Quote:
Originally Posted by motovan_mn
1der - did you get a chance to look into this, and is there any word on availability of a swivel seat base for a power adjust seat?
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Ahh, yes, I did get to look into this. Here is what I found out and did:
2006 E Series OEM Power Seat
The metal frames of the seats are slightly different between the manual and power seats and, of course, the slide mechanisms and the way they mount are completely different.
The other part that is significantly different are the plastic trim panels around the base and the way they are attached to the metal seat frame.
While I felt there would be a way to actually mount the OEM power seat to the swivel base, it would have required more fabrication than what I felt was worth it for our use. An adapter plate or bars would have to be created to replicate the mounting points for the Power seat and interface with the swivel seat base. The outboard mount has two studs that are vertical. The inboard mount has a different configuration that has a horizontal mount requiring a tab. My seat is in a mobility enhanced van we purchased so the stock power seat may be a bit different. You can see the inboard mount point in this picture.
Instead, I resolved to mount the seat to the swivel base as a manual seat.
To do this you will need manual seat slides. These slides will not bolt directly to the OEM power seat frame because, as stated, it is different. Two of the slide mount bolts will align with the nutserts in the seat frame and two will not. You will have to drill two holes in the seat frame and use a nut /bolt /washer to mount the slide rails to the seat frame. This was easy to do.
If you want a true manual seat finished look you will have to procure the plastic trim pieces to surround the base, The power seat trims are much larger, have the switch holes in them, and mount very differently than the manual bases.
In the process of removing the power seat mechanism you will have to remove the seat back pivot bolt. This disassembly was a bit more entailed than first glance but just required thought and normal tools including Torx.
With the manual slides installed it was a normal mounting to the swivel seat bases.
NOTE: The swivel seat bases were NOT TESTED for power seat based seats. There are no plans for a power seat dedicated base.