Ford Transit Van Seats for the Kids

[@hammocktimenapper]

Thanks for making this. Also you have exactly the same chop saw that my now deceased grandfather gave me so it was a double nice video to watch!

[@patriciaduong4052]

Are y'all still making these videos because I think they are great!!!!

[@ChelseaAlyssa7186]

This is a really awesome and helpful video!! Thank you!!

[@edenfieldwarrior]

Just watched the children’s seat installation. Another good job.

[@BeginningfromthisMorning]

Thank you! It has been fun sharing our journey!

[@jimmac521]

was really glad to see those backing plates instead of "washers" good job!!!

[@laniemccann4142]

Oh god I keep looking 🙏I love to have those seat 💺💺for my 2 babies I’m planning to buy Ford connect next year 🙏

[@hakunamatataadventurebus5944]

Wow, your kids are really growing!

[@BeginningfromthisMorning]

It makes me want to cry! I look back at the pictures of when we started and they were so little!

[@dirtroadsailing6418]

Nice find on those seats and they're never going to pull out. I got a suggestion to watch another of your videos when I clicked to watch this and much to my surprise it was when you installed Maxxair vents fans, from Sept. 2017. Juan, you have much more gray hair than when you started on this bus, you need to hurry up and get it finished!

[@BeginningfromthisMorning]

LOL yes ... in November of this year we will celebrate 4 years with this our bus. Needless to say we had absolutely no idea what we were getting ourselves into! We hope to be wrapping it up this year and finally hitting the road with much larger kids and much more grey hair :)

[@mikesell6875]

Really well engineered both, the kids are in safe hands 🚍 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

[@BeginningfromthisMorning]

Thank you Mike

[@bobcalgarycanada8582]

All Aboard. Next Stop. You Pick. Well Done👍👍👍

[@BeginningfromthisMorning]

Thank you Bob!

[@RevMarket]

You may want to put plates on the floor as well. The forces on the seats with children in them will be greatly magnified. Though with being a large bus the absorption forces of the rest of the bus may make my point moot?

[@BeginningfromthisMorning]

Thanks RevMarket - I thought the same thing as well. The bus will probably end up around 25K pounds. More is almost always better but I hope this is good enough :)

[@CharlieBrown-pb9xn]

@@BeginningfromthisMorning Its perfect as is.. I couldnt really see the welds but im a welder and the sound, sounded perfect. Ive been welding for 20 years or so and I can tell a bit just from sound.

[@BeginningfromthisMorning]

@@CharlieBrown-pb9xn WOW thanks Charlie - we get a little better each time :)

[@CharlieBrown-pb9xn]

@@BeginningfromthisMorning Maybe use fresh locknuts if disasembled and put back together for flooring

[@CharlieBrown-pb9xn]

@@BeginningfromthisMorning fastenal is a really good sourse for high grade bolts and nuts. They even deliver.

[@normanboyes4983]

Very well engineered and executed.😀👍

[@gregorythomas333]

Another awesome job! I was a bit concerned when you mentioned just washers for the underside mounting but with the addition of the plates you definitely surpassed OE standards. Some people freak out when you build your own safety devices but I have found that most homemade stuff is usually better than store bought for quality & safety. These look very well built and will be safe for your most precious cargo :)

[@BeginningfromthisMorning]

Thank you Gregory - I totally understand when people freak out a little bit about safety devices and I try to do my homework. It could be built like a tank and there would still be folks saying it is not enough. When you compare what I have done here with what came from the factory you can clearly see this is going to withstand much more force. Some folks will never be happy and we have to leave it at that :)

[@JerrysThisandThat]

Nicely done on those seat mount brackets, looks good and solid. I did get a chuckle out of Juan's welding helmet. Lol

[@BeginningfromthisMorning]

LOL thank you Jerry

[@brycejeannotte7699]

Good choice on going with the steel plate for the seat anchors. I was thinking that washers would not be the best choice with a plywood floor. Now the force is spread over a much larger area. Very cool that they can just clip in and out.

