Will front seats from ‘95 to ‘99 fit/mount into an’94

[Big T]

Suburban K2500?

Plenty of replacement foam and seat cover options for the ‘95-‘99 seats, but zilch for the ‘94.

 

[dbrannon79]

That is a good question. I do know that after 96 there were many different designs of seat rails and mounting points. I had gotten a set from a pick a part yard out of a 97 to go into my 95 and found the seats mount differnt. the seats also had built in seatbelts which I didn't like. ended up selling them and keeping my original ones.

 

[dbrannon79]

I would like to find some replacement fabric covers that matches the brown / beige. not seat covers but the actual fabric that goes over the foam.

 

[Will L.]

Most descent upholstery shops can get the materials. You just might not like the price tag.

 

[jrsavoie]

I have seats from a 96 in my 94. I don't recollect what all was involved. It wasn't terrible.

 

[SnowDrift]

I've seen it done, too, but I don't know details. There was a truck I was looking at recently that had all the markings (including the dash) of a '95, but was actually a '93. The exterior mirrors were the only thing that gave it away.

 

[MrMarty51]

I would like to get the grey leather seats, with the center consul for my 2000. It would have to include the back seat too.
Now the big hitch, I dont want to have to spend money to get them, aaand, they have to be in pristine condition.

 

[jrsavoie]

I have seats from a 96 in my 94. I don't recollect what all was involved. It wasn't terrible

I have seats from a 96 in my 94. I don't recollect what all was involved. It wasn't terrible.

96 K1500 gasser Suburban to 94 K3500, crew cab, long bed.

It's too bad GM doesn't have a parts schematics page available like Toro does.

 

[dbrannon79]

96 K1500 gasser Suburban to 94 K3500, crew cab, long bed.

It's too bad GM doesn't have a parts schematics page available like Toro does.

our Chevy house used to be able to look up exploded parts diagrams. not sure if they still keep the records back that far.

 

[Big T]

That is a good question. I do know that after 96 there were many different designs of seat rails and mounting points. I had gotten a set from a pick a part yard out of a 97 to go into my 95 and found the seats mount differnt. the seats also had built in seatbelts which I didn't like. ended up selling them and keeping my original ones.

Are you saying the ‘96 would be a
closer fit to the ‘94? ‘95 even a closer fit?

 

[dbrannon79]

Are you saying the ‘96 would be a
closer fit to the ‘94? ‘95 even a closer fit?

I honestly don't know for sure. I haven't tried fitting anything in a 94, but I would think anything that doesn't have the build in seatbelts would work. worst thing would be just having to drill and make extra mounts in the floor for the seat rails.

you can also keep your existing rails and use just the seats them selves. I have thought about doing this and looking for seats out of a different make SUV, back when I had my 4runner, those were the most comfortablest seats I ever sat in.

I did food delivery for a company called Texas to go, similar to Uber eats is and would sit in the 4runner for hours on end. those seats were like a real comfie office chair or recliner I could sleep in lol they were firm seats, but had all the right contours. I have some bad pressure points on my back and hind side where I can't sit very long in some seats and chairs. Toyota's seats usually have all the added lumbar and seat base tilt adjustment that really make a difference when on a long trip, plus they are all manual adjustments and no electric motors to break! I think that if I ever run across some with the right color material, it's gonna be game on for a swap conversion. haha...

 

[Will L.]

Really? Toyota comfortable seats? Didn’t know they existed. My 07 fj cruiser and the 01 Tacoma have horrible seats. 200+ mile drive in them is like a baseball bat to the back compared to the hummer, the later gmt400 or gmt800 seats.

A mistake people make putting in different seats is just drilling holes and running regular bolts through with a washer. Grade 5 bolts and go through 1/8 piece of steel on the bottom that 4 square inches at least. If you get in a wreck you don’t want the bolts ripping out of the floor. And you want the bolt to bend not shear.

Sorry, no knowledge if there is any seat that is a direct bolt in.
Other option- just go to an upholstery shop in SoCal. There used to be a ton that did great work at low prices- but that was in the 1990s. I would imagine with the surplus of new residents from Mexico and such the same option would be there. Used to be no better upholstery guys than in Tijuana.

 

[dbrannon79]

lol not all yota seats are comfortable my wife at one time was looking to buy a compact car, I think it was a yaris or some such. I said "Oh Hell Naw" I was hurting after the test drive. those felt like I was sitting on a board!! I guess the 4runner I had since it was a sport edition had their luxury style seats lol

Yes I agree. you don't want to just drill and run a bolt. if going that route it is a MUST to secure them with a grade 8 bolt and at least a 3" flat plate steel under there for safety.

getting the original seats redone if the frame and tracks are still in good shape is the best route.

