4 column shift (you have air bag column so need to decide what you want to do with that. Your seats are different than first gen, but could swear I've seen on ebay/web new seat tracks to work with older seats that you can probably use. I'd search for that. Regarding the ebrake, I see you have AX15 so yes, I'd bolt in a later MJ foot brake as earlier ones had self-release issue. MJ cable will be plenty long for XJ even if use SB MJ ebake cable.

[JZLAJeep]

18 minutes ago, Gjeep said:

I'd bolt in a later MJ foot brake as earlier ones had self-release issue. MJ cable will be plenty long for XJ even if use SB MJ ebake cable.

Anyone have one of those laying around?

[Pete M]

later MJ benches have headrests.

[JZLAJeep]

Saw the bench for the first time when picking it up this morning. To my great surprise, the bench has headrests! Need to clean it up...

 

 

 

[Pete M]

that's a good score right there!  

[Salvagedcircuit]

On 5/9/2026 at 5:24 PM, JZLAJeep said:

Saw the bench for the first time when picking it up this morning. To my great surprise, the bench has headrests! Need to clean it up...

 

 

 

If you ever take it apart / remove the cover to clean it, I'd Love to see how the headrests were implemented. I wonder if there was a custom welded in bracket in the back. I bet its covered in foam though. It would be neat to see though. The headrest bench seats are so dang rare 

[JZLAJeep]

46 minutes ago, Salvagedcircuit said:

If you ever take it apart / remove the cover to clean it, I'd Love to see how the headrests were implemented. I wonder if there was a custom welded in bracket in the back. I bet its covered in foam though. It would be neat to see though. The headrest bench seats are so dang rare 

Like I said, I was shocked when I picked it up!

 

The upholstery looks a lot better after a thorough scrubbing and drying in the sun today. Have more scrubbing to do on the vinyl.

[eaglescout526]

51 minutes ago, Salvagedcircuit said:

If you ever take it apart / remove the cover to clean it, I'd Love to see how the headrests were implemented. I wonder if there was a custom welded in bracket in the back. I bet its covered in foam though. It would be neat to see though. The headrest bench seats are so dang rare 

 

I think they’re put on the same way the buckets have them. With that little shaped bracket that fit the plastic adjuster. Honestly it probably could be done with a bench seat that doesn’t have the head rests presently. 

[watchamakalit]

I seem to remember someone already added headrest to a nonheadrest bench. But can't remember who. I believe it was one of the epic builds.....

[Pete M]

the welded bits are indeed embedded in foam (the whole frame is), but it has been shown that you can weld some in if you're super careful not to set the foam on fire. 

 

later backs go right on older seats.  I upgraded the 88 I was working on with headrests using a spare 91 back I had.

[Eagle_SX4]

The foam can be cut and removed to make any repairs needed then reinstalled with no noticeable effects. Just run the knife along the rails from the back and push the foam out through the front. I did it on my 87 seat when the top rail broke in half.

 

[JZLAJeep]

Should have foreseen this, but didn't. The lightweight fabric on the back of the bench will be too flimsy to hold up to passengers in the back seat. The fact that it's there at all is a small miracle (the fabric is missing from the back of our MJ's bench). Will need to figure out something different. A cover is the easy solution. Removing the cover and sewing in a more durable material is a better solution. But hate to put a lot of money into a bench that was free in a configuration that I may or may not want to ultimately keep. Will probably see if the concept works first and then work out the back covering if we decide to keep it.

 

[Pete M]

it's pretty easy to unbolt the back.  I'd install it and see if I like it first.  

[JZLAJeep]

13 hours ago, Pete M said:

I'd install it and see if I like it first.  

Agreed

[Warthog]

On 5/14/2026 at 2:16 PM, JZLAJeep said:

Should have foreseen this, but didn't. The lightweight fabric on the back of the bench will be too flimsy to hold up to passengers in the back seat. The fact that it's there at all is a small miracle (the fabric is missing from the back of our MJ's bench). Will need to figure out something different. A cover is the easy solution. Removing the cover and sewing in a more durable material is a better solution. But hate to put a lot of money into a bench that was free in a configuration that I may or may not want to ultimately keep. Will probably see if the concept works first and then work out the back covering if we decide to keep it.

 

Get some paneling and cut you a template, cover in carpet or vinyl etc, I use tread bright aluminum on everything and paint to match. You can glue or Velcro or mate a metal strip to the inner frame via counter sunk screws and screw the new back to that. A little door trim around the edges to clean up the looks. You can get that stuff in rolls on Amazon cheap. If you can’t find the right color get as light as possible and get some duplicolor vinyl spray and paint to match. Awesome idea by tye way!! Bench in a cherokee? I would in a second! But I can’t even find a decent bench for my Comanche let alone another for m cherokee! If I still had the ebrake you could have it. Went buckets for lack of choice. I’ll look around, don’t remember chunkin it but don’t remember keepin it either.

[dasbulliwagen]

Didn't some forest service or police package XJ's come factory with the bench?

 

The buckets are cool, but a regular cab truck really needs a bench, and having a bench in the front of an XJ is no different than the old days of having a bench in a wagon, which is basically what an XJ is. Post some pics when you get this done, we'd love to see it.