[@BeginningfromthisMorning]

Thank you Bryce we have been taking them in and out as we do different projects - it has been very convenient!

[@braylenabraham921]

Instablaster

[@peterg.8245]

Killin’ it like overkill 😎 That’s my style! Built a deck off a backdoor once, maybe 8’x5’, and overbuilt it so much that when they need to work under the deck they lifted it out in one piece. The condenser coolant lines went under the slab and had been used a rat highway into the house.

[@BeginningfromthisMorning]

Thank you Peter Great minds think alike!

[@sajithaperera1228]

Excellent work as always guys. Your priority to safety is really impressive.

[@BeginningfromthisMorning]

Thanks 👍

[@worldfamouspopcorn19]

Looks great very thoughtful. Awesome job.

[@BeginningfromthisMorning]

Thank you very much!

[@timothykemp238]

Wow love your floor plan another great job thanks stay safe.

[@BeginningfromthisMorning]

Thanks, you too!

[@aaronburchael2512]

greetings from Ireland wow the seats look fantastic. stay safe

[@BeginningfromthisMorning]

Thank you! You too!

[@charlesmair26]

Another great bit of work.

[@BeginningfromthisMorning]

Thank you!

[@strayhound61]

Nice seats, good find! Great job!!

[@BeginningfromthisMorning]

Thank you John - she is really starting to come together :)

[@robguasis4319]

Nice build. Are you selling those bracket?

[@moscooter24]

We have a RV wel have not traveled in it the past 2 years due to covid and we know now having 2 toddlers and one of our main concerns was traveling with them and car seats I came across this video that gave me great options are you willing to sell the brackets you made Juan?

[@ashleymarks6144]

I’ve said it before but comments help the algorithm so I’ll say it again. I love watching a couple, with obvious engineering back grounds, problem solve and build. You guys are great!

[@BeginningfromthisMorning]

Thank you so much Ashley!

[@SkaterStimm]

Awesome, I have a 1968 Volkswagen double cab with no rear bench seat, they are like $2k for a original bench and they provide very little safety. This seems like it might be the best way for me to outfit my truck with a rear seat I can easily remove. Nice work!

[@JamesEDennison]

Another nice job guys.... The welds on those seat brackets look pretty good.... probably only another welder would notice... on your last video you mentioned you'd spent 3 hours on one ceiling piece and I was thinking... I know exactly what that's like... I don't think anyone can appreciate the time, thought and effort involved in building a project like this unless you've done it yourself.... great job as usual and I hope to meet you guys on the road one day once this Covid mess is over with

[@BeginningfromthisMorning]

Thank you James - I am honestly flattered that you would consider me a welder! Your encouragement means a ton to me - I have been a huge fan of you and your bus build forever. I very much hope to meet you on the road someday when this thing blows over!

[@flyinggyros9745]

Hey guys, looking great. Just an observation. The floor under the coach looks like it’s dried out. You might want to put some sealer on that. It’s really coming along. Alan

[@BeginningfromthisMorning]

Thank you Alan! I think that is mostly the paint but sealing them would not be a bad idea at all (maybe another thing to add to the to-do list) - thanks!

[@theburpman8006]

I volunteer at a children summer camp Barracudas. The children do activities like football, rounders, volleyball, climbing, swimming, capture the flag, go karting and assault course. Some activities are held outside the camp premises and we have to travel on a minibus to get to the place. We don’t let children sit at the front passenger seat if there is enough room to sit at the back and we do normally need adults to be at the back by the emergency exits to help the small children get out. One time as we needed to have enough adults next to the emergency exits; so we sat by the emergency exits and let an 8 year old boy and a 9 year old girl sit at the front passenger seat. On another occasion I sat at the front with this 7 year old boy because there wasn’t any seats at the back and we needed enough adults sitting at the back next to the exit doors. I am not sure if it is legal or not to let 7, 8, 9 year old children at the front and we were sceptical on it because we needed adults at the back to help the children get out of the bus and so we might have needed to have children at the front if there wasn’t enough seats but not if there were seats for everyone at the back. I do get if there isn’t any seats at the back for the child to sit and they can’t sit at the front because they are under a certain age where it is illegal then they can’t go on the activity and would have to do the other activity.

