Technical Double seat swivel or change to single seat?

[nigelvan]

I converted my Citroen Jumper (Relay in the UK, same as Ducato/X250) 3 years ago into a campervan and we really love exploring Europe with it. Lately I've been playing with the idea of changing the interior a bit and incorporating the front seats into the living area. Because it's still a van I have a double passenger bench in the front. I can either buy a (quite expensive because of import duties) double swivel from Custom Shop Designs in the UK or get a single seat and put it on a more common swivel.
Now I was convinced on spending a bit extra on the double swivel but now I'm reading a lot of negative comments about it being not so practical and unstable in the reversed position, but I'm not sure if it is really that bad. Still, a lot of money for a gamble. So if someone has experience with this swivel, I would be happy to hear it.

Now getting to option b: a single seat isn't cheap either. I think I read on this forum somewhere that I can get a driver's seat and use it as a passenger seat. What about the seatbelt? I have a LHD so getting a driver's seat from a UK RHD vehicle would also be an option, but then again, import duties.
Something to consider is that when I change the bench with a seat I might run into troubles with technical inspection (MOT but in Belgium) here because as a freight vehicle I need a phsyical barrier between cockpit and cargo, the bench qualifies as one, a single seat does not. So I might need to swap it back to the original state every year in order to get the nice green paper.

 

[bugsymike]

Sounds like lots of different problems.
Another issue may be ABS sensors etc. in the seat/seats and depending on what it sees in the ECU.
Also if it has to be read/deleted in the ECU to put out warning dash lights etc.You may need Citroen diagnostic tool.
I have a Scudo that because it has the 2.0 Peugeot engine MES software won't "talk to it".
I also have MaxiEcu scan tool to work on that Fiat and my Doblo, but the same model badged as a Vauxhall it can't "talk to".
Of course if your van is older this may not be an issue if no wiring to the seats.

 

[nigelvan]

Sounds like lots of different problems.
Another issue may be ABS sensors etc. in the seat/seats and depending on what it sees in the ECU.
Also if it has to be read/deleted in the ECU to put out warning dash lights etc.You may need Citroen diagnostic tool.
I have a Scudo that because it has the 2.0 Peugeot engine MES software won't "talk to it".
I also have MaxiEcu scan tool to work on that Fiat and my Doblo, but the same model badged as a Vauxhall it can't "talk to".
Of course if your van is older this may not be an issue if no wiring to the seats.

Yes I'm aware of the SRS issue, I think you mean that. The middle seat pretensioner. I believe you can bridge that with a resistor so the SRS system still sees the pretensioner. Yeah I've given MES a try and while I can talk to the ECU of the Iveco 3.0 power plant it doesn't talk to the rest. I already suspected it was because it is in fact a Citroen...

 

[PuntoHowTo]

My brother converts vans into campers, I know he has fitted quite a few of these double seat swivel bases, the ones I’ve seen you sort of release the seat then it can move around on the floor to turn it round as otherwise the seat would not turn smoothly 180 degrees without fouling the door pillar.

That being said you would not use the van while the seat is turned round (or at least you shouldn’t) so when forward facing all that is important is the seat stays attached firmly to the floor, which the bases are designed for. In reverse it should still be stable they are quite heavy duty and made out of some pretty thick plate steel.

If I were you I might plan a trip to the Uk visit the company that makes them, fit it, and drive back again, incorporate that in a holiday and then no one is going to know you’ve imported it, and also no shipping to pay.

Again my brother has a lot of over seas customers who bring their vans over, they pay UK VAT but he doesn’t know or get involved in what they pay taking the van back over, some of them have complete conversions, pop top, beds kitchens cupboards it can add up to quite a lot of money

 

[bugsymike]

Yes I'm aware of the SRS issue, I think you mean that. The middle seat pretensioner. I believe you can bridge that with a resistor so the SRS system still sees the pretensioner. Yeah I've given MES a try and while I can talk to the ECU of the Iveco 3.0 power plant it doesn't talk to the rest. I already suspected it was because it is in fact a Citroen...

Yes I call it "Air bag System" hence easy to mix with ABS Anti Lock Braking System, you wouldn't think I had retired after 55 years in Motor Trade
So it probably has a seat occupancy sensor as well as the pretensioner plug?
I had to sort a Punto Evo of one of my daughters, she had bought it with a badly repaired passenger seat sensor, the guys repair bridged the resistor and in so doing destroyed the BCM. I got a basic Chinese seat sensor and then soldered the old resistor into the wiring plug at a cost of £6 so it still worked, instead of the Fiat one of around £137 I think, I still had to buy a BCM unused from eBay for £149 and then used my friends Snap On Zeus Diagnostic tool to run a "proxi Alignment " program to sort, still going two years later.
I used to run Iveco Daily's, but mostly 2.8 Sofim engines and rear wheel drive.

 

[IanWalrus]

SWMBO has a VW T6 camper, with a double seat swivel, with a slider, so you can move the seat back about 1m and rotate it. It's a game changer - so much easier to turn than a fixed swivel, no fouling the door pillar.

 

[Reg 65]

Yes I'm aware of the SRS issue, I think you mean that. The middle seat pretensioner. I believe you can bridge that with a resistor so the SRS system still sees the pretensioner. .....

yes - you need about a 2.2 ohm resistor - or a sidelight bulb about 5 watts will do
Just wire the 2 connections of the resistor or bulb in place of the 2 wires going to the pretensioner, and the computer will think the pretensioner is still there

 

[nigelvan]

And can somebody point out if I can take a driver's seat from a LHD (that will be easy to find around here) and put it on the right side, swapping over the seatbelt?

 

[bugsymike]

And can somebody point out if I can take a driver's seat from a LHD (that will be easy to find around here) and put it on the right side, swapping over the seatbelt?

Seat belt stalk side sound tricky to me if using a LHD seat if stalk is normally bolted nearest to centre of vehicle on the seat.
If seat was not sliding/adjustable then it may be possible to locate a seat belt floor mount position, but that would defeat your aims.

 

[PuntoHowTo]

I think Bugsymike might be right. I have had seats out of many cars over the years and while the basic frame of a seat is usually the same left to right. There are bits welded on such as the mountings for the seatbelt and the seat adjuster being reversed that results in the seat not being compatible on the other side of the vehicle.

 

[bugsymike]

I think Bugsymike might be right. I have had seats out of many cars over the years and while the basic frame of a seat is usually the same left to right. There are bits welded on such as the mountings for the seatbelt and the seat adjuster being reversed that results in the seat not being compatible on the other side of the vehicle.

Some on vans particularly when looking from the back have a bias of the seat from the floor mounting towards the door etc, so there may be many little differences.