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Old 10-24-2019, 06:38 PM   #1
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Transit Seats in a 92+ Econoline?

I'm looking for some low cost integrated seat belt seating and it appears that most up-fitters are selling the Transit take-off's relatively inexpensive. My current van has some shoddy installed captains chairs with weak bases and very poor under chassis supports, so I'm looking at the Transit seats. Their bases mount into channel runners, which bolt down in the floor channels. I'm wondering if anyone with a 92+ E series van has had any luck retrofitting a Transit van seat in their rig? Main concern is buying a seat and finding out that Ford changed the channel spacing and while I'll be able to fit the tracks in the channel, they will be either too wide or narrow to fit the seat. Thanks for any insight you can provide!

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Old 10-25-2019, 12:00 AM   #2
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Transit seats are all over the place and all over the price spectrum. Where are you located?? (considering adding to your profile). I know of some seats available in the SF Bay Area.

re: Fitting these to an Econoline - The Transit mounting channels are freaking stout and long, and even longer for te larger benches.. The backing you will need to add for the Econoline is up to you. Of course, the channels on top mean nothing without very solid backing plates. Make sure you get the channels with the seats AND make sure the channels MATCH UP with the seat leg hooks. Not all the seats have quick release legs. Some have bolts at the back vs the quick release handles.

The Transit seats have VERY different leg spacing from the E Series benches. The single seats are ~ 8.25" center line, the doubles are ~16.5", and the triples have three legs. Not all the seats have legs that go to the floor. Some have one leg and side mounts that go into the wall or atop the wheel well. Some of the double seats have left or right offsets for the legs. There are different seat cushion widths (narrow and normal??) for singles and doubles. Seat belt configurations seem to be location dependent. Some come over the right shoulder, some come over the left, some have one right, one left. This all sounds crazy as I read it, but it is the reality I came across looking for seats to add to a Cargo Transit. Oh, and the seat track bolt to the floor patterns are not standard from year to year in the Transit passenger vans.


You will need to drill holes in the E Series floor or come up with some other mounting method.

Transit seats weigh a lot.

All that being said - The legs can be unbolted from the seats and mounts can be fabricated to mount the seats to a custom frame. Again, the crash worthiness will only be as good as the floor backing plates and the frame.

I suggest you have a look at a number of seats before purchasing to get an understanding of the numerous differences.
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Old 10-25-2019, 03:13 PM   #3
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if you're near Portland, you can have a grey 2-seater bench that I just took out of our rig. Comes with a bracket fab'd up for mounting flat. Has a 12" x 12" bolt pattern in the base.

Free... no charge... come get it... I'm just about to recycle all the steel so if you don't want it, it's going in the scrap heap.
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Old 10-27-2019, 08:00 AM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mgmetalworks View Post
if you're near Portland, you can have a grey 2-seater bench that I just took out of our rig. Comes with a bracket fab'd up for mounting flat. Has a 12" x 12" bolt pattern in the base.

Free... no charge... come get it... I'm just about to recycle all the steel so if you don't want it, it's going in the scrap heap.
Thanks, I greatly appreciate the offer, but I'm on the east coast
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Old 10-27-2019, 08:02 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 1der View Post
Transit seats are all over the place and all over the price spectrum. Where are you located?? (considering adding to your profile). I know of some seats available in the SF Bay Area.

re: Fitting these to an Econoline - The Transit mounting channels are freaking stout and long, and even longer for te larger benches.. The backing you will need to add for the Econoline is up to you. Of course, the channels on top mean nothing without very solid backing plates. Make sure you get the channels with the seats AND make sure the channels MATCH UP with the seat leg hooks. Not all the seats have quick release legs. Some have bolts at the back vs the quick release handles.

The Transit seats have VERY different leg spacing from the E Series benches. The single seats are ~ 8.25" center line, the doubles are ~16.5", and the triples have three legs. Not all the seats have legs that go to the floor. Some have one leg and side mounts that go into the wall or atop the wheel well. Some of the double seats have left or right offsets for the legs. There are different seat cushion widths (narrow and normal??) for singles and doubles. Seat belt configurations seem to be location dependent. Some come over the right shoulder, some come over the left, some have one right, one left. This all sounds crazy as I read it, but it is the reality I came across looking for seats to add to a Cargo Transit. Oh, and the seat track bolt to the floor patterns are not standard from year to year in the Transit passenger vans.


You will need to drill holes in the E Series floor or come up with some other mounting method.

Transit seats weigh a lot.

All that being said - The legs can be unbolted from the seats and mounts can be fabricated to mount the seats to a custom frame. Again, the crash worthiness will only be as good as the floor backing plates and the frame.

I suggest you have a look at a number of seats before purchasing to get an understanding of the numerous differences.
Yeah, I was affraid of this ... closest seller is about 400 miles away and that's quite the road trip so I might just mozy on over there when I get the interior stripped so I can evaluate things for myself. Thanks for the reply!
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Old 10-27-2019, 09:11 AM   #6
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Garage
What state on the East Coast?
There are a number of places that may be able to help out. One outfit in Maine - AWOL Adventure Rigs (no affiliation). Believe its www.awolrigs.com
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Old 11-02-2019, 07:39 PM   #7
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Fit 12 transit seats in mine with an airplane row. Two seats are quick change outs for more room.
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Old 11-25-2019, 01:08 PM   #8
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Originally Posted by NCMODELA View Post
Fit 12 transit seats in mine with an airplane row. Two seats are quick change outs for more room.

@NCMODELA this looks great! Do you mind sharing how you handled mounting them? Did you use the Transit mounts and mount them to the floor with backing plates for reinforcement?
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Old 11-25-2019, 02:40 PM   #9
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Not sure how I missed this reply ... thanks for sharing! Like @Sigg above me, Curious how you mounted them.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NCMODELA View Post
Fit 12 transit seats in mine with an airplane row. Two seats are quick change outs for more room.
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Old 02-01-2021, 07:12 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mgmetalworks View Post
if you're near Portland, you can have a grey 2-seater bench that I just took out of our rig. Comes with a bracket fab'd up for mounting flat. Has a 12" x 12" bolt pattern in the base.

Free... no charge... come get it... I'm just about to recycle all the steel so if you don't want it, it's going in the scrap heap.
Hey! This was a while ago.. lol, but I'm in Salem and just picked up a transit rear seat with no tracks. Any chance you still have a set? 🙂👍
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