[@parkerguy3601]

I suggest that you install washers under the bolt heads. This is a typical location where the bolt could pull through the steel.

[@BeginningfromthisMorning]

Thank you Parker - great idea - I have some grade8 washers at the shop, should be a 10 minute fix :)

[@edenfieldwarrior]

Good morning. I watched your recent vlogs but didn’t pass comment. The ceilings look great.

[@BeginningfromthisMorning]

Morning! Thank you David!

[@CharlieBrown-pb9xn]

Very impressive. When the first welded bracket was shown I thought you had a machine shop make it.

[@BeginningfromthisMorning]

Thank you Charlie, we get a little better at making stuff with every project :)

[@CharlieBrown-pb9xn]

@@BeginningfromthisMorning You guys are good.

[@MrVolvo224]

Awesome 👌

[@nickidewet7711]

Nicely done! Did you get lucky not drilling into the wiring above the aircon evaporator!

[@BeginningfromthisMorning]

LOL we checked about 20 times! A video of all the times we checked would have been longer than this whole video 🙂

[@sue4901]

I have a 31” ford bench seat installed behind the driver seat. I can’t find 2 car seats/booster seats that fit. Any suggestions?

[@PentaxLife]

Nice job that to bad you could not inset in the floor. Great work

[@BeginningfromthisMorning]

Thank you Jeff - I was a little worried that it would make the floor too weak but I had thought about insetting them when we started.

[@bigeyejim]

Glad I found this....Except I have no metal work skills....LOL...I have been caught up on safe seats for my somewhat grown kids. I don't want human projectiles, but even the biggest Sprinter and Transit vans are a bit small for them. This is a good option for that skoolie.

[@BeginningfromthisMorning]

Thank you - our kids are growing like weeds! We need to hurry up and go just so they don't outgrow everything! We had no metal working skills when we started either. If you watch some of our first videos those were literally our first welds! Now we love when a project needs a little welding :).

[@angelapearson8275]

Any chance you'd be willing to share your drawings for the mounts? We are thinking of retrofitting transit seats into our motorhome for this same purpose (we also have 4 kids, but ALL are still in booster/car seats). Awesome idea and great work fashioning the parts!

[@BeginningfromthisMorning]

Sure. You can email us at [e-mail]. Just to let you know, there are 2 different width versions of these double bench seats. 31" wide and 34" wide. Ours are the more narrow 31" wide, however with two car seats on each one, I would probably recommend going with the 34" wide ones. We have one teenager sitting next to a kid in a booster seat on each of our double seats. I even got a small narrow booster seat. Hope that helps a little, but feel free to email and we can send some of our drawings.

[@er1073]

Another overbuilt system that you have installed. Great looking quality and safety in mind. I don't think I would want to run into run a toe into one of those mounts just sayin...pain. You improved on something that a manufacturer mass produces. Thanks for sharing your video with us. Ed that is quit the welders helmet Juan :-)

[@BeginningfromthisMorning]

Thank you Ed - Not running into them was what motivated us to put the legs to the outside (plus it gave us a better shot at securing them with the big plate underneath). I hope you are staying healthy and safe!

[@steveschannel961]

Another excellent job. The seats appear to be a little bit small for the older kids.

[@BeginningfromthisMorning]

Yes! They were a lot smaller when we started the build!

[@Simmons2358]

Those seats are so easy to snap in and out, if all floor brackets are the same, the direction of the seats could easily be changed by 180 degrees; forward-facing or backward-facing - whatever is required or desired at the moment. You know, the floor wood may soften up over time causing the seats to rock a little which might weaken the bolt over time. A thin plate of metal between the bracket and the wood floor might be a good mod. to your design.

[@BeginningfromthisMorning]

Thank you William - very interesting idea about mounting them backwards! HMMM now you have me thinking :). I like your idea of a plate between the brackets - I think if I made these again I would probably use a big long bracket like I made on the bottom for the top also.

