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Old 08-01-2015, 02:51 PM   #1
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seat replacement and seatbelts

Hello,
So I got a E-350 shorty of 2000. As we want to travel with a 4year old and a baby. Therefore I want to get all seats out and put seats in that have headrest, seatbelt and those attachments for child car-seats.

puh, I coudn't find anywahere. Any lead or recommendation is highly appreciated.

pics to come soon ....

thx in advance

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Old 08-01-2015, 04:22 PM   #2
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What ya need is fulsize van seats. Think your local pick-a-part yard.
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Old 08-01-2015, 05:35 PM   #3
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For the short term, I've used a ratchet strap to secure the kids' car seats to the bus seats. The seats in my bus are molded from fiberglass, or maybe a fiber-reinforced plastic, and each seat two people. I cut a slot where a seat belt buckle would go, down in the hip area between the two positions, so that the strap can go through the car seat and straight back down into/through the bus seat. Haven't figured out what I'll be doing for seats long-term..
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Old 08-01-2015, 07:19 PM   #4
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seats

before you get the seats look under the bus to find the cross beams you want to bolt them too, do the measurements before you buy a seat so you can find seats that have legs where you need them to be,

look at craigslist also for the seats, go back several months since bus and van seats dont sell well, the ad from 6 months ago may still have seats available,

as you decide on the size of bolts and the placement off the bolts on the floor just imagine the bus rolling down a hill, make it strong. 3/8 inch bolt are the minimum size in my opinion.

I feel I bolted mine down well (mini van seats) but when I was done I still added a 2 ton chain to the bottom of the seat.

car and minivan seats can be a pain because they need to be bolted to some type of platform to raise them up a foot or so.
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Old 08-01-2015, 08:05 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bubb, the real one View Post
I feel I bolted mine down well (mini van seats) but when I was done I still added a 2 ton chain to the bottom of the seat.

car and minivan seats can be a pain because they need to be bolted to some type of platform to raise them up a foot or so.
Do you have any photos of yours posted somewhere? I don't recall seeing them. I have two '98 Chrysler minivans.. one runs and I'm about to sell it; the other is just for parts. I've been considering whether to use seats from the parts van, and maybe even part out the other (instead of selling it running) so I can keep its seats, but haven't had any brilliant ideas for the mounting. I really want center-facing benches along the walls with a removable dinette table in the center, but haven't figured out how to make seat belts work for it. So the van seats are still in the running.
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Old 08-01-2015, 11:35 PM   #6
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I looked and don't have any decent pictures of the mounts,

Lets see:
I used two caravan minivan seats, middle and back seats, they are front facing right behind the drivers seat, no space between them, you have to step over them to get to the back of the bus,
I used two rows of 2x8 boards, all were 7.5 ft long, I believe the front most stack was 3 deep and the rearmost stack of boards was 4 deep,
The minivan seats have legs of sorts but they are taller in the front than the back which is why my board stacks are different heights,
The hardest part is drilling the main bolt holes from the bottom of the bus, they had to be through the cross beams and sized for 3/8 inch bolts, each row of wood got 5 grade 8 bolts through the cross beams, an additional 5 bolts per stack went through the floor sheet steel, these bolts went through some additional 2in wide by 12in long 12ga metal strapping which acted as a long thick washer of sorts,
Again, do a lot of measuring before you start drilling to make sure your seat placement allows for enough bolts connected to enough sheet steel or cross beams.
The car seats dont have mounts for bolts, the metal that acts as legs is basically flat and not L shaped so you will need some type of angle brackets to connect the bolts to the seats,
It would be much easier to find bus seats that have legs ready made for bolts and that are tall enough so you dont need to raise them higher but if the seat did not come originally with a seat belt attached to it the seat may not survive a rapid deceleration or roll over intact, bolt the seat belts to the floor frame separately from the seat.
Each seat got a 2ft section of 2 ton chain, when connected the chain is in a U shape, 2 bolts connect it to a different floor frame and each end is bolted to each chair leg.
I purchased new lap seatbelts and bolted them directly through the floor into the cross beams.
A 37ft bus like mine is unlikely to receive a severe deceleration event unless it hits a bridge or does a header into another large vehicle, roll overs dont create the same extreme instantaneous forces that a regular size vehicle absorbs when it hits another vehicle.
My opinions, take them for what you paid for them.
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front seats - Copy.JPG  
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Old 08-02-2015, 08:17 AM   #7
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public surplus auction site has a section for motor pool parts....watch there for some seats

they have seats, transmissions and motors

http://www.publicsurplus.com/sms/bro...taucs?catid=21
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Old 08-02-2015, 08:55 AM   #8
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Old 08-02-2015, 03:08 PM   #9
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I second the full size and mini van seats are best.

Seats mounted low for small kids is not a bad thing.

Many mini van seats can be mounted with the factory quick release.

Nat
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Old 08-04-2015, 09:17 PM   #10
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While on the subject of seats...

Do they make RV sofas with belts? not something as fancy as this( RV Sofas and Marine Sofas, including sleepers, easy beds, magic beds, wall mount units, jacknife sofas, j lounges, theater seating, custom sectionals and more.) but in that design? I'm having no luck researching that (sofas with belts..)
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