co-pilot up close and personal

[Drew Bru]

Originally Posted by Megabea

As we design our skoolie , my wife is very concerned that when we travel she will be a long way away from the driver, (we are very close and we both like it)
we have discussed a captains chair right beside the drivers seat, but we have also discussed a shorter 3rd row bench seat so she can have a place to put things beside her.
I realize this will cause interference with the doors, which I am cool with relocation, I can cut, weld, glue hammer and nail anything i need to.
Has anyone ever moved the doors to mid way down the bus? I think this would look very cool and let me install a different style door too.
I would really like to install a shoulder harness rather than just a lap belt for her in advance

We're the same way, pair bonded... Plus Drew has come to rely on having me, a dyslexic, navigate for him. Makes for some interesting side trips .
We picked up our bus from CO a couple of weeks ago and had to install my seat before heading back to Chicago. Here's what we did, we're going to rework the steps with a turn in them to make entrance into the bus more streamlined.

[Rusty]

Originally Posted by Drew Bru

We're the same way, pair bonded... Plus Drew has come to rely on having me, a dyslexic, navigate for him. Makes for some interesting side trips .
We picked up our bus from CO a couple of weeks ago and had to install my seat before heading back to Chicago. Here's what we did, we're going to rework the steps with a turn in them to make entrance into the bus more streamlined.

Wasn't Drew saying he forgot to bolt something down???? What was it again??

That looks comfy. What did it come out of/from?

[Drew Bru]

Originally Posted by Rusty

Wasn't Drew saying he forgot to bolt something down???? What was it again??

That looks comfy. What did it come out of/from?

HA! If I took an unexpected dive out the door he'd have no one to drive him to the ER when he inevitably needed it. Besides, it takes 2 to bolt in that seat, one in the bus (me) and one under it (Drew).

We picked up the seat at Bontrager's, an RV salvage/supply place in SW Michigan. We found it tucked in a corner of their attic, it's from a class C RV. We picked up a rotating base for it there, too. It's *really* comfortable, Drew said it's more comfortable than his air ride Bostrom driver seat.

[Rusty]

Originally Posted by Drew Bru

We picked up the seat at Bontrager's, an RV salvage/supply place in SW Michigan. We found it tucked in a corner of their attic, it's from a class C RV. We picked up a rotating base for it there, too. It's *really* comfortable, Drew said it's more comfortable than his air ride Bostrom driver seat.

Thanks ! I actually have to go to Jackson, Mi next week...not too far.

[Drew Bru]

Originally Posted by Rusty

Thanks ! I actually have to go to Jackson, Mi next week...not too far.

Stop by Johnson's Surplus while you're in the area. It's just a hop, skip and a jump down the street and they've got a few buildings full of salvage parts as well.

[Rusty]

Originally Posted by Drew Bru

Stop by Johnson's Surplus while you're in the area. It's just a hop, skip and a jump down the street and they've got a few buildings full of salvage parts as well.

You just want to see me do the broke dance.

...buildings full of salvage parts...


Thank you. I get ideas just by looking at stuff.

[Megabea]

Originally Posted by Drew Bru

We're the same way, pair bonded... Plus Drew has come to rely on having me, a dyslexic, navigate for him. Makes for some interesting side trips .
We picked up our bus from CO a couple of weeks ago and had to install my seat before heading back to Chicago. Here's what we did, we're going to rework the steps with a turn in them to make entrance into the bus more streamlined.

That is very workable and will look great upon completion .
we have been looking at options and I believe we both are in agreement that a complete 50/50 or 60/40 some kind of seat is what we will be looking for, possible with the console in the center for her laptop, or fold it up and she can set in the middle .
My issue is finding this type of setup with self contained seat belts
I believe I will relocate the door , and then weld in a framework to hold our small generator in the old space where the steps were . make perfect sense as someone suggested, the Bed will be on the opposite end.

[Drew Bru]

Originally Posted by Megabea

That is very workable and will look great upon completion .
we have been looking at options and I believe we both are in agreement that a complete 50/50 or 60/40 some kind of seat is what we will be looking for, possible with the console in the center for her laptop, or fold it up and she can set in the middle .
My issue is finding this type of setup with self contained seat belts
I believe I will relocate the door , and then weld in a framework to hold our small generator in the old space where the steps were . make perfect sense as someone suggested, the Bed will be on the opposite end.

Would something like this work for you? https://southbend.craigslist.org/pts...356654292.html

[Megabea]

that would work perfectly, it's like you knew exactly what I was looking for.
05 Suburban. or Tahoe, at least now I know what to search for when the time comes

thanks so much!

[BlackJohn]

That third row seat you guys are discussing wouldn't be good for driver and copilot seat. Very hard and uncomfortable for any length of time. I have one in the bus just like that from my Suburban and it sits beside my woodstove at the rear door. Great for taking my boots off when I roll in from the great outdoors. Great for drinking beer by the fire but not good enough for driving.
Hope this helps, look at front seats out of a Suburban or such for comfy seats. They don't necessarily have to go side by side but with swivels etc keep the driver and passenger close enough to talk comfortably over the engine noise if any.

John

[Drew Bru]

Originally Posted by BlackJohn

Hope this helps, look at front seats out of a Suburban or such for comfy seats. They don't necessarily have to go side by side but with swivels etc keep the driver and passenger close enough to talk comfortably over the engine noise if any.

John

Yup. I believe the Yukon/Tahoe/Suburban front seats also have the integrated shoulder belt. I remember considering those when we were looking for our co-pilot seat. It should be just a matter of buying or fabricating a taller base to mount them on.

[Megabea]

ok John , thank you for the heads up info! this is good to know. when Bea and a I travel we do want to have comfortable seats.
I think an issue will be finding built in seat belts.

[family wagon]

"Dodge Ram 2nd gen front seat" set might be an option too (you can search for pictures doing an image search with exactly those terms). It's two seats on sliders and a center console that flips up to be a bench seat. The seats have the shoulder straps built in to them. And they do look more comfortable than the 3rd row pictured earlier.

[Megabea]

I like the idea of shortening each step. I am somewhat concerned about my relocation of the steps. i have some pictures posted, the part about being half way between the wheels just it look worse than right behind the front wheel. seems like the chance of contact with ground is a lot more likely

[Megabea]

I am on my way to a bus grave yard Wednesday , txt the guy the nameplate of my drivers seat and he has several to choose from , so the front end is being duplicated with same window and seat for my co pilot.

[Megabea]

after looking at a lot of seats we went "original route" went to my local bus junkyard where he has several buses just like ours , he removed a seat identical to mine and a window to match mine.
I have some of the co pilot area work done but seat is not in yet, window is installed works and looks great.
cover is where i am putting pictures

[cdrobbins77]

Originally Posted by Jacob

Thanks If you decide to go this route and have questions let me know

That's a great solution! I was planning on relocating the stairs and door to mid-ship but this seems like a much better idea.