Date: Wed, 29 Jun 2011 11:32:11 -0400
Reply-To: pickle vanagon <greenvanagon@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: pickle vanagon <greenvanagon@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: the 5th seat
In-Reply-To: <BANLkTinikUY69JR-06Eh4e0vt4mhMpPsyg@mail.gmail.com>
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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?)
Thanks for all the help, guys!
On Wed, Jun 29, 2011 at 10:50 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
>
>
On Wed, Jun 29, 2011 at 11:04 AM, Jim Felder <jim.felder@gmail.com> wrote:
> 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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