Bucket seats.

[jfive]

So I know I really want to replace my vinyl bench seat and I am having debates on what to do. I would almost like to update to newer more comfortable 60/40 ranger seats, but I also would like racing buckets, and possibly even aluminum lightweight racing seats. I do want to be comfortable, and this could be a real issue. I am going to take out the seat and see how much it weighs and try and keep my weight down, by using the light and comfortable seats. So far the lightest I have found is 13.5 lbs per bucket seats. I have seen a ranger somewhere that had a racing bench seat, but havn't really looked into that yet. Checker auto use to sell 99.99 dollar buckets that where light and looked good, but they are now o'reilys and havn't seen them in there. So the point of this is to see what everyone is doing if anything at all.

[BogusSVO]

look at pep boys, I think they have the seats that your talking about

[jfive]

Don't have one. Just carquest, napa, oreilys, and a independant one that sells wix stuff and dayco and gates. I don't even think pep boys has anything even close to me.

[radguy]

I picked up a set of explorer bucket seats. They bolt to the stock ranger 60/40 rails with no mods.

Dan

[FordRacingZX3]

I was looking at a set of fixed back seats from these guys.

http://www.corbeau.com/

I've sat in a few of the ones with the recliner back and even the ones that were a bit tight for my fat ass still felt extremely comfortable. A bit pricey tho

[jfive]

I like there racing bench seat.

[michaelconklin]

my ranger had stock 60/40 i baught a pair of spw seat super comfy almost memory foam status. the slider/rails bolted straight to the factory mounts just had to drill out the rivets holding the mounts to the factory 60/40 sliders. if u go with buckets i would hit up a junkyard and pull the sliders/mounting brackets off the 60/40 setup so u can drill out the rivets and use the brackets. because i dont think the bench seat has the same set up. if u like i can try and post pics, or pm me ur email addy and i can send u pics that way.

[jfive]

I wouldn't turn down pictures.

[Rory]

I had 60/40 seats in my ranger, and I just cut off the bracket that holds the center counsol up, the bracket is just welded onto the rest of the seat frame, I cut the extra foam off of the seat, and took the excess fabric and folded it up nice and pretty, loosened up the bolts that bolt the bracket to the bottom on the seat and tucked the fabric in and re-tightened the bolts down, looks just like the passenger seat now, and its comfy, and It accomidates the shift lever for my T5, when I get over to the shop Ill take some pictures of the seat, next time I have the seat out of the truck I take pictures of the underside, best part about it, didnt cost me a dime just about an hours worth of work or so

[michaelconklin]

ill try and post some to my garage

[michaelconklin]

i put a pic up in my garage of my seats

[michaelconklin]

http://i971.photobucket.com/albums/ae192/turboranger94/conk4.jpg

[Rory]

how much do you have into the seats?

[jfive]

They do look good, and seam to fit nice.

[michaelconklin]

paid 200.00 for the set

[FordRacingZX3]

http://i971.photobucket.com/albums/ae192/turboranger94/conk4.jpg

Does it look like there would be space for a 10lb nitrous bottle between them? I wanna end up pulling the kit out of my other car and put it in just for a little extra kick to piss off ricers :P

[michaelconklin]

with no problem i jus hav my tool bag there cuz i hav no other place for it lol. i was thinkin about it also it would look so stick.

[Rory]

Michael Im really impressed with the looks of your truck! I hope to get mine looking that good by next winter!

[michaelconklin]

thank you very much Rory its come a long way since i first got it.

[FordRacingZX3]

with no problem i jus hav my tool bag there cuz i hav no other place for it lol. i was thinkin about it also it would look so stick.

Ahh good, I didn't want to have to get out of the truck and lift a box cover to turn on the gas :P

[Riddle_Rob]

I have buckets too, this is the only pic I can find atm. PC goin way too slow today.

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f46/Riddle_Rob/Stranger%20Build/78ff83c9.jpg

[Thedrifter]

I like there racing bench seat.
i kinda like the idea of a bench seat but would that look right? what width would you go with? 40"

[jfive]

I thought 42". I would measure it though. It only weighs 27 lbs too. So thats freakn light. You would have a hard time finding two buckets that weigh less than that. I have found ones that are 13.5 lbs but they look really uncomfortable. They are for drag racing only so not suppose to be for the occasional road trip. The bench seats come with 5 point harness slots too, which I am gonna need.

