Hey guys,

I know this sounds super stupid... most guys do the exact opposite.

My uncle has owned his 2004 Lariat since new. He is willing to sell it to me for a very nice price. He drives like a grandpa so that car is in fantastic shape for 120,000 miles. Back seats aren't even worn in. Bottom line is I want THIS truck because I know its history better than a shot in the dark on craigslist.

So I want to use this truck for some family hauling... problem is I need to seat 6. Myself and 5 others. The bench seat would be SO ideal. So I was wondering if anyone had any idea on how to REMOVE the center console and shifter to REPLACE IT with a foldable bench seat and a column shifter?

How the hell do I make this happen? I'm a newb... would seriously appreciate any help.

What I have:

 

I don't know what happened to my post contents? I had a long post and it vanished, so this "redo" is showing as "edit".

Easiest if you are mechanically inclined and have time and a wrecked column shift truck parked in the yard nearby. Steering column with all the controls, passive restraint (airbag) stuff, shifter and cable, seat, seat wiring, center seat belt, and you'll want the center of the dash.

I'ld think easier to put a chair in bed for Granny <<<... ...>>> or you could get a bench seat and center belts and spare console out of two wrecks (if it's got the seat, it won't have the console ... and vice versa), and put your seats and console housing in storage. Cut spare console with band saw or whet ever behind shifter and if needed for center pass feet, over on cup holder side. Make a padded vinyl snap on cover and cover those open parts while padding edges and put it and bench seat in place along with center seat belting. Put in bench seat with center belts.

Then when you marry off Granny or Big Sister (or other) and drop back to 5, put the pretty parts back.

 

Well having gone from column to console way back in 2005....on my 3 month old truck..go figure. People thought I was nuts, I would suggest searching for member name FX4andHarley. He as well did the column to console however, he posted very detailed information in his posts and his garage. Reason I suggest is you can possibly reverse engineer the process in giving you a general idea of what's involved. I have a bit of info posted on this site as well.

What I will tell is that column/console shift utilizes its own proprietary dashboard. You could probably work around that in finding a solution for the exposed area once the console is removed. Depends on how high and tight you wanna be. Shift cables, steering column covers, etc. are obviously different. Steering column is the same on both. Main area of study of course is wiring. Google what knowledge bases are available. There are tons of wiring PDF's available for download. Its been a super long time since I've looked at my original column shifter however, a portion of the wiring maybe constructed around a detachable harness(s) that could be sourced new or from a wreck.

In doing my column to console wiring, I was awarded of course, the pleasure in having to source and tap numerous wires to make it work...no snap and go harness unfortunately.

I realize I didn't directly answer your question however, thought some of the info might help...after all that what we be here for!

Man if I came across a dude like you back in the day who wanted a swap like that, I'd been your friend for life!

Good luck bro and looks like a solid, clean truck!

 

... You know .... I am so used to them being different in all these past years life ... all them cars that had "shift linkage" running down columns (or not) ... but now that you say it ... I started thinking and ... "shift cable" ... and well ... ... "hmmmmmm?"

So then, did FoMoCo just add a shifter to operate a cable along side the same column?

 

Even if you pull the console up the dash us still shaped differently and will take up space in the knees of an already crowded seat.

You'd need minimum:
Middle jump seat
Seat belt
Column shifter
Plastic column cover/boot
Shift cable

In addition to do it full factory you'd need
Carpet
HVAC box (without rear console vents)
Dash
Cluster (for gear indicator)


Your best bet would be finding someone to swap all the parts over,so you both can complete it with all the necessary parts.

I did a custom console/shifter conversion on my 2003

 

You know what tbear, I may stand corrected on the column as I was thinking opposite...i.e., disabling as-built shift functionality away from the column as opposed to adapting an as-built console to column shift.

The columns may possibly be proprietary.

With that said and assuming that even made sense, I'm somewhat confident however, knowing the shift cable requirement for both styles, Ford would most likely design a single column serving both options, then again they produced two separate dash assemblies.

I do recall the column (shift) lever being attached to a column mounted base plate then connected to a couple of steel rods mounted column flush and finally down to the shift cable mounted just behind the knee plate, through the firewall and final attachment to the transmission. Wiring harness(es) were column mounted as well.

Essentially, functionality was adapted rather than integrated into the columns design.

Quite frankly there wasn't a lot of loose hardware.

There are a number of factory schematics and part numbers in PDF format available online that should validate most design/part number questions.

Lastly, I want to quickly and respectfully clarify patmans comment regarding a new cluster being an additional requirement. Surprisingly, I learned that Ford offered the FX4/Lariat/PRNDL insert as a stand-alone part. Simple as popping out the old and in with the new. I had sweated that detail for sometime until FX4andHarley shared that awesome little detail.

I'm finding this subject interesting today for some reason

Hopefully you find some of this helpful!

 

As far as the PRNDL, I knew it was a detachable piece. I wasn't aware it had its own part number.