i very recently bought the truck in my sig which is an LS with cloth bench up front. finding a bench up front was a requirement because i have 4 kids.

so... i'm starting to think that i might get a new truck with a leather bench.

but, i was using the chevrolet site, i only see buckets avail with LT. is this the case? seems dumb because if you pay up for the leather option in an LS, you might as well get the whole LT option.

does anyone have an LT with a bench up front?

I do not have one I did test drive several. The trucks that I looked at had the leather bench but was lacking the seat warmer, and lumbar options. It would have been like covering my currnet bench seat with leather.

Your findings are correct. You can not get a bench in the highest trim level in either Chevy or GMC. This really ticked me off as I loved the bench in my F350 but had to give it up with the new truck. Your only option is to get the middle trim level and upgrade it to leather. You will NOT get everything the highest trim level includes. This may also be a very tough truck to find on the lot. Around here finding a bench, let alone a leather bench in a Chevy or GMC is like finding a winning lotto ticket.

That is my major gripe with the LT. You are stuck with the "bucket" type front seats and that 100 percent useless plastic thing in between them. The fold down arm rests might as well be 1X2's. Good thing is that they have lumbar and for all us whusses, nice heated seats. The bench seat in the LS can be leather covered but no lumbar or heat. Really sort of gives me a tight jaw when you put out the extra bucks for the LT to have zero front seat options and have to live with that big plastic dildo thing in the middle.

You use to be able to order an LS pkg and upgrade it to a leather bench, but as mentioned above, no heat or power lumbar but still comfy. I had it in my 99 gasser, I really liked it.

good to know i'm not the only one chapped about this.

does gm ever get these type of opinions back to them?

a bench seat up front is a good gauge for how i'm doing with the wife too... when we go out, if she slides over next to me, i'm doing a good job. sometimes.... she'll cuddle up with the armrest on the passenger door :o:

i think i'm finding that the leather option on an LS bench would be just over a thousand bucks. heat & lumbar is not a big deal. i loved the chevy tahoe heated seats in minnesota, but i'm headed west, so i won't need those. the lumbar was a cool feature when the sales guy showed it to me, but then i forgot it was there.

the more i think about this... the stupider it seems. :rant:

This was a huge beef with me. Not to mention the size of that center seat was about half of what the Ford was. I hate center consoles and even worse hate ones that merge with the dash.

I sent GM a letter nicely stating that to have a front seat style option in the LT would be a good idea. Reply was basically thanks for the comment. So far, no joy.

somebody should make a kit to swap the useless console stuff and put in a mid seat. although i prefer a contiguous bench type setup. alternatively, i suppose i could ask the dealer to swap a leather bench setup from an LS into an LT. i dunno what the answer is... what other options would you lose (besides heated seats and lumbar) by getting an LS with leather bench?

It took me forever to find a leather bench. I chose 3 different colors, and still only found 3 within 300 miles of me.

I would love to swap out the buckets and console for a bench in my SLT (its a GMC, so by nature of it being a better truck it has an S in front of the LT :) ) Is that possible, or is it a pretty painfull process (lots of unecessary floor holes to patch?

I have kids (2 of 'em), still young enough to require child seats. Found out that if you get a crew cab, it comes with LATCH anchors for only 2 seats in the back, AND you cannot turn off the front passenger side airbag. You can actually fit more child seats in an Ext'd Cab truck since you can squeeze 3 across the back (no legroom however) and one or two up front depending on your front seating arrangement. I know they are safer in the back seat, but if you need room for 4, you're SOL. Thought that was GM blunder too. Should give you (the parent) the option.

huh?? there are 3 anchors in my crew cab! what you talkin bout willis?

just looked at mine. there are 3 anchors behind the back seat.

I got an "02 lt. my biggest pain to date has been the flippin' front seating :exactly: . I dont mind the fancy leather, heated multi functioning seats but I hated the GCensored center console. so I ripped it out and got a cloth jumpseat from somewheres in Tx for 20 bucks, now I am having a Heck of a time finding the dang pnl to fill the hole where the console mated to the dash.

My other half says she likes the added seat cause now she can "sit", :muahaha: , next to me....
:help2: If anyone knows the pn to that peice of lwr dash send 'er my way.
Billy

that's a whole nuther rant. that panel is huge, and i could use about 6 more cup holders. seems like wasted space.... they just put a plastic cover there. sorry... i dunno the pn.

so I ripped it out and got a cloth jumpseat from somewheres in Tx for 20 bucks
did it bolt right in? when the center console came out, were there any bolt holes or seams or anything strange over the tranny where the middle passenger's feet would go?

it seems like it would be a great swap to put a leather seat in the middle that folds down into some storage or something, then replace the panel.

I got a used cloth center seat on ebay and replaced the console with it. It was a PITA to relocate the Bo$e amp and cap the airbox vent that went to the console duct. I looked into buying the non-console trim piece but decided not to doe to the $100+ cost and no drink holders. I'm mounting the monitor for my backup camera plus a Sirius satellite tuner and a few power plugs in the big hole. GM is way stupid about how they package the options and it looks like their sales figures are starting to reflect it.

