Adding Extra Seats
The biggest con of getting the cargo version of the Ford Transit is that it only comes with two front seats. With only two seats it makes hanging out in the “living room” hard to do. It also prevents us from taking friends with us on adventures.
So we added a Freeman Handi-Flip folding bench seat. Now Gidget has a total of 4 seats with seat belts.
We had help with the install to make sure it was safe. If you decide to install an aftermarket seat we strongly encourage you have it done professionally.
Spec sheet for the Handi-Flip bench seat.
We added some steel plates to the undercarriage of the van to provide extra reinforcement to the area the seat was to be mounted.
First we made cardboard templates.
A drill press was used to put holes in for the bolts.
Steel plates before being painted. We used thick 304L steel we picked up from a local metal supply store.
This picture was taken from underneath the van looking up through the drilled holes. After drilling holes, we sanded and painted the edges black. The steel plates fit exactly within this rectangle without much clearance.
Inside before seat was set into place and bolted.
When the seat is in the closed position it takes up 11″ by 36″ of floor space.
When the seat is in the open position it takes up 24″ by 36″ of floor space.
The van floor cross members dictated where the seat could be installed. This resulted in a 12″ gap between the seat and the bed. In the next blog post we will show what we did about it.
After installing the folding seat we realized there was a large gap between the seat and the bed.
I am in the process of Converting a 2017 Transit and have been using many of your ideas. I really appreciate your sharing of information. One thing that I don’t see is any specifics about your refrigerator. I would really be interested any info you could give on how you selected a brand and how you connected it for power.
Thanks, Dennis
We have a TruckFridge (http://amzn.to/2ywiOgl) which is a 12v low power fridge. It works really well and doesn’t use much power. It’s hooked up to our house battery through a fuse. I plan on doing a write up about the electrical system soon.
Thanks for posting the info about your seat. We have enjoyed following your posts. What paint/primer did you use on your stainless steel? I know it can be hard to get paint to stick to stainless steel. Thank you.
Honestly we just use Rustoleum from Home Depot
Where did you order the seat from and what was the cost?
Thanks!
http://www.freedmanseating.com/ cost was under $500, depends on fabric and options, you would have to talk to Freedman to get an accurate quote.
Do you think its possible to have that seat for 3 ? and 3 point seat beat ?
I havent found many option that were kids freindly.
Nice van! 🙂
Cheers!
The seat could fit 3 smaller people just fine. You could probably make a 3 point belt work if you can find a strong place to anchor the top shoulder strap.
Thanks so much for all the info. It looks like you already had the floor installed before the extra seats. Did you just drill straight through the vynil? Is the new seat removable?
Thanks!
Yes, just drilled straight through the vinyl. The new seat is not removable, unless I take the bolts and nuts out, so I guess it sort of removable.
Thanks a bunch for sharing so many great details. Although I’ve binged on Transit conversion sites for months, yours is the first that mentions Freedman seatting. I’m so glad I found your blog. BTW, your videos are awesome too.
Any chance of adding an image depicting the relationship between the added seat and the swivel seat converted front passenger seat?
Hey Matt. Thank you so much for sharing with the world how you’re using our HandiFlip seat! Great job on this build. We’ve recently updated the HandFlip and gave it a new name: EconoFlip. One of the biggest updates is the optional USR (Under Seat Retractor) seat belts.
Here is the updated web link: https://www.freedmanseating.com/seats/econoflip/
Let us know if you have any questions about our Flip and Foldaway seating products.