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Old 03-04-2020, 03:26 PM   #1
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Dec 2019
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Question on Front Jump seat (if that's what you call it)

Hi all!

Had the serious bus talk with the wife. I was talking about seating ideas, discussing a couple of buses I had found. My plan had been to keep a couple of rows of seats in the front. There are four of us normally, but I figured keeping two rows of coach seating in the front would give everyone plenty of room on those long stretches of highway. Then, she said something that stopped me
dead.

She gets carsick if she sits in the back seat. I know this, but I thought sitting in the front position of a school bus seating arrangement would take care of her need to sit up front. She thinks not.

So...wow. This really restricts options. My thoughts so far:

Convert a bookmobile body, which was my original idea when I started looking at really doing the skoolie thing anyway. The problem with this is that they're scarce, and I've seen only a limited number of power train options. Plus, some bookmobiles still have the front folding door.

Modify a Wanderlodge to accommodate the passenger seating plans behind the front two seats. This is possible, but kinda defeats the fun of building what you want.

Then today, while wandering forlornly among the bus ads I saw a possible solution to my issue. See image below. This seat looks relatively comfortable, although I'd need a seatbelt solution. Does anyone have any experience with one of these? If this could work, it reopens my world of options.
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Old 03-04-2020, 03:35 PM   #2
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How big of a bus do you want? One solution is a limo bus. A lot have a passenger seat.
Bonus stripper pole in a lot of them.

If you want a jump seat, I know I will, check out

https://www.suburbanseats.com/c/jump-seats?page=1
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Old 03-04-2020, 04:05 PM   #3
Mini-Skoolie
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Danjo View Post
How big of a bus do you want? One solution is a limo bus. A lot have a passenger seat.
Bonus stripper pole in a lot of them.

If you want a jump seat, I know I will, check out

https://www.suburbanseats.com/c/jump-seats?page=1
I looked at some of the limo buses early on. They have a cool smooth look to them, but I'm not sure they're quite as tough as the school buses. Then there's the whole "Hey honey, I bought a stripper bus!" conversation I don't want to be having.

I had looked at some of the seats on the site you sent. There are a few that look like possibles, but most of those don't look long distance friendly...about like sitting on a bucket.

I like the one in the image I sent at least because of the arm rests, however, the real question is what is the experience riding on/in one of these? I'm thinking that with an FC bus it might be a little bouncy.
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Old 03-04-2020, 05:25 PM   #4
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We installed a second air seat right next to the driver seat on our dognose bus. We now have a wall directly behind both of them. There is enough room between the passenger seat and dog house to get to the driver seat, but I can certainly see how a flip up base would be nice.

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Old 03-04-2020, 06:28 PM   #5
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I like that...I would not have thought there would be room enough for two side by side. It also gets the seat further towards the front, which will likely help with the carsickness. Air ride would be a good thing also.

It rules out flat front FC buses, but I've been looking at either dognose or pusher buses anyway.

Thanks for sharing that pic!
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Old 03-04-2020, 06:36 PM   #6
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Here is the side view from entering the bus. The dog house is just out of view to the right, but you get an idea of the space available to sneak through to the driver seat. The passenger does have to move to let the driver in/out. Right now the passenger only has a lap belt, but a 3-point belt is in the plans.

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Old 03-04-2020, 07:04 PM   #7
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not something I would attempt, but, someone on this site moved their entry door to mid way down the bus body, built a floor over the original steps and installed a front passenger seat...storage compartment where the old steps were.
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Old 03-04-2020, 07:11 PM   #8
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I might adapt some hinged platform that bridges the stepwell then put the jumpseat where the partition wall was so the passenger can rest their feet but then flip up the platform to exit.
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Old 03-04-2020, 07:13 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sehnsucht View Post
I might adapt some hinged platform that bridges the stepwell then put the jumpseat where the partition wall was so the passenger can rest their feet but then flip up the platform to exit.
That's what I'm doing.
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Old 03-04-2020, 07:14 PM   #10
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Bricks of happiness on you tube has three seats in front; the third being a removable toddler seat in the doorway. I don't know which video goes through it but they explained the set up in one of them. Pretty sure it's a rear engine.
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Old 03-04-2020, 08:20 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BarnYardCamp View Post
not something I would attempt, but, someone on this site moved their entry door to mid way down the bus body, built a floor over the original steps and installed a front passenger seat...storage compartment where the old steps were.
That's what I did. Once I realized my original stairs would have to be rebuilt anyway due to rust it was a no brainer to relocate them mid ship.
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Old 03-04-2020, 09:48 PM   #12
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We are planning to move the door further back. For the time being, we mounted a second air ride seat at the top of the stairs right next to the first passenger window. I'll see if I can find a photo to post.
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Old 03-04-2020, 10:34 PM   #13
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Here ya go ... note that our seats are air ride and swivel too. Thus, we can swing them around to face the back and make up the front part of our living room (once we have that done).


Click image for larger version

Name:	20190126_170535 Front Seats from Rear.jpg
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Once we move the door back, we will reposition the navigator's seat in and forward a bit.
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Old 03-05-2020, 12:03 AM   #14
Mini-Skoolie
 
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I like those seats! I much prefer those to the "thrones" I see in some RVs. Would you mind sharing where those came from?
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Old 03-05-2020, 12:10 AM   #15
Mini-Skoolie
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ermracing View Post
Here is the side view from entering the bus. The dog house is just out of view to the right, but you get an idea of the space available to sneak through to the driver seat. The passenger does have to move to let the driver in/out. Right now the passenger only has a lap belt, but a 3-point belt is in the plans.

That looks very doable. I don't think playing musical chairs with the passenger would be that big of a deal, no more often than it would be necessary.

What is the panel that the seat is bolted to? It's hard for me to tell how that fits in. Is it the same height as the plywood behind and the floorboard in front of the seat?
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Old 03-05-2020, 12:12 AM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cdrobbins77 View Post
That's what I did. Once I realized my original stairs would have to be rebuilt anyway due to rust it was a no brainer to relocate them mid ship.
That's a possibility, although as someone who's not a welder, that's just more work and more $$$ I'd have to farm out. At this point I'm trying to take in all solutions and hold off on pursuing a solution until I've gathered lots of info.
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Old 03-05-2020, 12:14 AM   #17
Mini-Skoolie
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JDSquared View Post
Bricks of happiness on you tube has three seats in front; the third being a removable toddler seat in the doorway. I don't know which video goes through it but they explained the set up in one of them. Pretty sure it's a rear engine.
That one is indeed a rear engine bus. I did find a part of one video where they showed it flipping up. It looked sort of like a flip up standard sized bus seat (2 person). Didn't find a section yet where they discussed it explicitly. They have a LOT of videos.
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Old 03-05-2020, 12:22 AM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TakinCareOfBusness View Post
I like those seats! I much prefer those to the "thrones" I see in some RVs. Would you mind sharing where those came from?
We bought them from our Freightliner dealer. They are Seats, Inc. air-ride seats.


Products


They are the Legacy model.
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Old 03-05-2020, 12:44 AM   #19
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Originally Posted by Native View Post
We bought them fromour Freightliner dealer. They are Seats, Inc. air-ride seats.


Products


They are the Legacy model.
If you don't mind me asking, how much did you pay for those?
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Old 03-05-2020, 01:07 AM   #20
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Originally Posted by Truthseeker4449 View Post
If you don't mind me asking, how much did you pay for those?
We have an exceptional relationship with the parts manager. He let us buy them for $650.00 each. They are now about $900.00 each.
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