Fitting Bucket Seats from ST Ute to a DX Ute.
For future reference I thought I'd put up a post for anyone intending to fit ST bucket seats into a DX. There has occasionally been 'speculation' that the seats are interchangeable, but according to where you look, the reader can be left thinking that they should be interchangeable but a small degree of uncertainty remains.
Today I did a complete swap, 2.5 bench seat (passenger) & driver seat & gear lever surround from my 2006 DX ute for two bucket seats, gear lever surround & centre console from a 2003 ST ute.
My ute had all the necessary threaded holes to fit both seats (although some were hidden by the vinyl flooring). The holes to fit the centre console were also there under the vinyl.
Unexpectedly a couple of other parts also needed to be swapped too.
The floor plate which sits under the gear lever surround in the DX has two brackets, one either side at the rear, to attach the surround to, whereas the ST has only one bracket at the rear in the centre. Same plate just different welded-on brackets.
The handbrake lever is also different & was swapped. Basically it is the same brake lever but the ST has a longer handle rubber which incorporates a rubber 'sleeve' to fill the gap where the lever pokes out through the centre console. It didn't seem possible to just swap the handle rubbers.
The ST seats whilst looking similar to my old ones are a little more plush. With the bench seat gone more space becomes available. The passenger seat is now able to be moved further forward giving a bit more storage space which is more easily accessed behind the seat, as well as additional space behind the centre console.
The centre console has it's own small storage 'box', as well as a couple of cup holders. An ash tray in the rear of the gearbox surround gives somewhere else to put the keys or similar (for non smokers). At the front of the gearbox surround is a small indentation suitable for putting a few spare coins or similar. These last couple of items may not sound like much, but are very welcome to the DX owner who has stuff all storage spots for anything.
At the moment I have only loosely bolted everything in to ensure it would all fit, tomorrow I'll give everything a good clean & fit it in properly. The seat slides need to slide better.
Cuppa.
