How-To: Swap Bench 2nd row to Captains Chairs with Console

[2020FordRaptor]

So I have bench seats in my '23 ST. On the fence about them but i'm discovering my youngest (7) likes to get into the 3rd row by jumping over the 2nd row seating.

What's the difference between the bench seat outer seats and the captains chairs? I've been trying to look at photos but are they the same seat other than the armrest and the lower bolstering/stitching design? I'm wondering if i could make due just pulling the middle seat and installing some temp carpeting and the cupholder console temporarily. At least then my youngest has a path to the rear seat.

Not sure i want to commit to the full captain chair swap yet as my oldest will be driving soon so there may not be a need to access the 3rd row, in which case I can leave those seats down fully and be fine with the bench.

Yeah that would work. Probably wouldn't look the best, but it would work.

 

[KoolAl44]

@bguild I have to thank you for your amazing write-up! You gave me the confidence to purchase a 2021 that just came off lease, even though it had captain's chairs when I needed a bench seat. To your point, I can confirm that swapping captain's chairs for the bench seat does work!

The downside - I just discovered - is that I got the bench from a 2020 XLT, which does not have the powered fold-down feature. In and of itself, I'm not too bothered by that, but, it lacks the wiring harness and control unit that provides power to the rear-folding seats. I did not realize this while I swapped all the seats, and now my 3rd row is stuck in the flat-down position.

So, I'm going to have to get the harnesses reconnected so I can put the 3rd row upright. And then, I need to decide how to proceed. I'll either remove the unit from my captain's chairs, or find what I need from a junkyard for a reasonable price. (I plan to put the captain's chairs back in someday when my kids have grown up enough that I don't need 7 seats.

I did manage to get the seats for only $213, so I can't complain about the cost. And the work only took me a few hours today.

What was your solution. I just did this exact thing and was going to transfer the harness from the captain chairs to the bench

 

[Adewale]

2) Unbolt 2 front (13mm) and 2 rear (13mm) for the drivers side and passengers side 2nd row seats.

Hello, please by chance do you still have the seats removed after you moved to captain seats? i just got a an XLT model from auction but its completely missing all the second row seats.

 

[2020FordRaptor]

Hello, please by chance do you still have the seats removed after you moved to captain seats? i just got a an XLT model from auction but its completely missing all the second row seats.

Just an FYI, the bench seat wouldn’t match the rest of the seats in your XLT.

 

[Adewale]

Seems the same to me; the interceptor models don't match due to its bolts tying positioning but looking the positions and bolting of the pictures you attached, they do.

 

[2020FordRaptor]

Seems the same to me; the interceptor models don't match due to its bolts tying positioning but looking the positions and bolting of the pictures you attached, they do.

No, they’ll physically fit but the upholstery is different.

 

[Adewale]

I understand the leathered works maybe(infact differ), as far as they fit and both front have leather seats, they are fine by me.

 

[Mustang5L5]

So I have bench seats in my '23 ST. On the fence about them but i'm discovering my youngest (7) likes to get into the 3rd row by jumping over the 2nd row seating.

What's the difference between the bench seat outer seats and the captains chairs? I've been trying to look at photos but are they the same seat other than the armrest and the lower bolstering/stitching design? I'm wondering if i could make due just pulling the middle seat and installing some temp carpeting and the cupholder console temporarily. At least then my youngest has a path to the rear seat.

Not sure i want to commit to the full captain chair swap yet as my oldest will be driving soon so there may not be a need to access the 3rd row, in which case I can leave those seats down fully and be fine with the bench.

Just to update my own question, this is what I ended up doing.

4 bolts and you can remove the center bench. The tricky part is removing the trim covering the bolts, and getting at the front two bolts. It can be done with the side seats in without too much fuss and the right combo of tools. Remove the bolts, unplug the single wiring connector, and flip the seat up and back to the 3rd row (seats down) and out.

You WILL get a seatbelt warning however with the middle bench removed. What i did was remove the belt buckle and intermediate harness under the seat and plug it into the body harness and just tucked it under the side seat. Will come up with something for this later.

This is what it looks like with some aftermarket floor mats for a 6-seat Explorer. Biggest difference from captains chairs is the lack of the middle armrests. My kids don't mind. Does give more room for passing through.

If i need the bench seat, i remove the 3rd row floormat, and reinstall the center bench again. Takes me about 15-20 mins to do. Longest part is the stupid buckle and wiring harness.

 

[Mustang5L5]

Just to add more data. If you previously had a bench seat and swapped to captains chairs, i'm sure you've discovered the warning you now get on the dash for not having the middle seat installed. I imagine most folks doing this trade want the bench to have the bench buckles otherwise the seat is unusable. So if you traded for captains chairs, you need to plug a buckle in.

Found the part numbers for just the buckle for the center bench section. You'll likely want the black but i'll list the sandstone one anyway.

Black: LB5Z-7860045-AA
Sandstone: LB5Z-7860045-AC

At this time they are about $33.




What i haven't found yet is the intermediate harness that runs under the 30% center bench seat to connect the buckle to the body harness. Ideally I want to just find the plug. Since you just need this buckle to turn off the warning, you can go ahead and trim off the webbing and metal mounting bracket just to leave buckle and wiring. It's just two wires so it's a matter of connecting the buckle to the body harness.

I actually install and remove my center bench section and the longest part of this is fishing the buckle and wiring harness in and out of the seat. So looking for a quick plug-and-play solution so going to see if i can track down that plug I need and install it on the dummy buckle. Will be great to find a part number that can be purchased, as my days of searching a junkyard are behind me. Will update if i find something plug and play, but I assume one can simply snip the connector off this dummy buckle and then use some wire side taps to connect to the factory connector and call it a day.

This is the female plug end from the bench seat intermediate harness that I need to track down. Plan is to wire this onto the end of the buckle so that I can just plug it into the body harness when i remove the center bench. This way it's one-wire disconnect, 4 bolts, and out comes the middle seat. Quick and easy.