Upgrade comfort non swivel to swivel

[Ockie]

Hi,
after out first camping trip with our newly bought T6 beach we realised how much we wanted our front seats to swivel. Our seats are the non swivel comfort seats and we would like to upgrade them (or at least the passenger seat) to swivel seats. Anyone knows if its possible to upgrade our existing seats or do we need to replace them with brand new ones?
The car came with an extra chair that swivels. Can we somehow use this as a front passenger seat?



Kindest regards

Ockie

 

[WelshGas]

Hi,
after out first camping trip with our newly bought T6 beach we realised how much we wanted our front seats to swivel. Our seats are the non swivel comfort seats and we would like to upgrade them (or at least the passenger seat) to swivel seats. Anyone knows if its possible to upgrade our existing seats or do we need to replace them with brand new ones?
The car came with an extra chair that swivels. Can we somehow use this as a front passenger seat?

View attachment 48606

Kindest regards

Ockie

Answer to your 2nd question - No.

You can get 3rd Party Aftermarket Swivel plates. This will raise the seat slightly from its lowest position.

Eg: of Swivel plates, there are other manufacturers.

LHD Passenger

European VW T5 / T6 Passenger side seat swivel (RIB) LHD

Seat swivel system by RIB for your T5 passengers seat

www.kiravans.co.uk

They do LHD drivers as well.

 

[Ockie]

Answer to your 2nd question - No.

You can get 3rd Party Aftermarket Swivel plates. This will raise the seat slightly from its lowest position.

Eg: of Swivel plates, there are other manufacturers.

LHD Passenger

European VW T5 / T6 Passenger side seat swivel (RIB) LHD

Seat swivel system by RIB for your T5 passengers seat

www.kiravans.co.uk

They do LHD drivers as well.

Thank you!!

 

[MattBW]

May be worth checking the dimensions of the seats, the comforts may be wider and may struggle to swivel? If they can be made to work you have the best of both worlds, comfort and swivel!

Sorry I don't know the answer for sure but it should be possible and california seats are sold quite regularly online in full sets.

 

[Ockie]

May be worth checking the dimensions of the seats, the comforts may be wider and may struggle to swivel? If they can be made to work you have the best of both worlds, comfort and swivel!

Sorry I don't know the answer for sure but it should be possible and california seats are sold quite regularly online in full sets.

I have ordered an offset swivel plate from kiravans and according to them the offset is better for wider seats: “the main advantage is that seats with armrests will spin around more easily”
Hopefully it works! I will post the result in the thread!

 

[westfalia]

I can't understand why VW would turn out some campers
with non swivelling seats, does anyone here really hate their
swivelling front seats?

 

[WelshGas]

I can't understand why VW would turn out some campers
with non swivelling seats, does anyone here really hate their
swivelling front seats?

They were an Option - Height Adjustable Seat. They forgot to mention they didn't swivel. Even the Dealers didn't realise.

 

[westfalia]

Amazing that someone thought it was a good idea.

 

[WelshGas]

Amazing that someone thought it was a good idea.

Probably used on the Caravelle or Shuttle.

 

[westfalia]

Probably used on the Caravelle or Shuttle.

Yeah they will be, but not really suited to a camper.

Some nutter at VW sanctioned it though, probably
whilst on one of their ´bunga bunga´partys.

 

[flying banana]

Search 'swivel Gate'. It's happened many times on there. And there's some fixes and tips too. Yes you can fix it with aftermarket plates.

 

[methley]

I converted the comfort seats in my Caravelle to factory swivels. It's an involved process however. I sourced two swiveling donor seats in the correct colour plastics (anthracite in my case). I then transferred my seat backs and bolsters to the swivel bases. The donor seat backs and bolsters were transferred to the original comfort bases and were sold on.

 

[rod_vw]

After market swivels under factory comfort seats should be no problem at all. I've fitted Sportscraft swivels under height adjustable seats a number of times without problem. The swivel nut is very large and hollow to allow seat belt warning cable and heated seat cables to pass through.
These swivels come with a kit to lower the hand brake to clear the swiveling seat, the base of a factory seat has a higher plastic cover to clear the hand brake. There is another thread on here describing alternative methods of lowering the hand brake. Don't worry about the brake lever being lower that normal you will get used to it very quickly.
In use there are two things to remember, one the lowest height will be a little higher than before, and two you must have the height adjustment raised about half way to swivel the seat.