[@dlavarco]

Beautiful job and I think it was a good idea to add those backing plates underneath. Just 1 question, not a suggestion. I noticed the mounting brackets on the seats are off-center on the bottom of the seat. Does it make a difference which seats go on the left or right side of the bus? Or is it just for aesthetics? It's really coming together.

[@BeginningfromthisMorning]

Thank you Don - they are off center and as a few have pointed out they are in the opposite orientation as they would be when they are installed in a Ford Transit. We had to do this because down the center of our bus we have a channel that carries all the wiring, air lines, fuel lines, coolant lines etc for the bus. This orientation gave us the most access to be able to securely mount the plates as well as less things near the center of the isle :)

[@HRsFamilyGarage]

Hi there, do you have any plans for replacing those with some other "furniture" when in place for a while? Using those anchors you could have another table, lounger or storage cabinet that snaps in place and move those chairs into storage below or behind the bus when not in use...

[@BeginningfromthisMorning]

Thanks Steve - We did not have any plans like that but that sounds like a great idea!

[@eastac4680]

Thank you for your video I have the same exact Ford Transit but it is just one seat and I'm trying to put it as a center seat in my GMC van is there anyway that you guys can make a couple of those brackets for sale

[@BeginningfromthisMorning]

Unfortunately, we are on the road traveling so do not really have the means to make them right now. However, we can send you a picture of our drawing with the measurements if that may be helpful to you making your own. We had someone else just replicate them for his own build based on our drawing and measurements. Just shoot us an email if you're interested.

[@joninfanti6794]

Awesome stuff, do you guys sell those plates? I just picked up a transit two seater but it didn’t have the tracks w it. Thanks!

[@BeginningfromthisMorning]

Hey Jon - we are just an old married couple converting a bus ;). We don't really sell anything. I have some drawings I made but they are pretty simple to make.

[@tabithachaparro5915]

Am I the only one who thinks this is so incredibly dangerous, but kinda cool at the same time. I see the need for seats in your rv but a plywood floor installation will not hold up very well in an accident. Good luck!

[@BeginningfromthisMorning]

Did you miss the two 3" x 20" x 3/16" thick steel plates we mounted to the bottom of the plywood with class 8 bolts? The seats would need to rip through those and through one and a half inches of marine grade plywood. Compare this with how "normal" bus seats are attached in a very small aluminum track that is screwed into the plywood. Another thing to consider is that in the event of an impact the force is not going to be up and down trying to rip the seat up out of the plywood. The force will be front to back or side to side (in the case of a side impact). The sheer force would have to be strong enough to overcome eight 3/8" class 8 bolts. This is the same type of bolt you find on a vehicle's suspension system that holds up the entire car. I think you would be hard-pressed to find a more secure solution.

[@phDJOlogy]

@@BeginningfromthisMorning I'm not 100% sure that 20" is long enough depending on precisely how the plywood is anchored, the longer the arm between the plate assembly and the next anchor and the smaller diameter the next fastener on the plywood is, the worse the performance. Perhaps run it by an engineer. Impulse in a car collision at speed is a terrifying thing. Although not perfect, picture hanging 9000 lbs from the assembly and that's what is required from 49 cfr 571.209 as a regulatory standard. If a sledge hammer can take out plywood with about 5000N force on a 3" head or about 7 sq in and you are dealing with potentially 40000N on 20x3 or (5000/7)/(40000/(20×3))=about 7% more energy per sqin on the sledge vs the mount on wood... I'd be a little concerned about a high speed collision.

[@richroj]

Hi Juan & Michelle those seats look wonderful. I can't believe how you came up with the idea on how to mount them. that was a brilliant idea. are you a construction worker by trade ? thanks for another great video. see you on the next one.

[@BeginningfromthisMorning]

Thank you very much Rich. I am not a construction worker - although I did work a concrete job when I was going to college (a VERY long time ago). I actually program computers for a living :)

[@richroj]

@@BeginningfromthisMorning thats wonderful Juan, you are multi talented.

