Travel seating for co-pilot, and younger travellers...

[dbhost]

In looking at all these skoolie conversions, I am not seeing additional seating beyond dinettes, for our fellow travellers. It would seem a good long bus would tend to be well suited for family travels.... So the question is....

For those of you with families, and I am thinking about couples with small children (safety seat / booster seat size /ages....). What are you doing for safe, comfortable co pilot and young passenger seatign and restraint?

[Miles O Roads]

I have seen some stuff on youtube,mostly the couch having belts installed and tied to the frame somehow toward the front. Seen some buddy seats on the pass side also. I get a little paranoid about this but then think about a rv that will crumble in a crash,at least bus has a little metal around them. I guess main thing is go about it wise and allways be alert driving.

[Twigg]

Mine is getting a co-pilot seat and a dinette.

The dinette will be built around two of the original bus seats. They will have to be adapted a little to make them fit, but they are massively strong and I don't trust seats made of plywood and 2 x 4s to stand up in a crash. Seatbelts will be added to those four seats giving a riding capacity of six, all with belts.

I am helped by having coach-seating rather than standard bus benches, so travel will be comfy.

[gbstewart]

Originally Posted by dbhost

In looking at all these skoolie conversions, I am not seeing additional seating beyond dinettes, for our fellow travellers. It would seem a good long bus would tend to be well suited for family travels.... So the question is....

For those of you with families, and I am thinking about couples with small children (safety seat / booster seat size /ages....). What are you doing for safe, comfortable co pilot and young passenger seatign and restraint?

I have a passenger seat mounted by the stair well, it has arm rests, and seat belt, it spins around, I also have a another single seat behind the drivers, arm rest and seat belt, it swings around, as well as seats at the table, if you check out my build you will see them.
gbstewart

[dbhost]

Originally Posted by gbstewart

I have a passenger seat mounted by the stair well, it has arm rests, and seat belt, it spins around, I also have a another single seat behind the drivers, arm rest and seat belt, it swings around, as well as seats at the table, if you check out my build you will see them.
gbstewart

Actually, you just gave me a fantastic idea.... A co pilot seat rigged like yours, or at least similar. I would HAVE to have some sort of flip down "floor" for my wife to put her feet... and then a forward facing scissor couch with seat belts anchored to the support ribs.

Just FYI, I am needing to be safe, and complaint with child safety seat regulations...

[gbstewart]

Originally Posted by dbhost

Actually, you just gave me a fantastic idea.... A co pilot seat rigged like yours, or at least similar. I would HAVE to have some sort of flip down "floor" for my wife to put her feet... and then a forward facing scissor couch with seat belts anchored to the support ribs.

Just FYI, I am needing to be safe, and complaint with child safety seat regulations...

yup be safe, if you look you will see my grand son sitting with his booster seat, make sure you use grade 8 bolts when bolting seats to the floor, I do have a stair well cover that folds up
gbstewart

[dbhost]

Originally Posted by gbstewart

yup be safe, if you look you will see my grand son sitting with his booster seat, make sure you use grade 8 bolts when bolting seats to the floor, I do have a stair well cover that folds up
gbstewart

Yeah, your build thread is kind of long, but I see it. Nice seats. Looks like you did what I was thinking. Grabbing the captains chairs (and in my case, folding / scissor couch and seat belts) from a conversion van. I figure I will put use the couch in a row behind the drivers seat against the wall, and have the hallway shimmy around it...

[2martins]

Originally Posted by dbhost

Actually, you just gave me a fantastic idea.... A co pilot seat rigged like yours, or at least similar. I would HAVE to have some sort of flip down "floor" for my wife to put her feet... and then a forward facing scissor couch with seat belts anchored to the support ribs.

Just FYI, I am needing to be safe, and complaint with child safety seat regulations...

Anyone looking for safe seats - there is a guy who works for DishNetwork in Ceres, CA and he has 8 Ford Transit van seats that were taken out of the Vans when they arrived new a couple of years ago and stuck in a warehouse. They have the seatbelt thing that it clicks INTO on one side but you'd have to buy the other part. $100ea with the steel pedestal that makes them the right height. Ford Transit vans aren't terribly expensive so you could probably but the other part of the seatbelt new. Much safer than a lot of options and reasonable, too! I got the 3 seats that had integrated seats belts so it would be easier. They were listed on Craigslist about 2 weeks ago. If you can't find it I can look for his cell phone number. He even helped me load them in the car.

[ptge57]

I kept one of the student bus seats with attached seat belts to use on one side of my dinette (facing forward) so have a stable safe seat to carry 1-2 passengers. It's reupholstered to match the home made bench with storage underneath on the other side of the table. The wood bench with cushions is attached with brackets to the same bolting system as the original bus seats and anchored to the floor.

[2kool4skool]

Originally Posted by ptge57

I kept one of the student bus seats with attached seat belts to use on one side of my dinette (facing forward) so have a stable safe seat to carry 1-2 passengers. It's reupholstered to match the home made bench with storage underneath on the other side of the table. The wood bench with cushions is attached with brackets to the same bolting system as the original bus seats and anchored to the floor.

Yes! Bolt only to the floor...NOT the frame. If you have doubt as to why, look at some school bus crash test vids.

[Likwid_Kaneo]

It was common for GM front seats from the 2000s to have all parts of the seatbelt to be mounted to the seat itself.

