Installing a 3rd seat in the front.

I have two kids and often need to pick them up on the way home from work.
THere are only two seats in the sprinter, rather than go home to get the car I though it would be better to add a seat for another person.
I looked around for the oem model and none could be found that I was aware of, at least in the USA.
So I started to scan Craigslist for something that would work and came up with this.
I think it came out of a Chevy Tahoe or an avalanche.





The holes were a little off on the front so I added a extention and drilled new holes.




I removed the passenger seat and removed the right 3 bolts on the driver seat rail and slid it under the slider rail and placed a shim under the 3rd hold down bolt to keep rail straight.



I repalced the passenger seat with shim on 3rd bolt and didn't bother to put any shims on the side nearest the door since it was only 1/8" or so thick.









You may notice that the passenger seat is a little tattered.
During the process I discovered that the driver and passenger seat cushion are interchangeable.
My drivers seat was just starting to tear and I though it was a good time to switch it before it got a big hole in it.
I looked at the seat back and wanted to exchange it also since the lumbar blader leaks but it looked like they were right and left handed so I skipped that.
I now have too many cup holders and was thinking of trying to eliminate the ones nearest the floor for a little more leg room. Does this come out easy?
I figure I can try it for a bit to see what I like best.

The cup holders in the jump seat are rivited on so I can just drill them out if needed but figured they are kinda nice up higher and easier to reach.
The storage area can hold gloves,napkins,pens, mileage log etc.
It is comfortable to sit on even for me at 6'1" 185lb.
I just bolted it up so if I don't like it I can just take it out.
I have some wasted space under the seat that could be used for my lunch box and water jug if I can get the lower cup holders etc out of the way.
If I do it just right I think I can open the bulkhead door behind the carpeted bulkhead and jumpseat to slide long boards or a ladder under the seat if needed.

Chad

Seating has design mounting rules requiring ADR's or qualification by Engineers certificates plus Registration, Insurance and Police implications, not wishing to rain on your parade but you may be playing with fire without realizing it.

amboman said:

Seating has design mounting rules requiring ADR's or qualification by Engineers certificates plus ...

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Here in the wild-and-wooly USA the rules tend to be quite a bit looser, and on a state-by-state basis
(so 50 differing legal opinions on what's right)

I fully agree that you *want* any such installation to be able to handle the loads of a crash.
There are guidelines from the add-a-seat and add-a-belt suppliers that help
The various state rules give guidance by careful reading (they usually default to national "standards" (see footnote))

Looking at this third seat, i'd remove both sets of cup holders, since they'd stand a good chance of doing severe leg damage to any occupant.
I'd opt for padding (relatively high-density foam, such as Ensolite) the console as knee/leg protection.
Heck, i'd probably move the seat back a bit for more clearance.
Whether or not the seat flanges "slipped under the rail" would hold during a side-impact is an interesting question.

How does the emergency brake handle clear the driver's side mounting feet?

--dick

footnote: here in Washington State, seats in the cargo area that are side-facing do NOT require seatbelts, since "there are no federal standards and no controlled crash data sets" for same.
Since i don't like the idea of flying objects (passengers) during an incident, I worked some into my bed/couch's mountings, but i'm not pleased with them.
The dynamics of trying to restrain someone from sliding/folding/flapping sideways while minimizing internal damage are difficult.

chads said:

I now have too many cup holders and was thinking of trying to eliminate the ones nearest the floor for a little more leg room. Does this come out easy?


Chad

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I think it's a couple of pieces- pull up the round rubber base in each cupholder and you will see two screws. Remove these and the top piece comes off, then I think there are 4 screws that hold the base to the floor. 5 min job.

Good job man!

I'm in the same boat with two kids and I hate picking them up cuz it's ride in the front together or my son sits on a bucket in the back. Both ways are not good but I gota do what I gota do.
I'm starting my search tonight for that seat.

Maybe I didn't make the install too clear.

I took the time to make one hole on each leg match up with the front and rear bolt on each seat rail of the driver and passenger seat to make it secure.
Four bolts run thru the jumpseat feet to keep it from sliding out.
Looking at it compared to most factory seats I feel it is pretty close to what most factory installers accomplish.

Does anyone have a two passenger front seat I could look at to see how it is mounted?
I could adapt it if needed.

The parking brake has limited travel but if I figure out how to adjust it I could still use it.

I often think about all the times we rode on the back of a pickup over the years.
I too have rode buckets and even lawn chairs in a van.
Remember the carseat made of metal that hung with two hooks over the front seat.
Definately not ideal but I guess things have changed since then.
Chad

One thing to look at might be the fit of a 2-seat benck in the place of the passenger seat. I would be concerned about access to the E-brake myself.

The parking brake has limited travel but if I figure out how to adjust it I could still use it.

Click to expand...

The adjuster is underneath the center of the Sprinter.

Page 5-26 in the 2006 service manual (from http://aie-services-2.net/Sprinter/ ):



..basically: pull up the handle one click, adjust until wheels can barely be turned by hand, drop handle, verify wheels spin freely.
Too tight, and you wear out the pads (for a while). Too loose, and you'll hit your 3rd seat mounting.

--dick (who, before the days of dual-circuit brakes, had to stop two different cars with the hand brake after catastrophic hydraulic brake failure in traffic. Failures after dual circuits still appreciated having the hand brake.)

Child seats?

Heck, anyone remember laying up on the rear window shelf?

Back when cars had them, and you could actually do such a thing.