[@BeastModeNow]

Did you have to instal child seat anchors? And how did you do it? I bought the same seats for my vans but I need child seat anchors.

[@BeginningfromthisMorning]

No we didn't. Our kids that are still in car seats are only in boosters now (youngest is 7), so we didn't need the anchors.

[@rreveler6705]

Ouch. Just saying, I’d be tripping over those the rest of the build. Looks good, though!

[@BeginningfromthisMorning]

Thank you!

[@manuelramos5869]

You are doing an incredible job as always!

[@BeginningfromthisMorning]

Thank you so much!

[@derekmorris7556]

💺 perfect

[@davidmcconnell8690]

Great Job. :-)))) :-))))

[@willenenable5149]

I think i would have moved the seats forward a bit more so as they have got a full view out of the window instead of having a wide mullion right along side of the seated position !! I realise that you have to be aware of critical floor space but I would have thought that the overall viewing platform for the kids would have been far more important ! And as you have stated the room behind the seat can be used for some sort of storage area !

[@BeginningfromthisMorning]

Thanks, Willen. We tried out the seats in a couple different locations, and actually this position has the best view of our options. When the kids are sitting in the seats, their eyes are looking out the huge side windows. Only when they turn their heads at a full 90 degrees does their view get blocked by the wall between the two windows. In our opinion, this seating position gives them the most view out the entire window than if we moved them forward. Plus, the couches are being built in front of these chairs. So, the only other option was right behind the driver's seat, which wasn't a great option because of the wheel wells and then their view would be quite obstructed. It's always a jigsaw puzzle trying to make the best use of these small spaces. Thanks for following along!

[@janhjorth965]

Long sleeves for welding. Sunburn will come from welding UV light..

[@gullreefclub]

I would agree with about the long sleeves when welding if in a production shop and even more importantly a collard shirt or gaiter to protect your neck but for the little bit of welding that they are doing all of that is pretty much overkill especially when you consider they live in the southwest and are already decently tanned from normal exposure from the sun.

[@peterg.8245]

The intensity of UV from a plasma arc is far higher than the sun.

[@BeginningfromthisMorning]

Thanks guys - We don't really do a TON of welding so it feels like our exposure is pretty minimal. That being said - long sleeves is probably a good idea but when we made these it was about 115 degrees outside and we had to close the garage door because it was too windy and the welds were threatening to have porosity. I do appreciate the concern.

[@christyanwood5538]

You should sell this brackets on EBay. I can’t be the only one that wants some but doesn’t have to tools to make them.

[@BeginningfromthisMorning]

Thank you Christyan we get asked about these all the time. They are really easy to make and it would be interesting to sell them online but we are traveling full time now and sold most of our stuff :)

[@javierjavier7291]

Seats are on wrong side picture yourself sitting in your car on which side the shoulder belt is positioned.

[@BeginningfromthisMorning]

Very sharp eye! Yes they are technically on the wrong side - we had to do this to allow us adequate space to mount the big plates up underneath. If you notice the seats are offset to the outside. We have a channel that runs down the center of the bus that houses all the electrical, air lines, fuel lines, coolant lines, HVAC lines etc. Mounting them the other way would have prevented us from being able to use the backing plates.

[@pocketchange1951]

👍👌🇨🇦❤, aisle seat for me please

[@BeginningfromthisMorning]

LOL my oldest is almost too big already! I need to finish this thing up!

[@pocketchange1951]

@@BeginningfromthisMorning It coming along just fine,

[@Camoga-yg7eb]

can you fabricate some to sell to me?

[@BeginningfromthisMorning]

Sorry we have sold almost everything we own and are traveling now :). They are a very simple design and should be pretty easy to replicate.

[@timwatson3879]

...because when it comes to children's safety, is there ever such a thing as over-engineered?

[@BeginningfromthisMorning]

For sure! Thank you Tim!

[@ivalou80]

Unsafe totally unsafe, in case of an accident the seats will be ripped out when only sitting on wooden floor and not bolted in the frame of the bus. There is a reason for the length of the original bracket and also why Ford is bolting them in to the frame and not just in the thin metal floor.