Rod

 

[Ockie]

After market swivels under factory comfort seats should be no problem at all. I've fitted Sportscraft swivels under height adjustable seats a number of times without problem. The swivel nut is very large and hollow to allow seat belt warning cable and heated seat cables to pass through.
These swivels come with a kit to lower the hand brake to clear the swiveling seat, the base of a factory seat has a higher plastic cover to clear the hand brake. There is another thread on here describing alternative methods of lowering the hand brake. Don't worry about the brake lever being lower that normal you will get used to it very quickly.
In use there are two things to remember, one the lowest height will be a little higher than before, and two you must have the height adjustment raised about half way to swivel the seat.

Rod

Thanks for your comment! Im starting with the passenger seat and if it turns out ok, I might give the other seat a go as well!

 

[rod_vw]

The passenger seat fitted in a T6 should be simple, it will also swivel without opening the door which I believe the genuine ones won't. If you are going for Sportscraft swivels (and maybe others) check the battery height under the seat, you may find that you need to purchase the version that is made to fit over a battery not the standard one.
Personally I would have the hand brake bracket lowered on the seat box if you decide to do the driver's seat. I've used both the supplied lowering kit and the original lowered bracket version and am much happier with the latter.

 

[Vwcaliforniajapan]

Anyone knows of a swivel plate for the electric/power seats ?

 

[rod_vw]

Why would it be different? Surely the wires will all come through the middle of the swivel.

Sportscraft swivels have a big swivel assembly (bolt) that is hollow to allow wires to pass through. All driver's seats have wires through for the seat-belt warning system so power seats surely would feed through the same way.
I can measure the diameter of the hole for you if you need me to.

 

[Vwcaliforniajapan]

Why would it be different? Surely the wires will all come through the middle of the swivel.

Sportscraft swivels have a big swivel assembly (bolt) that is hollow to allow wires to pass through. All driver's seats have wires through for the seat-belt warning system so power seats surely would feed through the same way.
I can measure the diameter of the hole for you if you need me to.

Thanks, I just wonder why VW don’t offer powerseats with swivels ??
I will soon order a new car ( after Düsseldorf ) and my plan was to order powerseat for driver and swivel for passenger, but if you think it’s possible with aftermarket swivel plate, then I’m very interested.
I would like to hear from someone who actually did it

 

[Vwcaliforniajapan]

Why would it be different? Surely the wires will all come through the middle of the swivel.

Sportscraft swivels have a big swivel assembly (bolt) that is hollow to allow wires to pass through. All driver's seats have wires through for the seat-belt warning system so power seats surely would feed through the same way.
I can measure the diameter of the hole for you if you need me to.

Do you have a link to sportscraft ? If google it’s different shops who sells it.

 

[Vwcaliforniajapan]

I wrote power seats but the real name is memory seats, sorry !

 

[WelshGas]

Do you have a link to sportscraft ? If google it’s different shops who sells it.

SPORTSCRAFT - Leisure Vehicle Services

SPORTSCRAFT PRODUCTS SEAT SWIVEL PLATESSportscraft Seat Swivels use a caster system where 4 nylon wheels help distribute the weight of the seat occupant to help minimise rocking. The table shows the range of swivels available for various European vehicles.Find out more Where to buy Sportscraft...

leisurevehicleservices.co.uk

 

[Vwcaliforniajapan]

SPORTSCRAFT - Leisure Vehicle Services

SPORTSCRAFT PRODUCTS SEAT SWIVEL PLATESSportscraft Seat Swivels use a caster system where 4 nylon wheels help distribute the weight of the seat occupant to help minimise rocking. The table shows the range of swivels available for various European vehicles.Find out more Where to buy Sportscraft...

leisurevehicleservices.co.uk

Thanks

 

[Ockie]

Installation was very simple and it works really nice
Thanx for all your help!

 

[Vwcaliforniajapan]

Thanks

Stephanie from leisure vehicle told me the swivel from sportscraft might work with memory seats, so I asked her to check with the company and to her surprise she was told it doesn’t work.
Then she recommended Aguti, but again I asked her to double check and here is her reply :

Aguti have come back and confirmed that their swivel is NOT suitable for memory seats.

I’ve learnt something new again. Only been selling these swivels since 2005! I guess the memory seats aren’t a popular option.

 

[calicasas]

I can't understand why VW would turn out some campers
with non swivelling seats, does anyone here really hate their
swivelling front seats?

Agree - having a camper with no swivel seats is like running with no shoes.... pointless and painful.....