The coiled springs that hold the wires under the seat cushion tore thru the frame on driver's side. I found a good bench in a '00 at a U pull yard, it's got different upholstery. Can I separate the driver's side from the bench assembly and just replace the driver's frame with my original upholstery?
I don't have the seats out of either truck, so I can't see yet. Figured I'd ask before i take it out and see it's not possible..

 

If you mean the 40/20/40 split buckets with folding console/jump seat, then the answer is yes. They all bolt together at the floor, but it's a PITA to get apart.

 

So I went back to the u pull yard, pulling the seat took all of 10 minutes. Four bolts per side hold seat to the floor, and two bolts on each side hold it to the console. Separating the parts was easy. Thanks for confirming that the seats could be sep from the center seat part.
Unfortunately after I got it all apart and compared to the 2000 seat to the 1998 seat, I see that the sides of the seat frame are just a little bit different, the 98 upholstery won't connect to the seat frame like I had hoped. There are subtle differences to the seat frame between the year.

 

The 98 Dakota was a one off model slight differences from any 99 to 2004 many parts were 98 only very annoying I have one.

 

Yeah, I'm quickly seeing that. I've had this truck for almost 2 years now and have only done a few little things, just trying to make it a nicer driver now. But yes, seems like 98 has subtle differences from the 99 and up