 

[Will L.]

lol not all yota seats are comfortable my wife at one time was looking to buy a compact car, I think it was a yaris or some such. I said "Oh Hell Naw" I was hurting after the test drive. those felt like I was sitting on a board!! I guess the 4runner I had since it was a sport edition had their luxury style seats lol

Yes I agree. you don't want to just drill and run a bolt. if going that route it is a MUST to secure them with a grade 8 bolt and at least a 3" flat plate steel under there for safety.

getting the original seats redone if the frame and tracks are still in good shape is the best route.

You have to be specific with grade 5 or grade 8.
There are some applications grade 5 is good but yes grade 8 is the better option.

 

[dbrannon79]

You have to be specific with grade 5 or grade 8.
There are some applications grade 5 is good but yes grade 8 is the better option.

just for reference metric grade 8.8 is equivilant to grade 5 and for 10.9 is close to grade 8. lol break off a 12.9 metric bolt, say a prayer and sent to a specialist to perform a miracle haha.

 

[Will L.]

just for reference metric grade 8.8 is equivilant to grade 5 and for 10.9 is close to grade 8. lol break off a 12.9 metric bolt, say a prayer and sent to a specialist to perform a miracle haha.

It isn’t you breaking it during install
It is if it snaps in a crash.

Things like race car rules say grade 8 because the bolt is going through steel or chrome alloy.
But Pickups and cars have steel alloy sheet metal. Then I t gets backed up usually by mild steel hot roll plate. So in a crash the bolt snapping under shear is the concern. Thats why GM, Ford,Dodge, etc almost all say use grade 5 when adding seat belt and seat mounts in up fitting.

But if you do racing they want grade 8 eye bolts for seat belts because the seatbelts mounting tabs are made of the bend & stretch not snap material.

 

[jrsavoie]

Are you saying the ‘96 would be a
closer fit to the ‘94? ‘95 even a closer fit?

It might depend on what it's out of

It isn’t you breaking it during install
It is if it snaps in a crash.

Things like race car rules say grade 8 because the bolt is going through steel or chrome alloy.
But Pickups and cars have steel alloy sheet metal. Then I t gets backed up usually by mild steel hot roll plate. So in a crash the bolt snapping under shear is the concern. Thats why GM, Ford,Dodge, etc almost all say use grade 5 when adding seat belt and seat mounts in up fitting.

But if you do racing they want grade 8 eye bolts for seat belts because the seatbelts mounting tabs are made of the bend & stretch not snap material.

I was surprised at the poor rating of seatbelts.
A friend shot through the windshield when his seatbelt broke.
An EMT friend be said it wasn't unusual for seatbelts to break.
Things might have changed with bags now

 

[Will L.]

Thats why racing belts are so different- they are tested for surviving a serious crash.

 

[jrsavoie]

Thats why racing belts are so different- they are tested for surviving a serious crash.

The latter agencies talk a lot of crap about safety. I've wondered for years how much of a difference good restraint and better seats would make.

And how does my wife - who's only a couple inches shorter than me - drive with the seat so far forward that I can't even get in the car after her.

 

[Husker6.5]

In short, no.

You can't easily just bolt-and-go 95+ seats into a 94 and earlier cab as GM made major changes to the floor pan stamping between the 94 and 95 model years (as well as the inner door stampings and dashboard mounting brackets) such as the height/width of the driveshaft "hump" and the location of the seat mounting points in the floor. I found this out when I went to replace the vinyl bench seat in my '94 C2500 with a 60/40 fabric split bench seat with the fold down console out of a '96 C2500 - AFTER I had bought the '96 bench seat, figuring it would be a "bolt in" swap - when I discovered that it did not fit over the higher, wider center hump of the 94, only one of the bolt holes came close to lining up, and the center legs of the seat frame didn't even come close to the contour or correct angle of the center hump. I looked at swapping the 96 seat to the 94 frame and nope, all the holes were in different locations, too.

So, you're either looking at a lot of modification/fabrication to make the swap work and the worry of if your new floor anchors will actually hold in a severe collision, or take the advice of a couple of commenters above and either go to a good local interior shop for new seat upholstery/cushions/springs, or order them from LMC and then DIY the recovering/cushions/springs.