foam seats for rr bed - thickness,securing,seatbelts,mot?

[Nigel]

I've fitted a Bluebird full width bed into my van and have a few questions. So again looking for your tips & recommendations on:-

1) on thickness of foam to use for the seats
2) how to secure the seats to the boards - what have you done?
3) use and fitting of seat belts - do you need to? have you done it? what did you have fitted?
4) any MoT considerations?

All contributions gratefully received As usual any photos would be great.

Thanks, Nigel

 

[Gadget Boy]

Hello there Nigel :mrgreen:

In june i did this exact conversion for a customer and heres how

The foam was supplied by bluebird and was 3 inches thick or there about and this was covered with material . The cusions were then fitted underneath on the down facing side with three 2 inch wide heavy material straps and these were then fitted with press studs so the straps could be securly affixed to the r an r bed boards .

The bed frame was drilled with extra holes and the boards were fastened using size 10 x 35mm long heavy wood screws 10 on the bottom and 10 on the top one . This in then about as secure your gunna get the seat base .

Re: The seat belts, i used 3 securon kits from just kampers fone up and ask for Craig he's the guy to talk too. As they do one specific for the the r an r bed and you will need an extender piece that is separate to fit them . these are 3 point inertia belts and i fitted the rolling reel at the bolt under the window . The bus was a genuine Vw passenger /Westy bus and had fixings just under the rear side windows half way along then use the other hole located on top of the wheel arch ( Where you bolt the bed down ) and the fixings in the middle between the rear arches ( Hidden by the seat) These made up the 3 point mountings :mrgreen:

Gadget

 

[Araon]

WHS^^^ generally 3 or 4 inches and for an MOT as long as the bench is firmly secured and seat belts are anchored as above you'll be fine....

 

[matt-me]

A little tip that worked for me to stop my rear seat cushions sliding about; you can buy from good hardware shops (or IKEA do them as well), a sort of rubberised net type underlay. They are marketed for stopping rugs or mats sliding about on shiny floors. They work a treat on the horizontal cushions, vertical ones you'd have to staple them on. The benefit being you don't have any fixings to worry about so you can turn them over when your kids have totally wrecked one side, and sleep on the good side.