[michaelconklin]

i highly doubt my spws weigh more than 30lbs as a set but i could be wrong

[jfive]

Actually to be honest, most low cost buckets that are like yours don't say how much they weigh, so I just have been guessing they are heavier. Only ones like sparco and stuff stay usally. I know it doesn't seam like 10 pounds is alot, but it all adds up and the lighter you are the faster you are. I think if jess could take like 500 pounds he would be in the 11s no problem.

[michaelconklin]

i dont know how acurate this is but from what i was told by brain macey the owner horsepower connections up here in wa before he moved every 100lbs u lose takes a tenth off ur e/t, but that may be for full on drag cars

[jfive]

Maybe true. I know that don nase has a dragster that weighs like 1800 if that with him in it, and a ecotec turbo motor and is into the 6s with it. Thats just plain rediculous. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnkI9hmAHBY&feature=related also here is a picture of his 2.3 turbo motor for his ranger I found. http://i1005.photobucket.com/albums/af172/jfive_5/donnase23.jpg

[FordRacingZX3]

i dont know how acurate this is but from what i was told by brain macey the owner horsepower connections up here in wa before he moved every 100lbs u lose takes a tenth off ur e/t, but that may be for full on drag cars

I've been told the same thing by someone in NHRA. In most cases a team will actually put their driver on a diet before race season to be as light as possible for better times

[bruiser]

Maybe true. I know that don nase has a dragster that weighs like 1800 if that with him in it, and a ecotec turbo motor and is into the 6s with it. Thats just plain rediculous. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnkI9hmAHBY&feature=related also here is a picture of his 2.3 turbo motor for his ranger I found. http://i1005.photobucket.com/albums/af172/jfive_5/donnase23.jpg



ummmm can you say SEXY!?

[jfive]

He said he's gonna try and post a video of the 7 sec ranger up on youtube if he can, so there may be more.

[mopman93]

i dont know how acurate this is but from what i was told by brain macey the owner horsepower connections up here in wa before he moved every 100lbs u lose takes a tenth off ur e/t, but that may be for full on drag cars

Good luck taking more than 100lbs out of a daily driver ranger.

I've got manual windows, manual locks, short cab and short bed.

I went over the scales at the local scrapyard and it weighed 3000 on the nose with me in it.

That was before the stepside bed, 8.8, 17" rims and corbeaus. So I think with the heavier rims, axle and lighter bed and seats im right back where I started from. I mean I could take out the door panels and put in sheet metal ones and rip the carpet out, take out the stereo and speakers...but you gotta ask yourself how much are you willing to sacrifice to save a few pounds which you might offset by eating an extra cheeseburger before the race.

Plus my truck has no sound deadening in it and a roll pan. I'm gonna put the sound deadening back in it cuz it is obnoxious on the highway and i dont even have a/c.

Our trucks are light but there's not much you can do to make them lighter

[michaelconklin]

ya but weight doesnt matter to me at all i was just sayin

[jfive]

Thats one thing about newer vehicles. They make them heavier and heavier. Thats why even though the horsepower goes up the cars stay the same or are even slower. I am really dissapointed in the new taurus sho. If that thing was in an older taurus it could be in the 10s with a better tune. I am gonna find a way to take out weight. I learned its doing everything you can. remove a pound here and a few pounds there, and at the end it can all add up. They guys I learned stuff from would knock like 500 pounds off there cars buy gutting them, and it made a big difference. I have manual windows locks and all that, and I bet mine is under 3000, just cause its older.

[BogusSVO]

the title on my 85 says 2845 lbs, been over the scrap scales alot... seems with me in it.. 3140lbs... which sounds about right.... the turbo EFI engine is going to weigh a bit more than the 2.3 carb engine

[FordRacingZX3]

My Focus right now is about 2500lbs without me or my sub in it. Still gonna do lexan to replace all the rear glass, and when I get the money for the rally body kit it'll swap bumpers, fenders, rear quarters, but add a rear spoiler with diffuser (fairly large). I still have factory rims and seats in, so I should be able to drop to about 2200 or less

[Thedrifter]

i was told the IROC Camaros "A Certin Few that is" were acid dipped to lighten the body panles, guided it was dipped longer than should be they lost like 500 lbs these were the actualy ones they raced with sorta cheated cause they weighed a stock IROC and raced the one they did all there work too, just FYI there are More expensive ways to loose weight like they say speed cost money how fast can you afford to go?

