Bucket seat swap questions (SUV vs. Truck)

[shifty]

Need to deal with the power leather buckets and folding rear bench in my 3-door '98 Sierra SLT (beige/med neutral interior, code 52).

I have a 2-owner truck, zero rust, super low-mile (88k) but ... POs always parked in the GA sun, ignored interior water leaks. Inside is rough, mildew on seat belts, sunbleached plastics,giant dash holes, leather seats all split/cracked/discolored. Tackling seats now...

Figure I'd ask y'all, no doubt someone can answer some of these Q's?:

1. Are the front bucket seats, armrest, headrest harnesses and control panels exact same between 96-99 Sierra/Tahoe/Yukon/Silverado/Suburbans?
   
2. Are any other years interchangeable with my '98? Like maybe '00 if OBS?
   
3. My OEM seating is leather where your body goes, but vinyl sides & backs - Anyone know if the rear folding bench the same, or is it all vinyl?
   
4. Is it true the rear folding bench seat material is bonded to the foams?
   
5. Are the passenger and driver seat bases exactly the same? My passenger control makes noise but does nothing (only has one button) and the feet are rusty from the PO ignoring some leaks.
   
6. Anyone got a good source within 2-3 hours of Atlanta that'll keep eyes out for seats? I'd drive somewhere tomorrow If I knew they had well-taken-care-of seats and crack-free airbag dash in-hand....
   
7. Anyone use the driver side base on the passenger side to "upgrade" the power functions from single to 4-way?

My favorite yards always seem to have front seats pulled before they even get the vehicles, so I'm having a tough time answering my own question IRL.

[b454rat]

Pretty sure the fronts are the same. Rears are different, crew cabs rear bench is the same as a front bench....

[shifty]

Originally Posted by b454rat

Pretty sure the fronts are the same. Rears are different, crew cabs rear bench is the same as a front bench....

Thanks for the reply! It helps. I've been digging to try and answer as much as possible and found some partial answers on some of the other questions.

For anyone reading this later wanting to swap over to buckets from a split bench, also found a 60/40 to bucket seat conversion thread.

In reading around and hitting searches on the big truck forums for 3-4 hours on Saturday, here's what I could answer for (at least) the '97-'98 trucks:

Same year Yukon/Tahoe/Burb buckets will use the same floor bolt pattern as truck buckets. Unfortunately, the control panels (and maybe some risers?) aren't always the same. For the SUVs with heat there are 2 extra wires, they use a different molex plug, so it's not direct plug-and-play on those.

Passenger side seat foams can be swapped to the driver side. So can the seat cover, but seats with controls will have the cover cut in that spot.

Truck seat bases/risers are the same between the SUVs and trucks. You can unbolt the seat from its riser on a number of GM vehicles of the same year range (Bonneville seems to be popular choice) and bolt it to the truck riser. EDIT: More details about this two replies down from here.

Still no clue if the rear seat is all-vinyl in leather-optioned trucks or if the material used is bonded to the foams or not (my material seems separated from bottom foam where it's ripped, I need a replacement rear seat I guess, but yeah ... is it leather at all? Dunno).

Appears as if the driver and passenger seat riser/frames are also the same parts can can be swapped. I suspected this, the GM parts catalog only shows one base/frame from what I could tell. I did find pple on other forums claiming some seats "felt like" they favor tilting in one direction or the other. I suspect worn foams there.

I can't find any trucks with anyone but single power control on passenger side, no 4-way passenger. But for the 4-way control driver seats, apparently you can mate the driver side 4-way power controls onto the passenger side riser but the plug apparently isn't the same for passenger seat which only have the lumbar adjustment (I think I thought that was something other than lumbar, maybe it actually is working...)

So now I'm mulling over what to do next.

Do I keep hunting for that elusive tan leather garage queen truck with mint interior & drop up to a grand on the seats .... or go junkyard my way to a truck where the back seat stayed folded down most its life, buy that for hundred or two, and spend $800 re-skinning my seats with the only "true" OEM covers out there (@The Seat Shop)? Either way I guess I'm looking at a $800-1000 for DIY.

[shifty]

Oh, and I found some disassembly info on another forum:

Originally Posted by ARTEMIS1759 on gmt400 forums

To remove various parts on bucket seats check this out:

The arm rest all you do is push in a little and pull backwards and then pull it out.

Seat back cover: Pull the staple at the bottom and pull up the zipper and carefully pull the cover off (the foam is glued to the cover).

For the bottom: Take out all the mounting bolts so the risers will come off the seat itself. If it is power remove the fron switch plate and unplug it from the motor. Make sure all bolts on the bottom are removed and remove all the hog rings (On one of my buckets they used zip ties so someone took it apart before, but this is a good way to secure your cover when putting it back on if you don't have a hog ring pliers.)

Once the cover is off (again the foam is glued to the cover) remove the bracket on the front if you are making it a manual or if you are swapping seat frames.

If you are putting in a power seat mechanism then screw the bracket on or make a bracket if you need to.

Replace any springs and put it back together.

The frames can also been swapped left to right if you want to go through that much pain.

[shifty]

Oh and if anyone is interested in what seats you can direct-swap from other cars onto the stock GMT400 bases/risers, I found this:

Originally Posted by SLmateo on gmt400 forum

"The seats from these cars share the same riser-to-seat bolt pattern (13 3/8” wide x 14” long)

GM B Body:

• 1991–1996 Buick Roadmaster
• 1991–1996 Chevrolet Caprice
• 1994–1996 Chevrolet Impala SS

GM G Body:

• 1995-1999 Buick Riviera
• 1995-2003 Oldsmobile Aurora

GM H Body:

• 1986–2005 Buick LeSabre
• 1986–1999 Oldsmobile 88/LLS
• 1987-99 Pontiac Bonneville
• 2006-2011 Buick Lucerne

GM N Body: (Not the RWD)

• 1985–1987 Oldsmobile Calais
• 1985–1987 Buick Somerset
• 1985–1998 Pontiac Grand Am
• 1986–1998 Buick Skylark
• 1988–1991 Oldsmobile Cutlass Calais
• 1992–1998 Oldsmobile Achieva

GM N Body 2nd generation GMX130:
• 1999–2004 Oldsmobile Alero
• 1999–2005 Pontiac Grand Am
• 1997–1999 Oldsmobile Cutlass
• 1997–2003 Chevrolet Malibu
• 2004–2005 Chevrolet Classic (a previous-generation Malibu sold to fleet buyers)

Other Vehicles
• At least some years of Chevy Astro Van
• Dodge Ram SRT-10 Seats"

*info compiled from another site and very slightly modified by me from others' responses regarding it