Day Van Seat Ideas. Help!

[Yetibeard]

Hi all,

I’m after some help/guidance/experiences with choosing the seats for my day van conversion.

I’m about to be the owner of a T6 SWB highline panel van which I’m going have converted into a day van.

I want the most flexibility out of the seats so o can have the benefits of a day van setup and still be able to use it as s van if needed.

I’d like to have the 3 rear seats to be in the usual Kombi location 80-90% of the time. While we’re out on days out if like to be able the have the seat further back with a table and passenger swivel so we can have food/drinks/games etc in comfort.

Ideally id like a bed for just in case situations as well as planned overnight stays.

As a bonus, if like to have the seats as far back in the van to be able to usr the floor space on days out. Secondary bonus is to have easy of full removal.

My initial thoughts were a full width bed seat on rail/track. I soon find out just how expensive these options are.

2nd choice was Bebb yo for on the quick release kombi mounts, and I could clip out/in different locations in the van, but they are only in 3/4 width.

So, my questions!
Is there anything out there I've not considered?
Did anyone else set out with the same idea? What did people go for and how do you find it?

Thanks for reading this far!!

Appreciated ANY help and advice

 

[Strettyp]

I'm a new owner and am literally building my furniture out of wood and putting it in the van as required for the trip I'm doing, so making a bed for when camping, internal bike rack for days out on the bikes etc

Further down the line I'll work out exactly what I want but see this approach as being a low cost low commitment way of using the van in a variety of ways to get to a point where I might commit to something more permanent

There's a huge range of stuff ready built or that you can pay people to do but until you've lived with it a little I'd hold off loading cash into your van that you may regret later on

 

[Yetibeard]

I'm a new owner and am literally building my furniture out of wood and putting it in the van as required for the trip I'm doing, so making a bed for when camping, internal bike rack for days out on the bikes etc

Further down the line I'll work out exactly what I want but see this approach as being a low cost low commitment way of using the van in a variety of ways to get to a point where I might commit to something more permanent

There's a huge range of stuff ready built or that you can pay people to do but until you've lived with it a little I'd hold off loading cash into your van that you may regret later on

That’s a great bit of advice,

 

[Surfrdan]

Quite a few people, myself included have opted to have Caravelle rails installed with a 3 seat bench on the rails giving you the best of both worlds. Bench forward on the kombi 2nd row position is nice for family closeness and large cargo area but park up and slide it right to the rear door and you have a large living area for dining etc. Add swivels to the front 2 seats to complete the setup.
My conversion is here:
Surfrdan Attempts To Turn A Kombi Into A California Beach-ish

 

[Yetibeard]

Quite a few people, myself included have opted to have Caravelle rails installed with a 3 seat bench on the rails giving you the best of both worlds. Bench forward on the kombi 2nd row position is nice for family closeness and large cargo area but park up and slide it right to the rear door and you have a large living area for dining etc. Add swivels to the front 2 seats to complete the setup.
My conversion is here:
Surfrdan Attempts To Turn A Kombi Into A California Beach-ish

Who did the conversion for you and what price for rails floor and seat?

 

[Surfrdan]

Who did the conversion for you and what price for rails floor and seat?

I used my local guys Swanson's who share a unit with VW T5 Upgrades and Black Magic Engineering, all 3 of which I highly recommend.

I hope you are sitting comfortably.

3 seat pandu bench £1695
caravelle rails+floor £1000
side step £80
install costs £500

So a little under 3300 but that is for all brand new parts sourced from new caravelles undergoing wheelchair ramp fitments from new.
I suspect some money could be saved by sourcing 2nd hand parts and using a CNC'd ply floor with altro or rubber covering. I opted for the original carpeted floor as it was bundled in the deal but I was quite keen on a rubber penny flooring a la California beach.

 

[Yetibeard]

I used my local guys Swanson's who share a unit with VW T5 Upgrades and Black Magic Engineering, all 3 of which I highly recommend.

I hope you are sitting comfortably.

3 seat pandu bench £1695
caravelle rails+floor £1000
side step £80
install costs £500

So a little under 3300 but that is for all brand new parts sourced from new caravelles undergoing wheelchair ramp fitments from new.
I suspect some money could be saved by sourcing 2nd hand parts and using a CNC'd ply floor with altro or rubber covering. I opted for the original carpeted floor as it was bundled in the deal but I was quite keen on a rubber penny flooring a la California beach.

I wasn’t sitting that comfortably!!!
Thanks, il see what 2nd hand options I can get. I can see floor and rails for £1k on eBay

 

[Barry Buckley]

Hi Mate,
I have a 2016 T6, bought it and it had been already converted to day van, with the set of seats sitting solid against back doors of van. This then folds into bed.
Im a mechanic offshore, and a HGV mechanic to trade, im just beginning to look into building a slide / adjustable rail to move the seating position.....currently just at the early stages so seeing whats out there.
At the moment going to price up linear guides on rail, but like i said early days.....any advice or replies would be greatly shared......