CARGO VAN JUMP SEAT

[WillMartin]

15 hours ago, Fifty150 said:

As a passenger wagon, passenger safety relies on the headrest, seatbelts and air bags.  The headrest is so that your head doesn't snap back and break your neck.  In a cargo van, are those rear passenger airbags still in the van?

 

But I'm sure that WindGuy "gets it".  For what it's worth, I think you did a pretty good job.  Sure, it's not the same as an OEM seat, seatbelt, airbag configuration.  But what he did was a pretty neat mod.  In the old days, I had a Ford Explorer.  Early models were 5 passenger seating.  Many people, myself included, got jump seats and bolted them into the rear cargo bay.  A lot of those mods used UniStrut for the seat mount rails.  

It's a miracle I'm alive.  As a kid, I rode around in the space behind the back seat, above the engine in my dad's VW bug.  Those cars were about as useful in a crash as paper machet and there was nothing except the back window back there and a bit of the seat.  Times change.  When people say they don't build 'em like they used to, I say thank goodness!

[Fifty150]

1 minute ago, WillMartin said:

As a kid, I rode around in the space behind the back seat, above the engine in my dad's VW bug. 

 

 

I remember sleeping in the back of a bug when I was a kid.  

 

My dad also had this Country Squire station wagon.  Kind of like the Griswold road trip mobile.  Back seats were always folded down, and all the kids would ride in the back.  About 10 or 12 kids back there with 1970's bean bags, moving blankets, and sleeping bags.  The whole clan would also pile into the back of a pickup truck.  I remember playing Dodge-Ball in the back of a moving cargo van.  We had so much fun back then.  One accident, and the entire family would have been wiped out.  

 

 

[jrm223]

I can confirm that my van does not have any airbags behind the front seats and there's no evidence of electrical plugs for air bags, either. 

[mrtn]

22 hours ago, WillMartin said:

When people say they don't build 'em like they used to, I say thank goodness!

 

Word. The Bug was never intended to save anyone from a bigger than average bird in a collision but I still get the true radical conservatives praising superiority of old American Iron. 

 

Right:

 

 

[davidparker]

What a waste of a beautiful 1959 bel air!

[Fifty150]

 

[mrtn]

That’s pretty good. The fact that the all glass roof piece survived the head-on collision without cracking speaks of excellent passenger compartment rigidity.

[WillMartin]

On 2/17/2019 at 3:08 PM, Fifty150 said:

 

 

I remember sleeping in the back of a bug when I was a kid.  

 

My dad also had this Country Squire station wagon.  Kind of like the Griswold road trip mobile.  Back seats were always folded down, and all the kids would ride in the back.  About 10 or 12 kids back there with 1970's bean bags, moving blankets, and sleeping bags.  The whole clan would also pile into the back of a pickup truck.  I remember playing Dodge-Ball in the back of a moving cargo van.  We had so much fun back then.  One accident, and the entire family would have been wiped out.  

 

 

Absolutely.  We did the same thing in the 1960s and 1970s.  Brakes were made of balsa wood and tires were vinyl back then, too.  It's a miracle any of us survived it.

 

They don't build 'em like they used to, and I'm grateful for that, having owned and driven some truly awful old cars.

Edited February 23, 2019 by WillMartin

[Fifty150]

I had the "sport edition" Pinto.  A Mustang II.

 

 

 

 

[Fifty150]

3 hours ago, WillMartin said:

Brakes were made of balsa wood

 

 

Sounds like a San Francisco Cable Car.

 

 

 

