Floorpan

Is there a document anywhere which shows the layout and dimensions of the ridge and troughs of the cargo floor?

Im not yet ready to rip up the current floor in the van but would like to know if my seat layout will be possible to make fit on the ridges or troughs of the floor, failing that im going ot have to make some shaped reinforcements if i need to drill through the angled part which I would like to avoid.

one way of making the shaped reinforecements might be to cut some sections from a scrapped van floor but Ive been unable to find any here

You could try looking under the van... Worked for me.

Could do but we've just had 39mm of rain in a couple of hours. If I can avoid crawling around on my back a document would be great. And seeing as it worked for you what are the dimensions?

There are heaps of ridges and troughs Phil. I have a set of 13 original MB seats out of an '02 T1N LWB mini bus (of which I'm using 5), and even they don't line up properly on the ridges/troughs.

I think the only way of getting it matching is to get the factory 2nd row of 3 seats, which fit the 3 slightly deeper troughs. But those troughs were no good for my layout, and like I said, my factory 2-up seats didn't even match the normal troughs, let alone the big 3 seater troughs.

But I don't think its that much of an issue really. Underneath you will have say 250x100 4mm thick steel plates - with a slight U section. And they will bolt in across a few troughs. Then on top you can put in an 8mm thick spacer under the legs that are in a trough. Then the plywood floor covers it all up.

I've just finished putting my seats in today actually, I still have the plywood floor out for now. Would you like a photo or two?

Mini bus seats are OZ retrofitted.
Mercedes never offered the passenger seat option in the Sprinter line up.
However Mercedes Vito will fit the voids, as will VW Caravel as the use the same floor profile. These require the OEM supplied base bracketing to be fitted for the seats to correctly fit.
Richard

Altered Sprinter said:

Mini bus seats are OZ retrofitted.

Click to expand...

Yes I think you're right Richard, some of the welds and the use of different sized bolts on these seats are most un-German like. Still, they are nice seats with integrated belts and are perfect for my required layout.

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/VoYU8IRpVYqZLW1pJmJ4CtMTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=directlink

owner said:

Yes I think you're right Richard, some of the welds and the use of different sized bolts on these seats are most un-German like. Still, they are nice seats with integrated belts and are perfect for my required layout.

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/VoYU8IRpVYqZLW1pJmJ4CtMTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=directlink

Click to expand...

Martin fitted Ford transit seats in his van at the rear and dam they look good to.
Richard

thanks guys, yeah a picture would be great Owner.

Actually bought 7 transit seats with integrated seatbelts that came from a wrecked minibus, came complete with the Unwin leg fittings to go into L-track, bit of a bargain really cost me about half the price I was looking at for a new techsafe folding triple with integrated seatbelts (and I hate the folding mechanism they have). I think for the 8 unwin fittings alone I would have been looking at paying more than I paid in total.


The engineer I am using here to certify the seats and Ltrack fitting will accept a 17mm thick pice of ply routed to take the track as enough to bridge the gaps, I may or may not add spacers under it for thoroughness depending on how many holes end up through the angles. The underside reinforcement is where im not sure what will be accepted, vsb5 talks about shaped reinforcement plates, but im sure the local van fitting company just use large washers and that gets them through.

This is what the minibus seats mount with underneath...
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/9ACtGqPVRxzy6NzCkvuOydMTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=directlink

In the overall photo you can see I have laid a tape measure down. It is hooked on at the main passenger side step edge, and is 1300mm to the other drivers step edge (I have sliders on both sides). I have taken a closer shot of each of the legs, so you can see measurements at each point to get a better idea of the ridges and troughs.
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/VoYU8IRpVYqZLW1pJmJ4CtMTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=directlink

Drivers end seat mounting...
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/lQ7fP-N2dX9Do6sAua01ltMTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=directlink

Middle seat mounting...
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/5vO4fcrwGr-oj6TcdCW1C9MTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=directlink

Passenger end seat mounting...
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/9yxE0MgOmzADmZWEPfanAdMTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=directlink

I mounted mine hard against the drivers side slider to maximise the space on the passenger side slider for my camper layout. My seats are quite wide because they are the proper minibus seats which are supposed to be comfortable on long journeys etc. So I have just enough room for my desired layout, and you can see I had to loose the armrest on the drivers end. I also had to modify the leg for the drivers end seat leg mount because I have the step well there.

And like I posted before, this is what the minibus seats mount with underneath (which is what they had when they were the official minibus)...
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/9ACtGqPVRxzy6NzCkvuOydMTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=directlink
Actually, the minibus underfloor mounts are all different sizes and shapes, I used the biggest single mounts for mine, some of them are much smaller, some are a bar that does 2 bolts etc etc.


Also on your rough layout photos, I noticed that the drivers end seats have the shoulder belt coming from the centre out. I wouldn't do it like that myself (though I know that is how some minibus layouts are anyway). If someone ploughs into the drivers side, that person will not be held at the shoulder so they will slam into the van wall that is being pushed in to meet them. I'd hate to be sitting there. You might notice I have carefully chosen my seat backs (was able to pick and choose from 13 seats) so that the end seats have the shoulder mounts on the outside.

Philj, here's a drawing file of the layout. This is all I could find, it doesn't include the floor dimensions though.

Bruce

bc339 thanks, I have that file cheers. Ive actually created it as a dxf cad file should anyone need it.

Owner, thank you very much for those pictures, it highlighted a couple of areas which i needed to think about a bit more closely and think I now have a layout which means I can get 7 rows of L track in and miss the box section, miss the underfloor seams and still have the flexibility I wanted for seat arrangements and numbers. Your point about the location of the sash belts is taken onboard, I have 3 doubles 2 with them one way and one with them the other so should always be able to have the sash outboard. I'm not convinced it will make a great deal of difference in a side impact without pretensioners ( I went and experimented to see how much the seatbelt restrains one laterally and I dont think it is much) however something may be better than nothing.

Speaking of side impact im giveing some serious consideration to adding some side impact protection to the door and opposite panel, that probably deserves another thread.

Ive started removing my floor now so ill find out for sure if my track layout is plausible.