Has anyone replaced their XLT driver's seat?

[Maybe]

I have to wonder, reading this thread and others, with people bitching and whining about this feature of their XLT or that feature of their XL and how do I replace it with something from the Lariat, why did you buy your truck?

Did you people bother test driving your truck before you bought it? And when I say test drive, more than 5 minutes coasting around the block. If you found something, like oh I dunno a driver seat you cannot tolerate, why did you buy the damn thing in the first place? If you liked the Lariat features....and still bought an XL or XLT...why?

I know this is an open forum for Ranger owners but....really guys?

Ok, let the responses telling me I am a moron begin!

driving it on a test drive is a bit different than a 3+ hour drive. But you would think that’s common sense for some people. I guess not though

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[Onceaneagle]

Recaro Expert seats come in three sizes to fit different bodies at $1100 or so each, for "artificial leather." Swap them back out for your OEM at trade-in.

 

[superj]

Mmm, recaro. The most comfortable seats i ever had were factory 1979 bmw 320is recaro seats. I swapped those into multiple cars and they are still in my garage in case i get another old bmw to put them in.

They are crazy expensive now, though. I got them for 300 shipped back in the early 2k and now they are 2k plus shipping.

But man, are they nice. I say get those recaros and put them in.

 

[MikeVB]

I find my XLT seats comfy and have driven longish trips in them. Are yours manual or power? I wonder if that makes a difference. Mine are the power ones. I've seen a few posts on here about seats with defective foam. I wonder if yours are that way.

10-way power

 

[ryanO]

Apparently the designers used a 13 year old boy as the ass model to design the seats in the Ranger. I'm a normal size guy of average dimensions, and I cannot imagine how anyone finds these seats tolerable more than a few minutes.

Aside from all the inexpensive seat cushions or stuffing inside the seat...has anyone gone so far as to just install a different, actually comfortable seat?

I ride around in my work F150 XL daydreaming that my new Ranger's seat felt half as comfortable.

Im 95% sure the XL, XLT, & Lariat all share the same design. They use different fabrics to cover the same basic seat design.
My XLT seats are perfectly fine. That said, it's impossible to design ANYTHING in life that will please everyone. I guess you're the outlier. Go test drive a Lariat and if you like that seat buy one from the parts department and install it. It will bolt up the same way.

 

[ShadowDragon24]

Apparently the designers used a 13 year old boy as the ass model to design the seats in the Ranger. I'm a normal size guy of average dimensions, and I cannot imagine how anyone finds these seats tolerable more than a few minutes.

Aside from all the inexpensive seat cushions or stuffing inside the seat...has anyone gone so far as to just install a different, actually comfortable seat?

I ride around in my work F150 XL daydreaming that my new Ranger's seat felt half as comfortable.

Im 260Lbs, and I find this seat is the most comfortable seat I ever sat in. granted its my first new vehicle ever since I been diving for 15 years.... my last rig was a 12 escape I got in 2019, and that was like sitting on wood. the ranger seats are like clouds compared to every vehicle I have ever owned. I also drive for a living(not my ranger) but when I drove 10hrs to the other side of the island portion of my province, I was surprised with how comfortable they were.

I got the manual seats

 

[Trimjb]

I have made a few 2400 mile trips across US.
No complaints from me or wife.
My XLT is not auto adjust nor does it have heat or leather.
Not sure if that makes a difference.

 

[TurboRanger]

You can go to a ford dealer and sit in all the vehicles that are as wide as a Ranger find one Then go to Facebook market place FleaBay or junk yard or just buy brand new
Or take it to a auto upholster and ask what can you do for me

 

[Blue Wolf]

I am not a fan of my 2024 XLT seats, either. Interesting, I thought they designed the seats for big people, as both of my arms do not find a comfortably resting position. I am 5' 8", 170 lb. We have taken several long trips (3k+ miles) and have 20k total. As for being able to test drive, when I bought the Ranger in July (24), they were like endangered species, only one dealership had a model to test (not the XLT). And, if any Ford designers are reading, I sure could use a real tachometer.

