90 XJ Driver's seat

Here's one for the books. My bone stock, 90 Jeep Cherokee XJ, which
just turned 291,000, finally gave up the ghost on the factory seats.
The driver's seat, which has been leaning back for awhile, finally
broke the welds on the seat back, and is now in two pieces. I hate to
part with the matching upholstery, but I am puzzled if it's worth
saving the seat by trying to weld the seat support halves together, in
a permanent position? Has anyone else attempted this fix, or able to
support my quest for another driver's seat? Locally would be fine, but I don't mind paying for shipping. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Just trying to get to 300,000 miles...

BD
Somewhere in the Rocky Mountains...

is it the stock beige cloth on vinyl?

I'd weld, but you can also seek out a seat of the same design and try swapping the upholstery. Look carefully at the way those seats are put together. I think you'll find that all the upholstery is zippered, and the cushion comes right out in one piece. The only complication will be the metal rods that hold the bottom together (take notes!) and the area where the headrest comes through the top of the back. You can just peel it up and leave it there, with plenty of room for welding. I can't remember how it comes apart if you actually have to remove it, but it does, though it may take some doing.

I have done seat swaps on 3 XJ's now for the same problem. All you need is a working XJ seat regardless of upholstery. You can remove the upholstery and mix and match parts from the seats until you have one that works (one time the back was broken, so I found one that had a broken base mount and swapped the seat backs to get a complete seat... you get the idea) and then put the upholstery from your original seat back onto it. Easy as pie and fast too. Or you could weld it, but that doesn't always work so good. At least it didn't in my case, but I'm not a great welder to begin with...

Thanks for the advice, everyone. I also found out the driver's and passenger's seats are a direct swap, so I may try that to keep it driving.

BTW: anyone with a 90 Jeep XJ looking to part it out, or sell outright, I may be interested. My 17 year old wants one, and I have been looking in Colorado, but most seem under disrepair or rusted out. Mine has 291,000+ and I haven't yet used it up, so a donor or parts needed one would be ideal. Thanks again.

Going for 300,000 miles...

BD
Somewhere in the Rocky Mountains

Jeep...There's only one!