[BogusSVO]

I heard about some of the acid dipped ones, seems the story I heard an tech offical leaned agist the roof or hood and he fell thu the thing, and the race team had to run to the local chevy dealer and cut parts of a new one and have them welded into place the next day so they could make the race

[FordRacingZX3]

I heard about some of the acid dipped ones, seems the story I heard an tech offical leaned agist the roof or hood and he fell thu the thing, and the race team had to run to the local chevy dealer and cut parts of a new one and have them welded into place the next day so they could make the race

That would be one expensive fix

[TURBO Ranger]

They used to do that to NASCAR cars back in the 60s or 70s, also, Smokey Unick had a scaled dowmn Chevelle to get it lighter, it was like a 7/8 or 15/16 scale replica. Took em a while to catch that one. Heres what I want to get to help my 88. The complete nose
http://www.usbody.com/Pages_Trucks/83-Ranger.htm
But thats a bit too much for my pocket book. I am going to try to make my front clip a one piece tilt, and get rid of those heavy supports out to the core support.

[FordRacingZX3]

They used to do that to NASCAR cars back in the 60s or 70s, also, Smokey Unick had a scaled dowmn Chevelle to get it lighter, it was like a 7/8 or 15/16 scale replica. Took em a while to catch that one. Heres what I want to get to help my 88. The complete nose
http://www.usbody.com/Pages_Trucks/83-Ranger.htm
But thats a bit too much for my pocket book. I am going to try to make my front clip a one piece tilt, and get rid of those heavy supports out to the core support.

Yeah, I've looked at those too. Would make for a really clean finish and a nice wow factor when pulling into a parking lot and popping the hood :P

[jfive]

Like this one? I thought about it too. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pp5IffYaPww

[TURBO Ranger]

Ive got a ? for michael, where did u get your SPW seats? I looked on their site and they're like 170 plus shipping apiece. Also, yeah, jfive that is the thot I was tossing around, except mine would have the fenders cut faarther back towards the cab, and I really like that antenna steup, looks bitchin. Check this out for weight savings lol
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzN5aO-mo_g
would that fall under the turbo ranger category?, and its a full 6cylinder too, and I cant tell for sure, but im pretty sure the nose has been stretched to accomidate it.

[FordRacingZX3]

Yeah, the nose was stretched just behind the front wheel well

[jfive]

there is a 4cyl cummins one too, with the 4bt with like 700 to 800 hp. The thing is running like 120 psi of boost, and more fuel the our reserves.

[speedaddict]

I just got my racing bucket seats installed. JDM baby!

Had to cut up my old bracket and weld new one to it. Came out real nice tho.

[jfive]

You seam to keep working on something. I wish I had more free time, but I am full bore at work and have like 1 hr a week to do something. I just got my rod ends and dom tubing for my cal trac, but a friend is slacking on doing my cut outs so can't build em yet.

[turboranger_quest]

Let's see a pic!

[speedaddict]

Alright, tomorrow I'll snap a few for ya'll.

J5, I've been busy at work too, And really all my free time has been going towards my yota lately.

[speedaddict]

sorry it took so long, and the picture is blurry o well :hehe:

[TurboRay]

I realize this is an old thread - but thought this might be of interest to those looking for a nice pair of street buckets.

I didn't read every post in this entire thread, so this may be a duplicate. But, I bought a pair of THESE (http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-CAR-TRUCK-SUV-LOW-BACK-BUCKET-SEATS-BLACK-/300526699553?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_100&vxp=mtr&hash=item45f8c98421) on eBay. They're sold in pairs for a reasonable price and are available in 3 different color variations (click "see other items").

They weigh about 40lbs each, so they're not lightweight buckets - but they have everything you'd want in a comfortable street bucket, including built-in adj sliding mounts with a front "bar-type" release, armrests, adj headrest and tilting backs.

They've been up for sale for quite a long time, so he must have a bunch of 'em. Therefore, I suggest using the "Make Offer" option if you want a pair. I got mine for quite a bit less than his advertised price.......and that was nearly a year ago. :thumbsup:

C'ya - RAY