Hello,

New to the forum and I have a 1998 Ford Clubwagon E350. I am trying to replace the 2 front seats and have found the leather back captains chairs out of a 2001 Ford conversion van. Can these seats be mounted into the front of the van? Would there be an easy way to do it with say buying new swivel mounts? Ect..

Thanks for your help in advance,

Rodney

You will need to modify the bases to work with the seat-belt pretensioner. Some bases can have the "pyro" mount added, but some can't. Also, they most likely used a "universal" base for the rear, which means you'll need to add an adapter plate to fit the stock front mount, or drill and re-bolt the floor to fit the bases, using proper backers to prevent pull-through in a crash.

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2000 E450 dually V10 wagon

Thanks for the reply.

So are there universal front mounts (swivel) that would take care of both the mounting problem and the seat belt problem that can be purchased? And would this adapter plate that you mentioned need to be fabricated or is there one available for purchase?

I'm also toying with the idea of installing the Sienna seats.

Rodney

Most folks use swivel bases that are specific to the Ford vans (and the correct year). These fit the stock bolt pattern and seatbelt pre-tensions without modification. Discount Truck and Van sells them but some on this forum were not happy with the customer service. If you have any local van conversion shops, you might have better luck. And you also might get lucky at a Pick-N-Pull.

I like the idea of Sienna seats too. I actually think most conversion van seats are not as comfortable as the stock Ford seats.

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2000 E450 dually V10 wagon

I think the Sportsmobile Store sells them too. They are more there but it just depends on your willingness to wait or not. Pay more and have the SMB store ones soon or pay less to Discount Truck Van and just wait. I have not heard of them not delivering on an ordered product, they just don't get in a hurry.

Yes, a swivel front base is available at the SMB store. IIRC it's in the $350 range. My late-90's SMB came stock with both driver and passenger swivels, and I believe they were made by Kustom Fit for SMB. The ones in the SMB store now look similar or the same, from what I can see. No complaints at all from me on the bases I had, and if I were to buy a new base now for a stock Ford (or compatible) seat I would buy the one from SMB based on that experience.

Just added this in case it is a useful data point.

Thanks for all the posts, very helpful.