Date: Wed, 29 Jun 2011 10:04:29 -0500
Reply-To: Jim Felder <jim.felder@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Jim Felder <jim.felder@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: the 5th seat
In-Reply-To: <4E0B3B9F.4010504@cox.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
While we are on the subject of seats and such, one of the best upgrades I
ever made to my westy was to add the seat rails and a double slide-in seat
that I use when my westy needs to be more of a people carrier than a camper,
or when it needs to be both. We slide the seat out a bit to clear the fridge
door while traveleing (at stops) and pull it all the way out while camping,
using it as an extra seat.
One of the many things I have learned from Unca Joel is that if you go to a
restaurant supply house and get one of those black bus-boy tubs you see used
in restaurants, it is a perfect fit under each of the rear double seat
pedestals for storage for the two extra occupants while traveling. They
don't lock with a key, but the floor rails act as just enough of a detent to
keep them from sliding out when underway.
The double seat comes with nice seat belts. Anyone using the carat=style
fold down seats would also have to install the proper seat belts and
brackets that came with that setup, which would probably be more difficult
to find than the pop-out seats.
Jim
On Wed, Jun 29, 2011 at 9:50 AM, mark drillock <mdrillock@cox.net> wrote:
> There are 2 factory approaches you can follow to add a single seat.
>
> You can install a single person center seat that was optional in just a
> few years 85/86, sliding onto standard floor tracks that can be fitted
> to any year van using the threaded holes always present in the floor.
> These have a lockable storage compartment in the front of the base and a
> small open area in the rear of the base. These also swivel 360 degrees.
> The seatbelts attach to the base and the whole setup can be taken in and
> out at will, though it is heavy. These came in tan fabric only but any
> Vanagon front seat will slide onto the metal base/swivel section. I just
> put one of these in my pass van a few days ago.
>
> The other factory choice is the pass side rear facing jumpseat using the
> factory parts from an 86+ Wolfsburg pass van, Carat pass van, or
> Multivan. It is not that hard to do but safety is involved so the
> attachment points on the floor are important to get right. If you have a
> spare seat with matching fabric to your other seats, you can disassemble
> the jumpseat and put the upholstered sections of your spare seat on the
> jumpseat frame, in some cases.
>
> Mark
>
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