Driver's Seat

[mikerox]

Hey Everyone, We are looking for ideas or previous posts about converting the front driver seat to a bench seat. My DW needs to be up front w/me as well as our dog. We've seen one bus on YT that had a bench seat, but we're looking for others that have done the same. Hoping to get as much advice as possible to help avoid any problems or situations that we didn't think of initially. Would welcome any input and or pictures or links to threads. TIA.

[gbstewart]

I didn't put a bench seat in, but I did a another comfy passenger seat that's mounted at the edge of the stair well, it slides ahead, and I have a stair well cover as well, works great, wife sits beside me, and dog is between us, the seat also spins around. one thing that is nice is to have both arm rests for each seat, you will see the seats in my thread
gbstewart

[cadillackid]

when I was building the DEV.. I set a 4 leg school bus seat right in place of the driver seat until I had a chance to mount my proper driver seat... I actually really liked it... better than a regular driver seat..
-Christopher

[PNW_Steve]

Originally Posted by gbstewart

I didn't put a bench seat in, but I did a another comfy passenger seat that's mounted at the edge of the stair well, it slides ahead, and I have a stair well cover as well, works great, wife sits beside me, and dog is between us, the seat also spins around. one thing that is nice is to have both arm rests for each seat, you will see the seats in my thread
gbstewart

I did something very similar on my last bus. Comfy co-pilot seat, partial step cover and our Golden Retriever's favorite spot was sitting right between us and looking out the windshield. It was hilarious when I started the bus. Without fail, the dog would immediately take his spot and the cat would hide under the bed.

The one thing that I did that I regretted: I removed the factory air seat and replaced it with a fancy ultraleather RV seat. The new seat was very comfy for an hour or two then I needed to stretch and move around. The ugly factory seat was MUCH more comfortable for long drives than the new one.

On my new bus I am going to look at having the factory air seat reupholstered to match whatever I pick for the co-pilot.

If you are intent on a bench seat keep in mind that driver comfort can be a big deal if you find yourself driving 8+ hour days or making multi day driving trips.

Have fun & make it your own.

S.

[Chop]

That sounds like what I have in mind, where did you get the other seat from?

[PNW_Steve]

Originally Posted by Chop

That sounds like what I have in mind, where did you get the other seat from?

Not sure who you are asking so I will chime in.

I bought mine from the now defunct Monaco surplus store in Oregon.

There are still a number of RV surplus stores out there.

[maggiemae]

Yes we did it, we used one of the passenger bus seats. It was nice to hold stuff but we actually just upgraded to a seat that has arms, a captains chair and it's adjustable. Much more cozy.

[REDD]

Drivers seat, 2007 ProStar International.
Pass. seat, 2008 Sterling...both air ride with arms on both sides.
From a truck scrap yard.

You could do the same and have a portable box/crate with a mattress on top for the dog in between ya....how big is the dog?

[PNW_Steve]

Originally Posted by REDD

Drivers seat, 2007 ProStar International.
Pass. seat, 2008 Sterling...both air ride with arms on both sides.
From a truck scrap yard.

You could do the same and have a portable box/crate with a mattress on top for the dog in between ya....how big is the dog?

Good thought except....

If you make the co-pilot seat too comfortable you may wind up doing all of the driving.