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Showing content with the highest reputation on 10/21/2015 in Posts

  1. I've been discussing with Windguy via PM the possibility of utilizing the seatwell area under the LWB van's load floor extension (see page 11 of the Body Builders Layout Book - https://www.fleet.ford.com/truckbbas/non-html/2015/2015_Transit_Connect_v1-0.pdf)) as a potential extra storage area. Since U.S. vans are imported as wagons the seatwell area comes already carpeted, so it could be possible to store stuff there without it rattling around. It seems the seatwells are about 6" deep at the deepest point, but it is split in the center by the driveline hump, where there is perhaps a few inches of clearance. The difference in height from the bottom of the load floor extension to the sill of the sliding door is probably less than 3". Since the LWB model is nearly 16" longer than the SWB model, I thought there was a possibility that the load floor extension was also that long, but I'm virtually certain that it is only about 9" long - the difference in the sliding door width of the SWB vs LWB models. When the van is converted from a wagon in Maryland, there are some exposed seat belt anchor points on the floor (these were bolted down with T-50 Torx bolts). There is a picture of the seatwell area of a LWB wagon in this post: http://fordtransitconnectforum.com/topic/3551-my15-slim-pickins-pics-or-it-didnt-happen/ There is a tower and beam structure that supports the load floor extension, and that is bolted into some of the seat bolt anchors shown in the seatwell picture. I'm guessing there is a box beam that spans the width between the two towers, so it is only the space aft of that box beam that might be modified to provide access to the seat well. And as stated earlier, that can't be more than 9" wide. The load floor extension is less than 4' wide and the driveline hump probably takes away close to a foot of that. So what you are left with is two 9"x18"x6" tall spaces (located more-or-less in the center of the sliding door openings) which could provide a place to store some gear, but the access would pretty much have to be through the load floor. As such, if you store much on the load floor, the practicality of accessing the area won't be very good. I'll be taking out the vinyl load floor when my van is finally delivered, as a plywood floor bolted to the load floor will give me the flexibility that I need for the camping and cycling gear that I'll be storing inside. I would have liked to have accessed the seatwell area as an additional storage space, especially if it could be done without extensive modifications, but it looks as though that is not possible. Or at the very least, I can't think of anything small enough to fit in the seatwell that I can't accommodate more easily elsewhere. A better way to approach converting the space to storage would be to remove the factory load floor extension and create your own custom design for the area (wood would be the simplest option for most people), using the existing T-50 bolt anchors to secure it in place.
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