1957 Chevy 3100, meet 1994 Dodge Ram 1500

[Purcell69]

I'm still not 100% sold on the new seats. They seem to be more of a compromise than I am looking for when it comes to comfort. I'll let Kim make the final call. If she likes them, they'll stay, otherwise, I'll put my Jeep seats in and make anchors for the shoulder harness in the cab wall.

In a perfect world, I'd get my hands on some power Grand Cherokee seat bases, either six or eight way, from a 1993-1998 ZJ that someone doesn't need for not a lot of cash. That would give me my leg room back and I'd just put seatbelt anchors in the cab walls and be done with it.











-Joe

[mikebte]

Originally Posted by Purcell69

I'm still not 100% sold on the new seats. They seem to be more of a compromise than I am looking for when it comes to comfort. I'll let Kim make the final call. If she likes them, they'll stay, otherwise, I'll put my Jeep seats in and make anchors for the shoulder harness in the cab wall.

In a perfect world, I'd get my hands on some power Grand Cherokee seat bases, either six or eight way, from a 1993-1998 ZJ that someone doesn't need for not a lot of cash. That would give me my leg room back and I'd just put seatbelt anchors in the cab walls and be done with it.
-Joe

I understand your frustration, I had buckets and ended up pulling them and going with a bench. Its hard to tell just what you will like until your driving it.

[joedoh]

Originally Posted by Purcell69

I'll let Kim make the final call. If she likes them, they'll stay

ladies and gentleman, there is a man who really knows the score.

[lower50's]

They look like good seats tho, if they don't fit right then it doesn't matter. You have to find what works for you. I used s-10 buckets fit amazing so comfy.

[Purcell69]

Well I got a bit more done today and in spite of my efforts today, I think these Chevy seats will go back on the market. The bucket seats that were in the truck were from an XJ Cherokee, which aren't too bad, but I think the Grand Cherokee seats will be about as perfect as I can get for comfort, especially if I can get my hands on some power bases.

About the time I started wiring things up today, Kim decided some of the horses needed to be in the west pasture, which meant I needed to fix the hot wire to ensure they stay on the property. In all, I spent about 20 minutes digging a trench and reconnecting the hot wire to the fence charger before getting started on the truck again.

I installed the Ron Francis fuse panel that was left over from the original wiring I installed on the truck around 1999-2000. When I began to swap everything over to the Dodge chassis, I pulled the entire Ron Francis kit back out of the truck and put it all in a storage tote, figuring I could come back and pick and chose what I needed when the time came. With the panel hooked up to battery feed only right now, it powers the seats without the key being "on". At some point, I will hook the panel through the ignition switch as well for keyed power when needed.

I built up a small harness system to connect power to both seats. I made these a little on the long side to allow for final routing and used blade connectors so I can reuse them on other seat bases when the time comes. After I was done, I took the truck for a short drive to the edge of the property, the first since I fixed my starting problem. As I was about to turn around, my throttle went dead and the truck would only idle. Needless to say, I was a bit freaked out. I hiked back to the house and got some spare gas that I kept for mowing, hoping that was the problem.

Another hike back and two gallons of gas later, I started the truck back up. It started, then died. I started it a second time and the idle came back up to normal, nice and happy. Such is life when the truck has no gas gauge.

With the truck running, I cleared my work space and set out my saw horses so I can start work on the bed floor. I expect I will have the steel for it within the week, so is seems to be the next logical step.

I did not take pictures today, but I did record some video clips that I will try to put together and post up on YouTube.

-Joe

[Purcell69]

Originally Posted by lower50's

They look like good seats tho, if they don't fit right then it doesn't matter. You have to find what works for you. I used s-10 buckets fit amazing so comfy.

Right you are. Comfort is key. Kim didn't like the way they fit the cab and neither did I. We were both on the same page, so I put them back on Marketplace and sold them a week to the day after I bought them, for what i paid for them.

Even though I haven't installed them yet, I think our old Grand Cherokee seats will be the winner. They are like new and are essentially the same size as the XJ seats that are in the truck now. If I can find power bases for them it should be a 100% win. I will just need to mount the shoulder belts.

Like I said the other day, I took a bunch of short video clips while working on installing the Silverado seats. Even though I am not going to use them, I'm putting the clips up here, for entertainment value if nothing else. Someday I will learn how to edit in YouTube and combine these little clips in to one video, but for now, here they are:

https://youtu.be/vJfBsA84TYs

https://youtu.be/0Zpx5iVChnQ

https://youtu.be/bgQbmLKGPDU

https://youtu.be/vAhDnNccC9s

https://youtu.be/acn3xTLJov4

https://youtu.be/QTrl9o-3_Bo

https://youtu.be/l5YBi9tSwfE

Enjoy!

-Joe