http://www.cablecarmuseum.org/the-brakes.html

			THE BRAKES The cable cars employ a series of mechanisms to assist in braking the car and regulating its speed. The three parts of this system are the wheel brakes, track brakes, and an emergency brake.   Both front and rear wheels have metal brake shoes, which the gripman operated by means of a pedal located by the grip. The conductor also has a rear brake lever at the back of the Powell and Mason cars for use on steep grades, while the California car has two pedals, one at each end of the car.    Next to the grip and quadrant is a lever that operates the track brakes, pine blocks situated between the wheels. These blocks are pressed into the track whenever the gripman pulls back on the brake lever. The soft wood used exerts pressure on the tracks—sometimes enough to produce smoke—and stops the car. These blocks wear quickly and are replaced every three days or so.  The final brake device is an emergency brake, operated also with a lever near the grip and track brake levers. The brake itself is a one-and-a-half inch thick piece of steel, about eighteen inches in length, hanging under the cars and over the track slot. If the gripman cannot stop the car by other means, pulling on the lever will push the brake down into the slot where it wedges so tightly that it must often be removed with a torch. This action leads to it sometimes being referred to as a “guillotine” brake.  Of course these brakes are in many ways supplemental as the main braking action results from the cable itself, which when tightly held in the grip’s jaws enable the cable cars to move along at a nice 9.5 miles per hour constant speed, even on steep grades.

[G B L]

It is a great thing that the cars are much better and getting better all the time.  They need to because the Average driver is getting worse at the same rate as the improvement in the cars!

[PhotoAl]

LOL, cars are indeed getting better and safer all the time.  Used to be you could buy some stupidly unsafe cars but today every car out there is reasonable safe and quite reliable.  

 

When airbags were first introduced I saw a study that drivers of cars with airbags felt safer and therefore took more chances and actually had worse crashes.  I believe that trend has continued with many drivers feeling safe and therefore willing to take additional risks.  Just because you do something dangerous every day and are not harmed by it does not make it any safer.

[Fifty150]

When public schools lost funding for Drivers Ed, we unleashed a nation of untrained teen drivers; whom all became untrained adults behind the wheel.

 

 

[Bill Jackson]

I did something similar in my 2012 TC cargo. I picked up a jumper seat from a brand new Ford F250, the seat was removed by the dealer to be replaced with commercial vehicle equipment. The seat had a built it lap and shoulder belt and it folded flat into a cup holder/table like all truck front jumper seats. After months of head scratching I too settled on superstrut and all of their attachment hardware to securely attach the seat to the van floor and yet have it easily repositioned, turned around, or removed when need. Just four bolts loosened and the seat can to moved or removed easily. 

[Fifty150]

Mr. Jackson, it sounds like you have found an excellent solution.  Please post photos so that we can copy what you've done.  

[Bill Jackson]

Wow! Never in my life have I had a vehicle that anyone asked for a photo. I love the TC van and I enjoy spending time improving on it. Well here goes. I really like the polished look of the install done at the top of this string. Mine is still just assembled and not yet covered and finished. As I said I got a jumper seat from a new F250 and after many fails decided on rails two feet apart using super-strut and their fasteners. On the Gen1TC you need to be very careful before drilling/screwing into the floor - the passenger side is all gas tank from behind the rear seat footwells to the rear axle. I was able to attach the rail at front and back under the false floor up front and through the floor in the back. Just crawl under there and pick your locations carefully. The seat I chose was a bit narrow - my back seat passenger would slide back and forth on the vinyl. So I built a small frame for armrests and extra side cushion...choose the widest seat you can find. With just a few turns of a wrench I can loosen this seat to move, remove or turn it around. Then I can torque it down tight for a passenger - when torqued you rock the whole van if you do a push test on the seat. Exactly what you want. Please post comments/questions/suggestions for improvements. Thanks to Fifty150 for asking.

[Fifty150]

2 hours ago, Bill Jackson said:

Wow! Never in my life have I had a vehicle that anyone asked for a photo.

 

 

When it comes to modifications, everyone wants to see how you did not.  Looks good.  Interesting placement, right in the middle.  Whomever gets to ride in that seat gets a great view of the road.

[Bill Jackson]

Yes, makes a great seat for someone to navigate from. Also we find we have more lively conversation like we're sitting side by side and can see who we're talking to.  My next project is a folding L shaped couch/bed. I really like SemperKeith's design...everything folds out of the way.  Thanks for the interest and encouragement....makes the van work a lot more fun.

[Fifty150]

6 minutes ago, Bill Jackson said:

 Thanks for the interest and encouragement....makes the van work a lot more fun.

 

 

I like to think that is the reason why we participate in the forum.  To encourage innovation.

 

Or maybe just to rub each other the wrong way, and give someone else a hard time.