Front Seat Swap (Town & Country 2nd Row)

[campism]

You might be disappointed with Westy seats. The stockers in my '87 were rock hard, not supportive and made me feel like I was tipping forward all the time. Any drive lasting more than a few hours caused numbness and cramping in hips and legs. The Eurovan seats I installed are much better. I kept mine to go with the van if it ever leaves but I would never recommend them.
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'87 Westy in Wolfram Grey Metallic

[jlrftype7]

[rmcd]

A buddy got tboned and is parting out his grand caravan with grey leather fold flat seats. Anyone doing a seat swap.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/421281618466215/
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VW LT40 build. Like a Vanagon but 30% larger in every direction and 40% slower even in metric.
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=749359&highlight=

[DuncanS]

Nice, but freight to the other coast...........? Look to be in great shape. Fold flat for me is not such an attractive feature as reclining flat. Son has an Element and thinking about grabbing one at Pic 'n Pay and seeing if the skeleton could be adapted to the T3 seat frame. Maybe I'm an odd ball--well, actually that's already well known--but I really like the Vanagon seats and find them easier for me on long trips than other new cars with the legs stretched out more. I moved the back rest 1 inch back giving more thigh support and other than needing cleaning and heat, I'm happy with them. Although if a pair of the T & C guys fell into my lap......

[campism]

[rmcd]

I did the greyhound thing with a westy cabinet once. Worked well and affordable.
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VW LT40 build. Like a Vanagon but 30% larger in every direction and 40% slower even in metric.
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=749359&highlight=

[Jjones659]

Has anyone installed these seats in a 72 bay window?

[campism]

[vwwestyman]

Welp I'm planning to join this club sometime soon. For my '78 Bus.

On a bit of a whim, in between classes, I went down to a salvage yard that had a couple Town and Country vans and struck a deal on a set of tan leather heated seats. They'll need cleaning up, but for $40 each, it seemed like a pretty good deal to give these a shot!

The only downside is they weren't able to pull it today, and I'm only in town on Wednesdays, so I'll have to wait until next week to pick them up. The bummer (that I only now just realized) is I was hoping to be able to set them up to before a Labor Day trip, and now I doubt that'll happen.

Unless there is a great "bolt 'em in" kit someone has developed that I could get here in the mean time? (I'll look through the thread to see, unless someone knows and replies, which I would appreciate!)
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Dave Cook

President, Wild Westerner Club

1978 Champagne Edition Westy, repowered to '97 Jetta TDI
1973 Wild Westerner
My Thing

[vwwestyman]

[vwwestyman]

Well I picked up my seats today, and ended up just ordering the Small Car adapters. I think I'd like to try to sell my fairly-decent Vanagon and Eurovan seats, so I didn't want to chop up a set of rails. I figured by the time I bought the metal to try to make some kind of rails, and then welded it all up, I'd be pretty close to the adapters.

What sealed that deal was when I called Small Car, he assured me that they could get them to be by Thursday. Since I can/will have everything all set up ahead of time in the Bus and with the seats, it should be a breeze to throw them in. We're taking the Bus on a trip Friday.

Seats came with the Stow and Go stuff, so I just got done removing all that.

I removed the seatbelt buckle, and because I couldn't quickly find any appropriately sized washers, just cut the bolt hole off the buckle and used that to keep the spacing the same.

My seats do have heaters (I was pretty excited to see that label tucked up on the wiring harness), and I am pretty sure I can make 'em work...

Updates when I figure that out.

In case anyone else wonders like me, it doesn't appear that there is any need for the two cables that connect the Stow and Go mechanism to the seat.
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Dave Cook

President, Wild Westerner Club

1978 Champagne Edition Westy, repowered to '97 Jetta TDI
1973 Wild Westerner
My Thing

[vwwestyman]

Got my seats installed!

Initial impressions:

I previously had Eurovan seats in there, that I had attempted to cut the foam down a little bit to not sit so high. Bay seat stands seem to be a tad higher than Vanagon stands, and Eurovan seats are a bit taller than Vanagon seats. Because of that foam trimming, they just weren't as comfortable as I thought they should be.

All I had time for tonight was a very short test drive, but initially it seems like I'm sitting a tad higher than the Eurovan seats (mostly based on reaching the shifter). Not uncomfortable though.

