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Seat Swap questions

S

Shoveller

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Alabama
I have an 88 with no power/heated seats. I would like newer front & rear seats. I don't really care about the power/heat (would be nice), my goal is leather and more comfy.

So would a 97+, ZJ or WJ front and/or rear seats fit into my 88. And by fit, I mean physically squeeze in. Which are direct bolt ins, which need a little mod (maybe some brackets/hinges/etc).

I've searched, read several threads, and now I have a headache and I'm even more confused. I think because the other threads were for 97+ XJs.

I also read that ZJ or WJ has a split rear?
 
From my understand, the WJ (99-04 GC) seats will bolt on to the stock seat brackets with little to no work.
 
Can't help you on the zj/wj seats but I put 97+ seats in my 93 by simply cutting a triangular piece out of the front mounts and bending them flat. Then just marked and drilled 3 new holes and ran bolts and washers through the floor. This moved the seats back a couple of inches and made a noticeable difference in the leg room. You can probably find 97+ xj power seats which only requires running power to the seats under the carpet.
 
dave92cherokee said:
Can't help you on the zj/wj seats but I put 97+ seats in my 93 by simply cutting a triangular piece out of the front mounts and bending them flat. Then just marked and drilled 3 new holes and ran bolts and washers through the floor. This moved the seats back a couple of inches and made a noticeable difference in the leg room. You can probably find 97+ xj power seats which only requires running power to the seats under the carpet.
Click to expand...

Are they bolted straight to the floor or can you still adjust the seats?
 
Yes, the ZJ/WJ rears are split. No, they are not direct bolt-in to the XJs- as mentioned in all of the rear seat swap threads. I believe the rear XJ seats are direct swaps, but it would be worth hitting a Junkyard and test fitting a few different years IMO.

The 95+ front seat bases (and the hump in the floorpan to which they mount) are different. If you can find some 95+ bases, and fab something up to mount them, you can then bolt some ZJ/WJ seats to the XJ bases.

I have 97 ZJ leather buckets in mine now. While they are very comfortable (especially compared to my stock buckets- the foam was shot, and the frame was broken.), dark leather + hot days ... it can be pleasant, or downright painful. Sweaty too...
 
OK, let me see if I have this right so far -

rear ZJ/WJ need a little fab, find previous threads.
front ZJ/WJ need 95+ XJ bases & a little fab b/c my 88 is missing a hump.

95+ front bases and front floorpans are different, but the rear is the same?
 
There are pics of the differences in the floorpans around here somewhere, but you'll probably have to search for them. "grand seat swap" as search criteria should get you close. I agonized over my front seat swap, but it turned out to be retarded-simple. I had trouble narrowing down the search, but I think what you're looking to do, has been done already.

xcm, what's the difference in the rears? I've only pulled seats out of a 96+
 
on the late model, its basically 2 eyelets, where it bolts into the body w/ 2 short bolts pointing outward.

the renix has an eyelet on the passenger side, but the other one has a little bolt thing welded in the eyelet, ie, it takes 1 bolt, the driver side has basically a nub that sits in a hole...

imagine if you put a 3/8 bolt, 3/4" long in the driverside mounting eyelet of your rear seat, then tack weld the head of the bolt.

it is very simple to do, i saw the differance and the seats and it was obvious i had to make a little stub for one side.

i love my 96+ seats in my renix.
 
found a pic, thanks grimmjeeper!
CIMG4520.jpg


if you look in the middle right (right near the cb radio, or the bike's pedal), you can see the renix bolt stub, the late model has an eyelet like the other side here
 
Shoveller said:
Are they bolted straight to the floor or can you still adjust the seats?
Click to expand...

Yes they're still adjustable I just bolted the seat slider to the floor since as mentioned the earlier ones don't have that little hump for the front seats. I'll take a couple of pics of the sliders to show what I'm talking about when i get home tonight.
 
i just welded my old TJ seats to my 87 frames.. They were much better than the milk crate that i had to test drive it with..

Before..
655899661_HSdCq-L.jpg


After..
659537109_qwbCM-L.jpg


How they mount.
659536758_ZTH9f-L.jpg


Please remember i have a super tight budget as this is my 2nd jeep and neither are my DD. Knowing what i know now and how well it worked i wish i had used some much nicer seats.. I'll do the upgrade again when i have found all the rest of the bits i need to get here running..

Dave
 
watermark.php

watermark.php


There's a couple of pics of how the drivers seat is mounted. In the first pic you can see the original stud sticking up between the two from the 97+ base. And in the back you can see the original studs location to where the new holes were drilled and mounted. For the front all I did was cut out a small triangular piece to allow the mounting holes to fold up flat.

P.S. Sorry for the dark and slightly blurry pics as it was already dark by the time I got home from work tonight.
 
I put ZJ seats in my 94. They will only bolt in to a 95+ due to a different bracket design

For 94 and older, fab work is required, you have to make an adapter, I suggest welding and using angle as its stronger.
 
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