The path from a tin box van to a cozy mobile home is not always straightforward. Anyone who buys a used vehicle often has to go with one Double bench seat in the panel van Make do with three seats in the driver's cab. However, depending on the layout of the camper extension or the required number of seats, this is not always an advantage - the single passenger seat must come! From the technical side, this is usually not difficult, but the love bureaucracy takes less fun in that regard
Challenge regulatory authority
Depending on the country of registration, the canton of registration and possibly even Admissions office or technical examiner the requirements and eligibility criteria for aftermarket seats and swivels may vary. Less because of different legal situation, rather because of different interpretation of the latter. It is therefore always worthwhile to carry out appropriate preliminary clarifications before the conversion in order to ensure that everyone involved to avoid trouble later.
But now to the options that you usually have when castling the passenger seat. We distinguish between original double seat and original passenger seat and pilot seat, which comes from a third party.
Variant 1: from double seat bench to single passenger seat (OEM)
So it's worth going to his vehicle in advance Manufacturer configurator to have a look or to ask the brand representative whether the model is also “only” available with two individual seats. If so, then the appropriate one exists type approval with a certain probability also with only two seats and the exchange is usually possible without any problems on the part of the approval. From the technical side you have to think about a few other things, especially if it is a modern vehicle with e.g Seat heating, passenger detection, belt tensioners etc. acts. the used original seats are very popular and therefore not cheap, a new seat from aftersales tends to be unaffordable.
With a lot of luck, you might be able to sell the double seat bench for small change, but that doesn't necessarily give you high hopes. A visit to Road Traffic Office for seat change don't stop here.
Variant 2: from a double seat bench to a new pilot's seat
If the used market doesn't have what you need, then there's nothing left but these Retrofitting a third-party seat. From a technical point of view, a new seat base, slide rails, adapter plates and other things are sometimes required. From the approval side, these seats have to meet certain requirements with regard to anchoring the seat belts, the belts themselves and the strength of the seats, headrests and their anchoring points. And no, it needs in Switzerland not always a DTC report, i.e. a sometimes quite expensive sheet of paper, as is often requested here and there. Very many manufacturers can have one for their products ECE homologation or a general operating permit on various vehicle types and have corresponding Proof of testing and compliance are already available, so that a technical change can be made after installation according to the manufacturer's specifications.
It is important to check whether the respective vehicle variant with the year of manufacture in the type approval is included. In our shop you will find the seats that can be retrofitted and we will be happy to support you with the technical change.
Variant 3: Swivel console for single seat or double seat bench
If you now have two individual seats, one or the other thinks about making them rotatable in order to be able to use the living space in the camper a little better. The game with the Admission is comparable on the spot to the single seat: ECE regulations must be fulfilled and verifiable. With the double seat bench, the available options for the rotating console are very small, I only know of some for the VW T5/T6 that actually have an approval. For a large number of driver's seats and individual passenger seats, however, there is the option of retrofitting a rotating console. A little hint at this point: the rotating consoles are either for one Original seat of a vehicle types or for the specific combination of seat base and Third-party pilot seat approved for a vehicle type. In our shop you will find the models where a Retrofitting without individual approval is possible.
All in all lies the Difficulty retrofitting of individual seats and swivel consoles in the search for the right parts and the Preparation of the documentation. In comparison, the conversion is downright a pleasure.
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