Date: Wed, 29 Jun 2011 08:57:20 -0700
Reply-To: mark drillock <mdrillock@COX.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: mark drillock <mdrillock@COX.NET>
Subject: Re: the 5th seat
In-Reply-To: <BANLkTinEGsSf1ePKFm2JtvAg0t8xzgHHjg@mail.gmail.com>
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Lots of people have added the rear facing jumpseat. Many did it in ways
I would not find acceptable for other than rare, short term use. The
complete factory setup has multiple pieces, including special brackets
for the special seat belts, and support-leg hole brackets welded to the
floor. The main quick-release bracket is easy to install with bolts but
on 2wd vans the pass side fuel filler pipe and expansion tank is in the
way of drilling and/or accessing the needed bolt holes.
The single slide-in seat does not prevent full use of the kitchen and
bed. Obviously it still takes up space and cramps your style. It can be
swiveled to positions where it is more useful or less in the way. There
are a number of holes in the base plate to bolt to the track safety
brackets so it won't slide. If adding your own tracks you can arrange
the small safety brackets such that there are a variety of positions to
slide the seat where a safety bolt hole lines up with a hole in the seat
base. The floor tracks are long and held down to the floor by big bolts.
The small safety brackets go under the heads of the big bolts and can be
positioned at any of several big bolt positions and turned either of 2
ways. By putting the safety brackets in a variety of positions you get a
variety of seat location choices, side to side. Once camped you can take
out the bolt and slide the seat out entirely or just position it
differently as needed.
Mark
pickle vanagon wrote:
> All of these responses have been super helpful. Thanks for all the replies!
>
> For adding a single seat, the rear-facing jumpseat seems to me like it
> might be a bit more elegant a solution since it folds up out of the
> way. I am a little concerned about the installation though. Presumably
> brackets, attachment points, etc. are welded on (and drilled) into the
> chassis of the van. Where are these brackets/attachments points
> available from? I guess I would basically need to find a complete donor
> van in a junkyard and unweld the various attachment gizmos?
> What Mark suggests about being able to disassemble a non-jump seat and
> using the cusions/upholstered parts for the jump seat is great.
>
>
> I guess the seat rails are a really attractive option because the
> installation would presumably be easy, even on an '83. If I understand
> right, access to the fridge, table, and cabinets is not eliminated when
> using a single seat on the rails, is that right? Do people who have
> just a single seat on the rails typically leave it in place while
> camping, or remove it to make the van more roomy? (I'm assuming the bed
> can fold down with the seat in place?) This would also have the
> advantage of inviting expansion to the two-seater like Jim is using...
>
> (Just to clarify Jim, the sliding door has to be open to slide the bench
> out far enough for fridge access, right? And do you leave your seat
> unbolted? At campsites you cover it with plastic or something like that?)
>
>
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