 

[Reddog99]

I'm 5'11" and 195. I've got a 60yo man belly, but my ass and hips are certainly not wide nor fat. Hell, I barely have an ass anymore, but it's big enough to detect the large hole in the bottom cushion down near the seat back. But it's the narrow and high bolsters that aggravate my hips. Like sitting in a kid's mini go-cart seat.

I grew up driving trucks with bench seats and continued onward my entire adult life in trucks with 60/40 seats until the last year everything's gone to bucket seats and closed-in feeling cockpits.

I was wondering, do you people realize that these seats have a lumbar support adjustment? Many complaints here might be resolved by this adjustment.

 

[bigb]

Although the seat is not as comfortable as my F350, it is much better than my TDI. For me, it all boils down to the ceiling height. The seat is a bit low for my comfort but I cannot raise it as much as needed because my head will hit the ceiling, and I'll be looking out of the top edge of the windshield. So this puts my knees up higher than I like which puts additional weight on my butt which ends up getting sore after several hours. It will never be possible to have a F150/250/350 "couch" like seat in a Ranger for that reason, there just isn't room.

It also helps with the power seats to be able to change positions at intervals to reduce soreness.

As mentioned by @Ron Quixote getting in shape helps a lot as well. When traveling in my TDI, sometimes my back would actually go out and ruin a vacation. Then I started doing stretches and core exercises like the Superman etc and that really helped more than you would think. That and stopping to stretch every so often on long drives.

As for test driving, it's impossible to know how a seat will feel after 3 or 4 hours in a 30 minute test drive. I test drove several and the seats felt very comfortable, but after purchase and my first 3 hour drive I was slightly let down. BTW I am 6'3" and around 215. I used to be around 240. I imagine a smaller gut helps too.

 

[mrmike7189]

I was wondering, do you people realize that these seats have a lumbar support adjustment? Many complaints here might be resolved by this adjustment.

The lumbar support makes it worse. Its just that the shape of the seat is all wrong for my body. The seats sink too low when you sit and when you crank up the lumbar support it pushes too high into my back ,not the targeted lumbar area of the spine .

 

[RonM_TX]

Apparently the designers used a 13 year old boy as the ass model to design the seats in the Ranger. I'm a normal size guy of average dimensions, and I cannot imagine how anyone finds these seats tolerable more than a few minutes.

Aside from all the inexpensive seat cushions or stuffing inside the seat...has anyone gone so far as to just install a different, actually comfortable seat?

I ride around in my work F150 XL daydreaming that my new Ranger's seat felt half as comfortable.

My suggestion is go to an auto upholstery shop, ask them to recon tour your seats. Maybe have them use you F150 seat as a template. This should be much cheaper than completely replacing the seats.
If you don't want to go that route try to get seats from a wrecked Ranger Raptor or Lariat.

 

[Maybe]

I was wondering, do you people realize that these seats have a lumbar support adjustment? Many complaints here might be resolved by this adjustment.

lumbar isn’t the issue. It’s the base of the seat. The side bolsters need to be wider at the back half. They cut in way too much instead of staying more parallel with the front. I’m not a big guy. I’m 5’11” 185.

 

[Intercontinental_Ranger]

Im 260Lbs, and I find this seat is the most comfortable seat I ever sat in. granted its my first new vehicle ever since I been diving for 15 years.... my last was a 12 escape, and that was like sitting on wood. the ranger seats are like clouds compared to every vehicle I have ever owned. I also drive for a living(not my ranger) but when I drove 10hrs to the other side of the island portion of my province, I was surprised with how comfortable they were.

I got the manual seats

I came from a 12 escape too - it was a dream to work on. Engine bay was especially was well thought out - oil change, filters, battery swap, everything was easy.

Pretty happy with the Ranger, but it would be nice if I didn’t have to contort my arm like I’m going through an exorcism to change the filter on the MPC.

Definitely concur with the seats though - the base Ranger seat is amazing in comparison.

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