Hi there
I am currently in the planning and layout process of my conversion, I have not yet purchased a van but leaning towards on purchasing a peugeot boxer, mainly due to the extra width allowing me to sleep sideways. I finished drawing the layout that best suits our needs which I'm very happy with!
Most boxer's I have seen have a captains chair and bench seat beside, what Iam very curious about is if there is a bench seat out there that you can reverse the backrest or detach so it can become use for seating in living area! I find this would be a huge benefit to the living area if it could be done. I have researched the web and can't find anything, can anyone please help me in regards to this wall I'm facing? ( keeping in mind I will be travelling with my wife and 2 year old son,so the three front seats are required)
Thankyou
Jason
Hi Jason, I find this thread quite interesting. I too have searched the web for this and came up empty (maybe we're looking in the wrong places?!). I too want to do this in my LDV. As i'm yet to find anything that can accommodate this I have been thinking of ways to achieve this myself.
The first idea was to use unwins tracking in the floor so I could quick release the bases and physically turn the seat around and click back in to place. This i thought would be too much labour for it's purpose, particularly if we're constantly on the move.
Next was the idea of a swivel plate but I decided against this due to the sheer size of a bench seat, which would compromise its safety.
My current idea (which is a work in progress) is to first strip the bench seat to it's shell (which i've done). My LDV seat seperates completely in half; lower base / seat and the upright / back rest. With that in mind I reckon I could do away with the upright / back rest completely. I could then take two folding seats out of a standard car like a picasso / scenic which have the capacity to be removed entirely from the vehicle quickly. I would strip these down to their shell too and weld their original floor mountings from the respective car to the seat / base of the LDV bench seat.
The next part is the tricky bit which I haven't 100% decided on yet. In order to flip the seat over further modification would be required. The jist of the idea is that once the seat is 'unclipped' from it's driving position the seat would 'flip' by sliding along 2/3 rails of slotted steel with a simple locking mechanism at the top of the seat to lock it on place once flipped.
Just my idea. I too welcome any suggestions. I often over think things so if there's a simpler, safer alternative then great!
Good luck Jason, let us know if you get it done in any way
Hi Jason
If you haven't already found anything you might want to look at the middle row of seats from a Japanese people carrier. I've just bought some from a Toyota regius for my Toyota hiace. The middle row seats are a double and single combination and both of the turn 90 and 180 degrees.
I saw a nice transit conversion on the web where the owner had swapped his double passenger seat for one of these double swivels with the added advantage of creating a walk through when moved the seat against the passenger door.
I can send you some pictures of my ones if it helps.
Good luck with it.
Paul