So you'll find nice comfy seats out of a junkyard for cheap. Cadillac, Buick, Oldsmobile, Pontiac, GMC, Chevrolet, or Saturn. Pick your favorite.

Here's an example out of a truck... they're all basically the same (give or take features like leather, heated/cooled, armrests, etc.):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8VY3i-HEgg

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by Likwid_Kaneo

It was common for GM front seats from the 2000s to have all parts of the seatbelt to be mounted to the seat itself.

So you'll find nice comfy seats out of a junkyard for cheap. Cadillac, Buick, Oldsmobile, Pontiac, GMC, Chevrolet, or Saturn. Pick your favorite.

Here's an example out of a truck... they're all basically the same (give or take features like leather, heated/cooled, armrests, etc.):

I went to my local PullAPart yard, quite a large yard, fully intent on bringing home a nice captains chair out of a Navigator or other luxury SUV. PAP gets between $25 and $35 for a seat, the $35 one being leather with electric track.I searched that whole yard and went home empty handed. Every vehicle that had the correct type seat had one that looked like it had a gazillion miles on it. The link you provided shows some expensive kits, $800-$1000+, but I saw no pricing or listing of individual seat kits. When it comes time I'll find something on sale on eBay brand new. Like the nice racing seats in my CRX for $245/pr.

[Likwid_Kaneo]

Originally Posted by o1marc

I went to my local PullAPart yard, quite a large yard, fully intent on bringing home a nice captains chair out of a Navigator or other luxury SUV. PAP gets between $25 and $35 for a seat, the $35 one being leather with electric track.I searched that whole yard and went home empty handed. Every vehicle that had the correct type seat had one that looked like it had a gazillion miles on it. The link you provided shows some expensive kits, $800-$1000+, but I saw no pricing or listing of individual seat kits. When it comes time I'll find something on sale on eBay brand new. Like the nice racing seats in my CRX for $245/pr.

Interesting... I live near St. Louis and a local junkyard (which also has a location near Chicago) prices seats by type, and they always have plenty to choose from. You may need to widen your selected vehicles... look at Cadillac CTS/STS/DTSs... they have comfy, heated, electric seats, and the right years have the belts mounted to the seat itself.

U Pic A Part – Bring Your Own Tools … Pull Your Own Parts!

http://www.upicapart.com/STL/wp-cont...PriceSheet.pdf

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by Likwid_Kaneo

Interesting... I live near St. Louis and a local junkyard (which also has a location near Chicago) prices seats by type, and they always have plenty to choose from. You may need to widen your selected vehicles... look at Cadillac CTS/STS/DTSs... they have comfy, heated, electric seats, and the right years have the belts mounted to the seat itself.

U Pic A Part – Bring Your Own Tools … Pull Your Own Parts!

http://www.upicapart.com/STL/wp-cont...PriceSheet.pdf

Those were the cars my search began with and every seat was junk, that's why I started searching the SUV's. Better luck somewhat wit passenger seats, but drivers were all worn out. Believe me, my mind was set on going home with a $1k bucket seat, I was sorely disappointed. I remember how much time I spent walking the yard and then having to be brought back to the front by some guys in a golf cart because I was exhausted. I think it was the next week I ended up in the hospital.

[Likwid_Kaneo]

Originally Posted by o1marc

Those were the cars my search began with and every seat was junk, that's why I started searching the SUV's. Better luck somewhat wit passenger seats, but drivers were all worn out. Believe me, my mind was set on going home with a $1k bucket seat, I was sorely disappointed. I remember how much time I spent walking the yard and then having to be brought back to the front by some guys in a golf cart because I was exhausted. I think it was the next week I ended up in the hospital.

Dang, that's unfortunate, but I guess it's kinda expected with the heat in the south (both the messed up seats and exhaustion).

[roach711]

Originally Posted by 2kool4skool

Yes! Bolt only to the floor...NOT the frame. If you have doubt as to why, look at some school bus crash test vids.

I'm curious. Why not bolt to the frame?

[Twigg]

Originally Posted by roach711

I'm curious. Why not bolt to the frame?

Well that's not so easy.

The frame is a good few inches below the floor, and you can't drill the horizontal faces of the frame. When people add stuff to the underside, they drill through the body cross-members, not normally the frame.

Seats and belts are more usually bolted just through the floor. I'd add seatbelt washers to both the seat bolts and the seatbelt bolts, just to spread the load.

[1olfart]

IMHO GM leather seats don't hold up nearly as well as Ford or Toyota. I've never gotten more than 100k miles out of any GM, where I've driven Fords for almost 170k miles before they begin to crack. My wife's RX330 has over 210k and seats still look good. They could use new padding, but the leather is still great.

[Alan N]

Originally Posted by roach711

I'm curious. Why not bolt to the frame?

Many school buses are designed so that the frame and the body will separate in an accident to help absorb energy.
You wouldn't want to be bolted to the bus frame while the body went off in another direction.
Look under your bus and see what holds the body to the frame.

[2kool4skool]

Originally Posted by roach711

I'm curious. Why not bolt to the frame?

Alan is correct. The body is clipped to the frame, and what bolts are used are made to shear. Watch the frame in relation to the body, if you bolted to the frame, the bolts would shear, bolted to the body, they move with it. I've seen bodies come off the frame completely.

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q...C&&FORM=VRDGAR