Rock 'n Roll Seats in USA...

[bhambaker]

Hello,

I have a '89 Okanagan class B on a Ford e350. Our family has just expanded and we now have a little girl and we'd like to continue the adventures we have in our van. Unfortunately, the van's interior is set-up with a Gaucho style bench in the living area. This isn't exactly safe to put a childs seat in and is very uncomfortable for adults to ride. In researching, I've found various Rock'nRoll bench/beds available in the UK that I think would work perfectly in our van. But for the fact that not a single one will sell/ship their units to the USA due to liability.

I'm curious if anyone has a decent solution in the States that is safe and legal for carrying an infant with them in a Class B van?



'The Beast' winter camping at Mt Baker, WA

 

[WVI]

I just this week, pulled a fold flat couch out of a wrecked conversion van. It is built on a rock and roll hinge, they had a few there.
I pulled the cushions off the frames and will make new ones using the frame.

 

[Herbie]

Legal is tough, since technically anything non-OEM isn't strictly legal. That said, illegal is also kind of a non-category, since I've never heard of anyone getting into trouble for a seat. Hell, the VW people build their Rock-n-Roll beds out of wood.

Safe? If you're super-worried about it, you'll want to stick to something from an RVIA-certified vendor, although I'm not exactly sure that buys as much as you'd hope, since I'm not actually aware that any of those vendors do destructive testing the way the UK folks have to.

Nevertheless, DiscountVanTruck.com sells a rock-n-roll style seat and a matching "extension" platform that should work for most vans (but not for me, too tall for the low headroom of my Astro van.) For those on a budget, pulling something from a wrecking yard is the best option. (I've seen several from MarkIII vans in the yards). Craigslist and eBay are also worth watching. Patience and knowing your citical measurements will be key, here.

For all of that, after around 7 years with a conversion-van take-out seat in my van, I eventually built my own out of tube steel because the MarkIII seat I had didn't lay perfectly flat. (Inherent to it's design and construction.) I documented that process in my build thread, starting here.

 

[Corneilius]

I pulled a Mark III seat out of my van. It was steel framed "3 panel" that bolted through the floor in 6 spots with 1/2" bolts and fender washers. I wouldn't want to sleep on it long term but its definitely safe to strap a kids seat to. Get one and either reupholster it like Herbie or throw a topper of some kind on it to sleep.

Alternatively, get a single seat (transit, sienna whatever) and have it mounted where convenient.

 

[GNTY]

Also check out shop4seats.com, they have buckets with built in belts and fold down couches with belts, you can order custom widths and are dot approved.