[@Digital-Dan]

I think I agree. Some engineering calculations based on G forces etc. should determine if these would hold up in sudden deceleration.

[@BeginningfromthisMorning]

Our bus does not have a "frame" per se. It is a monocoque design where the body of the bus (including the floor) is "the frame". Even the original passenger seats for this bus were just screwed into the floor (not even bolted through as I have done here). All 41 seats were fastened onto a very thin piece of aluminum channel that was screwed into the wood. If you look at any modern bus they still do it the exact same way. Find me a picture where you see seats being ripped out in an accident. The real force in an accident is going to be "shear" force - not force acting to pull the seats up. The reason the original bracket on the Ford is so long is that Ford does not mount them to the frame but a very thin metal body.

[@mdcbert]

So, where’s your “living room”? You don’t need seat belts in a big highway bus, they don’t even have them in school buses. You won’t even feel it when you crash into other cars...🙄

[@ronp.731]

I have to say this. I do not believe you do all these designs by yourself, but have help from many of the companies that you have "purchased" your tools from. You are good installers. There, I said it again. I suppose if I get banned, it would be an acknowledgement that I am right. Good luck with "your build". ( thumb down click)

[@toddlaplanteVT85]

Hater alert! If you can't tell Juan is a DIY kinda guy and has been showing the designs, your on the wrong channel, just saying. No need to post disapproval, you can un-sub and see yourself out. Let the rest of us that enjoy the channel do so

[@21Piloteer]

Hey Ron do the letters "FO" mean anything to you?

[@SilversidesSage]

Wow, we just watched the same video. Hard to understand how you came to the conclusion that they are buying things off the shelf. May you find peace in your life.

[@ronp.731]

@@21Piloteer muted

[@1982MCI]

Hey Ron, this is my input on this and my experience is coming from being a mechanic in the Air Force for ten years and over 30 years as being a custom home builder. I’ve bought tens of thousands of dollars, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars in tools over the years and I have not come across any of the companies that I’ve bought my tools and equipment from that had the ability to supply me with plans or designs on anything I was building in a residential build let alone finding a supplier that would have the ability to give Juan designs for custom work on a vintage coach. It just ain’t gonna happen. The vendors for tools and equipment SELL tools and are not in the business of building. If you watch this channels from the very start, you will see that Juan has been very open since the beginning about showing exactly how they have come up with the designs, how they’ve drawn out the designs, made templates, and then fabricated the actual parts and installed them and I really don’t think there are many folks out there that would go thru all of that and then in the end, pull a prefabricated part (that doesn’t exist anywhere anyways) off a shelf and bolt it in. This video is a prime example. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that he has all the raw materials sitting there and he showed us the drawings he made as well as photos of them taking measurements of a van that these seats came out of in order to make the brackets. Anyone with even fair DIY skills can copy what ford has already spent millions designing and testing and you sure don’t need a middle man getting in the way of progress by telling you to use his designs that again don’t exist anywhere just so Juan will by a new grinder from him. Believe it or not, and since your a Veteran also, I know your a smart fella, there are guys out here with the DIY skills that can produce just about anything we can dream up and we have the talent and the tools to do it better and cheaper than any factory in the country. Juan is also a very experienced computer guy as well which gives him the awesome ability to use the computer to help design many of the custom pieces and parts needed for a project of this size. Everything they have fabricated for this conversion has been done on video from start to finish and there’s no way anyone can question whether they actually did the work or not. I know it’s hard to believe that a husband and wife DIY Team can turn out something much nicer and of better quality than what you can go buy anywhere’s but it does happen, and it’s happening right here in front of all of us today!! So, whether you believe it or not, the designs are not given to them cause they just don’t exist until they draw them out themselves and then fabricate them. This family has spent the past few years showing us how they are doing the conversion and there’s no smoke and mirror magic happening on this channel like most others, only true American determination to have what they want for their family. This is what this country was built upon but is now an extremely rare sight! Take care Ron and be safe out there