GM is way stupid about how they package the options and it looks like their sales figures are starting to reflect it.
on a relative measure also??? i don't think anyone is selling too many trucks right now... is gm particularly slow? i'm not a super opinionated guy... but it would take more than this bench seat screw up to get me into another make.

just looked at mine. there are 3 anchors behind the back seat.

I actually have 4 anchor points (2 for each seat - behind pass and middle rear), but the seating area directly behind my driver's seat has no LATCH anchor points (I could use the seatbelts, but the LATCH is much easier). Believe me, I checked so I could separate my kids from hitting one another :)

I'll check again just to be sure, but I'm sure I saw another thread on this board some time ago that validated my earlier comments. I hope I'm wrong and just didn't look hard enough.

On edit: I'm referring to the LATCH anchors between the seat bottom and seat back cushions - not the points on the rear wall. I have 3 of those also, but the area behind the drivers seat doesn't have the anchors in the seat cushions.

ohhh.... i've never hooked em up like that (the seats... not the kids).

i've always used the seat belts, and the mfgr puts the hook behind the seats because canada requires that (i think). one of our car seats is rigged for the single anchor behind the seat, but we've never hooked it up.

i don't really get what you are saying about the latches... but my kids are almost finished with the seats. you should see how nasty the seats are since we are on the home stretch.

I also have kids(3) and man, I cannot stand car seats. I have yet to find a car seat that fits as it should and be easy and safe to take in and out ouf the truck. The booster seats are a bit better because of using the factory seat belts. The LATCH system is OK but once hooked in, it's a bit** to tighten up the belts enough to make it safe.

Mines an LS simply because I wanted the front bench. Would have paid more for an LT
but GM does not want my money. No bench option = No LT. I do not understand the desire to seperate the front seats with a samsonite. Have you all noticed that the bench seats and the bucket seats are identical...I pointed this out to a friend who was convinced he wanted buckets because they were more comfortable. Take a walk through a dealership...they are identical. I know, I know, you can't get the bum warmers.

Mines an LS simply because I wanted the front bench. Would have paid more for an LT
but GM does not want my money. No bench option = No LT.
:exactly: Same reason here.

did it bolt right in? when the center console came out, were there any bolt holes or seams or anything strange over the tranny where the middle passenger's feet would go?

it seems like it would be a great swap to put a leather seat in the middle that folds down into some storage or something, then replace the panel.Sorry it took so long to reply. It came out really easy. 4 screws. then the cup holder went right in with the same 4 screws. There is a tube ( a little bit of a pia to remove) for directing air flow to the back through the console, I took some 100 mph aluminum tape and blocked off the wound left behind. I have full carpet, no holes or any blemishes (YET!:o: ) I got a ls (cloth) middle seat and it works fine. I was too cheap to pay the bucks for a leather fold down one ($400) so this one will work, for now. I would love to get a hold of that pnl. the dealers cant find it and said no truck came with out a console...:rant:, Ya'll know where that went. Anyway sorry to dron on, you guys are and have been a great help for this newbie diesel owner. THANKS:ro)

I was ordering a 8.1 with a stick and the benches but after 6 hrs of arguing and a sweet deal from the owner of the outfit, I drove away with my babe, would still like the bench seats and might just look around a few wrecking yards for one. I have been very very happy and satisfied with the choice I made that day. just a few little things I would have liked better...... gotta love the D/A set up though.

How are you mounting the equipment in the hole ? I want to put my slave cassette, cb and brake controller there but haven't figured exactly what and how to mount everything. Thanks again for all the help and idea's, Billy

Same problem here 01 crew LT. have 4 kids a wife and a dog....

Found a graphite jump seat and in dash cup holder total was 45 bucks and sold my console on a board for 150. Either way I am ahead

Keep checking Ebay.....

PS I got pulled over in Washington by a State trooper that thought my daughter was riding on the console.....he has the same truck I guess....we bSed at the side of the road for 20 minutes

My .02

I don't know if it has been posted or not, but you could go with www.katzkin.com (http://www.katzkin.com/)and get heat and way better leather then GM will ever put in a truck.

I don't know if it has been posted or not, but you could go with www.katzkin.com (http://www.katzkin.com/)and get heat and way better leather then GM will ever put in a truck.
any idear how much cash would it take to replace the cloth in the front and back of a crew cab with the cat skin?

as an aside... i woke up with a krick in my back and i had some errands to do this morning. i threw an inverter and shiatsu massage pad in my truck and got a back rub driving around today. i wonder if they could throw this pad under the cat skin? now that would make it one sweet LS!

Guys, the 3 anchors behind the seat are for the top anchor system on a forward facing car seat. Those were required by law years ago. The 2 sets of anchors at the base of the seat are the LATCH system and can be used in rear facing or forward facing car seats. Those are required on all "passenger vehicles" made after September 2002. Note that "passenger vehicles" does NOT always mean crew cab trucks as Ford did not choose to implement these in their 2003 crews. (not sure about newer ones). I was particularly ticked to find that GM did not include the LATCH on the rear driver side seat. At the age of my kids they cant be next to each other without some kiddie trouble. You can still use that outer seat but you cant use the LATCH hookups.