Hi Folks, still a bit of a newbie to this Forum but learning every day about a multitude of potential Van Mods. One of the first Mods I am looking at is a dual passenger swivel seat. Has anyone experience of the Jennings swivel seat? This product looks different (and easier) from all the others that require you to unscrew a hand-wheel mechanism. Any advice or comments is greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Jennings Swivel Seats
- Thread starter BertieT
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- jennings swivel seat
I went with the kiravans one but must admit, if id have seen this I probably would have gone for it as the design looks better. Price is very similar as well.
Can't comment on the bench swivel, but I can say Jennings was a great company to deal with. I recently bought a Sportscraft swivel and lowered driver seat base (with lowered handbrake mount) from them and they were very helpful on the phone, predrilled some holes in the base for me, and shipped it all to arrive the next day. I'll be buying the passenger side from them once I have relocated the leisure battery.
Slick design but there was no mention of crash testing / TUV approval in the video.
Hi @BertieT did you go with this in the end? I am looking at the same thing, and assuming fitting is fairly straightforward? Loads of vids on Utube for Rusty Lee and Kiravans etc, but haven't seen one for this design. Also wondered how much it raised the seat by? Cheers
Would also like to get some feedback from other members who may have installed this product.
I fitted a Jennings double seat swivel today, I know there has been some interest in these so I thought I would post some pics and early thoughts. Please note: I haven’t owned or fitted a swivel before, so I have no reference point to make comparisons.
I ordered it on Tuesday and it arrived Friday, quite expensive compared to the Rusty Lees etc, but I was attracted by the handle mechanisms and lack of twisty knobs all over the shop. It is a really heavy piece of kit and seems very robust. There were no instructions in the box, so you are on your own… although to be fair there is only one way for it to go in.
I had left the removal of the final piece of bulk head bracketry til the swivel arrived so I would only have to take the seat out once, and said bracket was removed without incident, a spot weld drill is really handy for this.
I moved the wiring under the cabin carpet, and cut a small flap near the handbrake in order to access the single yellow due in the holder (I have no idea what it is for, but I know if it was hidden under the seat it would blow immediately to annoy me). There is plenty of room under the swivel so you don’t need to really crush the wiring into the channel.
The swivel fitted over the bolts with no issues, the holes are slightly elongated front to back but seemed to be perfectly positioned. You do need a bit of blue tac in your socket to stop the sodding nuts falling out and into the channels, but otherwise no major drama. One hole in the plastic (I thinks its PTFE) slip layer needed a bit of adjustment to allow the socket to go in vertically, but it cut easily with a Stanley knife.
At this stage I tried the locking mechanism, you have to unlock it to get access to all the bolts, and it was quite tough to get it to lock again, I though may be it was because the bottom plate had distorted slightly when I tightened down the nuts, but it sorted itself with a bit of fiddling, I also thought that maybe the weight of the seat would help once in place.
The double seat was put in position, the holes all lined up perfectly with the bolts in the swivel, and then I suddenly realised I didn’t have any nuts to secure it, a panicky root thru the box and packaging finally revealed a bag of lock nuts, note these are 17mm, the vw originals you have to undo to remove the seat are 16mm.
The first attempt at swivelling the seat was a bit difficult until I remembered you have to drop the handbrake (van in gear) before swivelling. Getting it back round proved more difficult, the red handles have to be as far up as you can get them, they have a tendency to move back a little and the mechanism underneath seems catch on the edge of the swivel. I think with a bit of practice it will be fairly straightforward.
One thing to note is that it raises the double seat by 50mm, which if you are tall (i’m 6’3) it means you are banging your head on the roof. When you spin it round facing the inside it is fine, although this is because of the gap where the pop top sits. As I am the driver it’s not a problem, SWMBO is only 5’ 4” and she thinks its great.
As mentioned I have no previous experience of swivels but this seems absolutely rock solid, and well made. I’m not overly happy about the height increase, but tbh I am unlikely to be sitting on the passenger side when the vehicle is in motion, I found the passenger seats to be a bit close to the dash anyway (before I fitted the swivel). I guess all swivels raise the height, but there isn’t currently an option for a lowered base/box for the double seat. Will see how we go, maybe change to a captains seat in the future.
I ordered it on Tuesday and it arrived Friday, quite expensive compared to the Rusty Lees etc, but I was attracted by the handle mechanisms and lack of twisty knobs all over the shop. It is a really heavy piece of kit and seems very robust. There were no instructions in the box, so you are on your own… although to be fair there is only one way for it to go in.
I had left the removal of the final piece of bulk head bracketry til the swivel arrived so I would only have to take the seat out once, and said bracket was removed without incident, a spot weld drill is really handy for this.
I moved the wiring under the cabin carpet, and cut a small flap near the handbrake in order to access the single yellow due in the holder (I have no idea what it is for, but I know if it was hidden under the seat it would blow immediately to annoy me). There is plenty of room under the swivel so you don’t need to really crush the wiring into the channel.
The swivel fitted over the bolts with no issues, the holes are slightly elongated front to back but seemed to be perfectly positioned. You do need a bit of blue tac in your socket to stop the sodding nuts falling out and into the channels, but otherwise no major drama. One hole in the plastic (I thinks its PTFE) slip layer needed a bit of adjustment to allow the socket to go in vertically, but it cut easily with a Stanley knife.
At this stage I tried the locking mechanism, you have to unlock it to get access to all the bolts, and it was quite tough to get it to lock again, I though may be it was because the bottom plate had distorted slightly when I tightened down the nuts, but it sorted itself with a bit of fiddling, I also thought that maybe the weight of the seat would help once in place.
The double seat was put in position, the holes all lined up perfectly with the bolts in the swivel, and then I suddenly realised I didn’t have any nuts to secure it, a panicky root thru the box and packaging finally revealed a bag of lock nuts, note these are 17mm, the vw originals you have to undo to remove the seat are 16mm.
The first attempt at swivelling the seat was a bit difficult until I remembered you have to drop the handbrake (van in gear) before swivelling. Getting it back round proved more difficult, the red handles have to be as far up as you can get them, they have a tendency to move back a little and the mechanism underneath seems catch on the edge of the swivel. I think with a bit of practice it will be fairly straightforward.
One thing to note is that it raises the double seat by 50mm, which if you are tall (i’m 6’3) it means you are banging your head on the roof. When you spin it round facing the inside it is fine, although this is because of the gap where the pop top sits. As I am the driver it’s not a problem, SWMBO is only 5’ 4” and she thinks its great.
As mentioned I have no previous experience of swivels but this seems absolutely rock solid, and well made. I’m not overly happy about the height increase, but tbh I am unlikely to be sitting on the passenger side when the vehicle is in motion, I found the passenger seats to be a bit close to the dash anyway (before I fitted the swivel). I guess all swivels raise the height, but there isn’t currently an option for a lowered base/box for the double seat. Will see how we go, maybe change to a captains seat in the future.
Thanks for taking the time to do a review. Love the fact that you didn’t have to cut bolts down like the Kiravans version, that was a ball ache I could have done without. I would have gone for this if I’d have known. Good job
