Anyone with a 1996 Ford Windstar?

[Saramomofmany]

Hi, wondering if anyone here has a 1996 Ford Windstar? If so, do you know if there are any other years benches that will fit with this year? We just got a 1996 Ford Windstar, and we were hoping to have a 3 seat bench in the middle. The 3 seat bench that is in our van doesn't fit into the middle section....Thanks so much, Sara

[Nisha]

my parents have one....rolled over to 200,000 miles 2 years ago and amazingly enough it's still running (half the time!).
I don't know about the bench though.... does the user manual say anything about moving the back bench forward? That still doesn't help you on years! Maybe I'll go measure Dad's old one and mine (a 2000) and see if my bench seat would work in his.
BRB!

[beeman]

The Windstar uses the same body from 1995 to 1998, so the seats will more than likely be compatible within that group. Are you replacing buckets with a bench, or is the original bench just missing. There may be complications with replacing buckets with a bench, due to mounting locations, however, your local auto wrecker will know if they use the same locations. They will also know if the next generation of Windstar (99-03) seats are compatible.

[Saramomofmany]

Hi, the manual isn't saying anything about moving the 3rd row bench, but does mention the 2nd row bench can't go in the back. We found a bench at a used place yesterday and we believe it must be out of a 2000 or newer van since it has latch. The new bench is the right width to go in the van, but where it is supposed to click in the floor, isn't the right size...it's just a little different. The "new" bench doesn't fit in the 3rd row spot either.

Sara

[Saramomofmany]

The Windstar uses the same body from 1995 to 1998, so the seats will more than likely be compatible within that group. Are you replacing buckets with a bench, or is the original bench just missing. There may be complications with replacing buckets with a bench, due to mounting locations, however, your local auto wrecker will know if they use the same locations. They will also know if the next generation of Windstar (99-03) seats are compatible.

Hi Beeman. We just bought the Windstar on Sat. It came with a 2 person bench in the 2nd row, and a 3 person bench for the 3rd row. We were really wanting a 3 person bench in the middle section for our 3 youngest children to sit and put the 2 older in the 3rd row. The two oldest are in Regents, so they are huge. The 3 youngest we'd like to be closer to the front for easy access...otherwise I'm not sure how I could buckle two rear facing in the back row. IF we put buckets in the 2nd row for the 2 older, we could probably access the 3rd row easier I'm guessing.

We found a bench at the local used auto place, but it was sitting in the back or a pick up truck, not in a van, so nobody knows what year it's from for sure, but we're guessing it's from a newer one since it has head rests and latch. It doesn't quite fit in either the 2nd or 3rd rows. I can't remember if my husband said it the distance from front to back was too narrow or too wide.

Thanks for the info, Sara