For the passenger seat, I really, really like some of the changes. I LOVE that I can flip it down for a much more roomy feeling in the Bus. (I know I can always turn the seat around for more room, but this is a quick and easy way to do it.) It also seems to be easier to spin than the old seat. (Though I admit part of that may well be that I moved the seatbelt reel.)

Also the arm rests no longer interfere with the arm rest on the door. With the Eurovan seats (and Vanagon seats they replaced) I had to push the seat all the way toward the front when it was spun around to not have them interfere. That was a part of the whole seat-spinning routine that I am happy to not have to mess with.

Also, since this is a Bay, I have the child's cot. With the Vanagon and Eurovan seats (and possibly the Bay seats) the head rests were always in the way, so it was a thing where I had to scoot them forward, and lean them all the way back, and/or remove the headrests to install the cot. Now, I can just let 'em flip forward and they are totally out of the way. Even though the driver's seat cannot flip 100% forward (hits the steering wheel) it goes low enough to clear.
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Dave Cook

President, Wild Westerner Club

1978 Champagne Edition Westy, repowered to '97 Jetta TDI
1973 Wild Westerner
My Thing

[coqcitywesty]

So I installed mine this past spring and tested them on some shorter trips and was quite impressed, but have just returned from a 7200 km trip through two provinces and six states and can attest to the increased level in comfort for both me and SWMBO who occupied the passenger seat for the entire trip. In short, way more thigh support and firmness and better range of adjustment. That the passenger seat reclines more for napping through south Wyoming at 50 mph into a headwind is also a bonus. In short, one of the best enhancements I have made to the Westy!
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1991 Westfalia EJ251, 1972 Volvo 1800 ES

[djkeev]

[vwwestyman]

[djkeev]

Initially yes, the armrest are different.
Soon you'll like them better, easier to rest elbows upon and steer, a more natural position.

Dave
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Stop Dead Photo Links how to post photos

Ghia
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=392473

Vanagon
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=6315537#6315537

Beetle
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=482968&highlight=74+super+vert

[vwwestyman]

So I was able to go on the trip and really give these things a test.

I have to say, my review isn't as glowing as everybody elses'.

I would say that overall, the discomfort is similar to the previous Eurovan seats, though perhaps in a different way. I guess I didn't ask my wife for her thoughts one way or another, yet. She didn't complain, though that might be because she knew I was excited about 'em.

Or perhaps more correctly, I never thought, "wow, these things are great!" I still had lots of tension/soreness in my thighs.

Also, as currently mounted, the center box actually doesn't fit any better than before (and maybe a tad tighter owing to the denser foam).

One of the tasks I was given while visiting our friends was to look over a 2015 Town and Country she was looking to buy and take on a 6 week long road trip with her four kids. I noticed that, as installed in the van, the seats have quite a rake back-compared to in a Vanagon or Bus where the seats are pretty flat.

I sat in them and, for the short time I was there and contemplating removing the front passenger seat for the friend, they seemed more comfortable. I think part of my discomfort was that I didn't feel "held in" by the seat, and I think this rake is the difference.

So now I'm thinking of looking at remounting them to have them tip back a bit, and also perhaps redrill the holes in the adapters to shift them outboard just a little bit.

Reference pic for the seats in the Town and Country. Definitely not sitting flat.

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Dave Cook

President, Wild Westerner Club

1978 Champagne Edition Westy, repowered to '97 Jetta TDI
1973 Wild Westerner
My Thing

[djkeev]

Good call on the mounting of the seats in the Dodge. It may be worth palying with the angle.
I guess they are so superior to the Vanagon seats that no one gave seat angle a second thought!? 🤔

Dave
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Stop Dead Photo Links how to post photos

Ghia
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=392473

Vanagon
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=6315537#6315537

Beetle
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=482968&highlight=74+super+vert

[Jjones659]

Has anyone mounted these seats in a early bay? I'm installing some in my 72 and was curious on what people did. I don't have swivel seats. Was thinking about just bolting/ welding some plates for the seats to mount to

[vwwestyman]

Must not have made the post in this thread (so I don't remember where I did post it!) but I did end up using a nut as a spacer along with longer bolts to raise the front of the seats a little bit. This did improve comfort, though I may like to raise them up a little more.
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Dave Cook

President, Wild Westerner Club

1978 Champagne Edition Westy, repowered to '97 Jetta TDI
1973 Wild Westerner
My Thing