King Ranch Seats in 1997 F350 - Diesel Forum

bmzero · 03-17-2008, 10:32 AM

I have been looking for an earlier model Powerstroke for a while now. I finally bought one that was almost what I wanted, but the OEM cloth seats were worn pretty badly. I have always wanted to do a crew cab seat swap, so this seemed like a good vehicle to try that on.

WITH HELP FROM MY DAD, we started on what we thought to be a massive undertaking.

I picked up all three King Ranch seats and console from a salvage yard in Griffin, GA (almost 4 hour drive from home) for a good deal ($800). I found the seats on Car-Part.com--Used Auto Parts Market.

OEM seats (driver's side is crap). This one isn't bad.

Step 1: Remove OE Seats

I never realized how much room is in a crew cab. I think you could play a game of tackle football in there without the seats in.

Step 2: Remove Cheetos

Wow, there's a lot of junk under the seats (and capet) of a 11 year old truck.

bmzero · 03-17-2008, 10:33 AM

Step 3: Determine the correct wires to tap into for electric seat functions. My dad still thinks he's an electrician, so this was his job.

Step 4: Notch new seat bracket so that I can lay it flat. Where the seats mount in the '97 is a flat surface, well at least where this seat lines up on the floor. Cutting a triangular notch out of the bracket allowed me to lay it flat.

Step 5: Flatten Bracket. Then, weld. This was necessary on both front mounts on both front seats.

Next step: Remove Carpet, and clean like the dickens. I also took this opportunity to add some sound deadening material (pronounced "Dynamat rip off").

I'm leaving out all of the tedious parts where we marked and drilled holes for the seats to mount to the floorboard. Anyone can figure that out.

bmzero · 03-17-2008, 10:35 AM

Finished Product:

Overall, I'm completely blown away with what a difference this made in my truck. I loved driving it before, but I enjoy it much more now.

Next Step:

I'm going to try to cover this dash piece in the same leather (albeit much thinner) as what's used in the seats. And while I'm thinking big (and probably unrealistic) I would like to get the King Ranch logo burned (branded) into that leather. I know that may be impossible, but it sure would look cool.

BlindViper · 03-17-2008, 11:50 AM

Wow nice work I see you like your dewalt cordless impact too. They are the best thing since sliced bread

bmzero · 03-17-2008, 05:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlindViper

Wow nice work I see you like your dewalt cordless impact too. They are the best thing since sliced bread

Yeah, probably the best tool, for the money, I've ever bought.

Thanks for the compliment.

AZStang · 03-19-2008, 03:46 PM

What an incredible transformation! I can't believe you got them for $800! My truck came new with aftermarket captains chairs in the front and they are shot. The estimates I got to rebuild and recover them in leather were over $2,000 for front and back. I need to find some salvage ones I guess. What year are yours from? Did any of the mounting holes line up? How did you fill the holes in the carpet where the old seats were?

Thanks,
Shawn

psu927 · 03-19-2008, 05:00 PM

did you paint the door panels brown? How about the head liner? Also, did the seats have heat in them? That is one sweet truck. Exactly what I want.

psu927 · 03-19-2008, 05:01 PM

btw doesn't look like it would work with a stick, correct?

91diesel · 03-19-2008, 05:21 PM

20 years old? you meant to say 11?

Very nice job, though. I like the new seats. By stick you mean manual transmission, psu? It is a manual. I wonder, is it tight around the shifter area?

bmzero · 03-20-2008, 08:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AZStang

What an incredible transformation! I can't believe you got them for $800! My truck came new with aftermarket captains chairs in the front and they are shot. The estimates I got to rebuild and recover them in leather were over $2,000 for front and back. I need to find some salvage ones I guess. What year are yours from? Did any of the mounting holes line up? How did you fill the holes in the carpet where the old seats were?

Thanks,
Shawn

Thanks. These came from an '04. None of the mounting holes lined up, but other than the bracket modifications shown above, there was no major modification needed. Well, I take that back. I used the highly precise body molding "ball pin hammer" to clearance the middle runner for the rear seat. There is a little rise in the floor pan where the middle mount needs to go. Still, not a major ordeal.

I didn't bother filling in the holes in the carpet. You can't even see them unless you're looking.

bmzero · 03-20-2008, 08:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by psu927

did you paint the door panels brown? How about the head liner? Also, did the seats have heat in them? That is one sweet truck. Exactly what I want.

No, the rest of the interior is stock. The seats do have heat in them (and memory actually), but I only hooked up power to the adjustment motors. I don't particularly care for the heating switch mount location. I hit the switch several times in my other SD's on the way in and didn't notice it until my butt was on fire. Then, the damage was done.

bmzero · 03-20-2008, 08:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 91diesel

20 years old? you meant to say 11?

Very nice job, though. I like the new seats. By stick you mean manual transmission, psu? It is a manual. I wonder, is it tight around the shifter area?

Wow, I don't know where 20 came from. Thanks for the catch. Original post edited.

Yes, it's a manual. Where I mounted the console right now, it shifts fine, but if I have an over-size cup in the cup holder it comes real close. I'm going to scoot it back a few inches to make some more room. Other than that, it's perfect. The console just mounts directly to the floor pan with two self tapping screws. It's no trouble to move back.

SlopeTruck · 03-20-2008, 01:22 PM

I used power Explorer buckets and a Dodge center console and it's way better then the stock seat BUT would love to pirate the seats out of my brothers King Ranch. Nice job and incredible price!!!

7.3addict · 03-20-2008, 04:06 PM

wow! that looks professional. Thats something i've always wanted to do but the cost is what has been holdin me back. Again nice work!!!

bmzero · 03-21-2008, 08:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 7.3addict

but the cost is what has been holdin me back.

I thought the same thing, but I just went to car-part.com and searched for seats for a Super Duty and called all of the people listing King Ranch seats. Most places were $1000 (PER SEAT!!!). It just so happens that the place I bought mine from cut me a package deal for $1000 for all three and the console. It was worth the 4 hour drive. When I got there one of the mounting brackets was bent pretty badly. She knocked $200 off of the price. That's where the $800 came from. We actually had to cut a piece out of the seat frame, straighten it, and weld it back in to get it perfect. We spent about two hours straightening the brackets for that one seat (the small rear seat), but it was worth it in the long run saving another $200.

Thanks again for the compliments.