well i finally did it. a local guy here sold me his 97 tj seats on the cheap. i always liked the tj seat better then my 88 xj seat. but i know it wasnt a direct bolt in. and did some searching online and didn't find anything about doing the swap. so in true jeeper fashion. i made them fit!
I'll try and get some picks up tonight or tomorrow. but first impression is now i actually have some head support because the seat back is alot higher. as well the seat sits about 1.5-2" higher then the xj seat. and for you big tall guy's out there. i'm 6'2" and i still have enuff head room and leg room. overall i'm really glad i decided to do this.
now how to do it. well since it was my first attempt it took me the good chunk of the day to fab up some brackets. most of it was spent running back and forth to buy metal and hardware. but what you gotta do is remove the tj sliders off the seat. then remove the xj seat and remove the front-back slider assembly off of it. this will prove difficult to some extent. the places they put some of the torx bolts is rediculous. theres one thats totally impossible to get at. i end up just having to use some needle nose vise grips to get it out. once you get the assembly off then you can start fabbing the brackets to attach the seats to the xj sliders. I used 1" square 3/16 thick tubing and some grade 8 bolts to attach everything. everything is very sturdy and the seats are fully adjustable still which is nice.
and for those without access to a welder. don't worry. i did it all with hand tools and didn't need to weld anything. (although it may be easier) but since i didn't have one i made mine all bolt together.
I'll try and get some picks up tonight or tomorrow. but first impression is now i actually have some head support because the seat back is alot higher. as well the seat sits about 1.5-2" higher then the xj seat. and for you big tall guy's out there. i'm 6'2" and i still have enuff head room and leg room. overall i'm really glad i decided to do this.
now how to do it. well since it was my first attempt it took me the good chunk of the day to fab up some brackets. most of it was spent running back and forth to buy metal and hardware. but what you gotta do is remove the tj sliders off the seat. then remove the xj seat and remove the front-back slider assembly off of it. this will prove difficult to some extent. the places they put some of the torx bolts is rediculous. theres one thats totally impossible to get at. i end up just having to use some needle nose vise grips to get it out. once you get the assembly off then you can start fabbing the brackets to attach the seats to the xj sliders. I used 1" square 3/16 thick tubing and some grade 8 bolts to attach everything. everything is very sturdy and the seats are fully adjustable still which is nice.
and for those without access to a welder. don't worry. i did it all with hand tools and didn't need to weld anything. (although it may be easier) but since i didn't have one i made mine all bolt together.
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