Transit seats in a Ford E-series?

[RVflyfish]

I just came across a nice pair of Transit seats for $50. The mounting dimensions of their tracks where they bolt into the floor are 17.5” side to side and 16” front to back. That’s a way bigger footprint than my E350’s (10.75” side to side and 13.25ish” front to back). Has anyone pulled this swap off? If so, what was involved?

 

[Raul]

I haven't done the exact swap, but I fitted the rear seats from an Explorer using custom-made brackets. Look under the body of the van and you'll see that the placement for the seat bolts is on the cross reinforcement of the body's floor. You can see one in the top right corner of this picture. I was able to line up most of my bolts to the existing bolts except the one in the picture that is blocked by one of the chassis cross beams. I used a plate that bridges between the two strong points of the body with a weld nut (hidden) the visible screw is just a support so it doesn't fall when unscrewing the seat.

Make sure the rear mounting points are the ones secured to the strongest part of the body. The front mounting bolt seems they fall in between reinforcement so you'll have to use a thick plate or angle profile "bridging" between strong points.