Ranger Seats : Bostrom & Etc.?

This is the info from Michelles page

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Curmudgeon
Posts: 33
Joined: March 19, 2018, 9:26 am

Ranger Seats : Bostrom & Etc.?

Post by Curmudgeon »

Can anyone post photos of the different seats used in Rangers? Particularly interested in Bostroms. What others were used? Were any considered superior to the others? Thanks!
TA455HO
Posts: 26
Joined: September 3, 2013, 10:18 am
Location: Seattle, WA
United States of America

Re: Ranger Seats : Bostrom & Etc.?

Post by TA455HO »

1965 Rangers used 1965 Mustang Standard (i.e. not Pony) bucket seats. Likewise 1966 Rangers used 1966 Mustang Standard bucket seats.

There were Bostrom seats available as options but not typically installed in a Ranger. The most common was the Bostrom Viking T-bar. This was a Torsion Bar type of suspension seat with a single small hydraulic shock absorber in the base of the frame.

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Curmudgeon
Posts: 33
Joined: March 19, 2018, 9:26 am

Re: Ranger Seats : Bostrom & Etc.?

Post by Curmudgeon »

“ There were Bostrom seats available as options but not typically installed in a Ranger. “

Can you tell me what they were installed in? Do you have any actual photos of them? Thanks.
TA455HO
Posts: 26
Joined: September 3, 2013, 10:18 am
Location: Seattle, WA
United States of America

Re: Ranger Seats : Bostrom & Etc.?

Post by TA455HO »

I got mine out of a 1966 F600 dump truck. They are serial number consecutive. I found one of Bostroms distributors that had two sets of foams and skins so I bought those. Typically installed in 500 series and larger trucks. A buddy that lives just north of me has the same in his T850 tandem axle truck.

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TA455HO
Posts: 26
Joined: September 3, 2013, 10:18 am
Location: Seattle, WA
United States of America

Re: Ranger Seats : Bostrom & Etc.?

Post by TA455HO »

Here's a link to the patent that Bostrom filed for the Viking T-Bar suspension seat. If you look at the drawings you can probably see there are a lot of parts to these seats. They even have grease zerks. The seat design performs well at all angles so if you think of a bulldozer on a steep slope the driver still gets all the benefits of the suspension. Lots of reading in there but it might make you glaze over...

https://patents.google.com/patent/US310 ... =US3109621
Curmudgeon
Posts: 33
Joined: March 19, 2018, 9:26 am

Re: Ranger Seats : Bostrom & Etc.?

Post by Curmudgeon »

Thank you, I will read it. And thanks for the photos. In which years of the larger trucks would they have been used?
TA455HO
Posts: 26
Joined: September 3, 2013, 10:18 am
Location: Seattle, WA
United States of America

Re: Ranger Seats : Bostrom & Etc.?

Post by TA455HO »

1961 through at least 1979. My books stop at 1979 and I've never looked at the 1980 and newer stuff. They could have been special ordered in any 100 through 1000 series but odds were better they would be in the larger trucks just due to the need from the rougher ride. They also didn't initially have much in the way of seat belts that attached to the seat frame and seat belts that connect to the floor don't work well with the suspension seats since the belts need to move with the seats. 4" of travel is enough for that to be an issue but there are belts that can hook to the frame or the newer Viking T-Bar seats had a sliding bar that the seatbelts hooked to called the I.C.P. or Intermediate Connection Point. Look at this stock photo and you can see the bar angled from the front of the seat tracks up and back to the lower back edge of the seat. That was designed to hook a seat belt to. Google the Bostrom Viking T-Bar and you'll find no end to photos of them. One on eBay but it looks it might need some work. The shocks wear out over time and need to be replaced or possibly refurbished.


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https://www.ebay.com/itm/165058174290?h ... Sw-~NhN4uj
Curmudgeon
Posts: 33
Joined: March 19, 2018, 9:26 am

Re: Ranger Seats : Bostrom & Etc.?

Post by Curmudgeon »

Thank you, guess I will stick with what I have, which is not a Ranger.
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