Front Seat That Swivels Upgrade W/Pic

[IAMICHABOD]

I really missed having seats that swiveled like I had on my old
Class A.Now that I have a smaller Class C.
So I looked around and found only one place that sold an aftermarket swivel and found out that another RV.NET poster had done it,thanks scroller95969, so I ordered it and installed it.

This is how it went.

First you remove the seat to expose the seat base.

Then you install the Swivel,This thing is not light.It weighs over 34 lbs.It is made out of 1/8in steel and very sturdy. One note here,some of the holes don't line up and have to be reamed out a little to fit.
I suggest that this is done on a bench and is test fitted before install it is too heavy to be messing with any other way.


The Bolts that are supplied are Grade 8 with NyLock nuts,this thing is not going any where!!
Also in the in the pic you will notice the lift bar that lets you pull up to swivel the seat.It came straight,it is about 5 inches long
and I thought it may pose a hazard so I heated it and bent it 90 degrees so it will tuck under the seat somewhat.
I then installed the seat and this is how it looked before.

And after, giving me more room,an extra seat, and opening up the whole thing.

This is it turned and pushed against the dash with the back upright.


This is it in the full recline position,it may be adjusted to any angle you want of course. Just move it on the slider as you would when it is in it's forward position.

It works both ways for which ever way you want and still swivels to give you as much room that you want.
This mod was for the stock seats but they also make ones for after market and for different brands of RV chassis. It should be noted that it also raised the seat about 2 inches.
I bought this at Shop 4 Seats They also sell swivel bases for other seats
They are made to order,they are not off the shelf items.So if you order make sure that all your measurements are right.They are quite helpful on the phone. It takes about 3 weeks to get them,they are about 15 miles from me so I had them on will call and saved the shipping.
It worked out very well and the seat swivels just great. It is easier to open the door and do the swivel and it misses the dog house and everything just fine.

If you do this Mod, post a picture of yours, so we all can see!
Like This one from loweryfarris on page 4

[Remmag]

IAMICHABOD, just saw your post. My base came from "Discount Van & Truck".(http://www.discountvantruck.com/) The base bolts right in, with no problems. In use it is pretty tight to swivel, but it works. Let me know if here are any other questions.

[IAMICHABOD]

Rolin wrote:
I am also interested in upgrading to a swivel passenger seat. However, when looking for our present motorhome (E450 based) we found a used one (same year = 2006 chassis) that had a swivel seat and it would only turn about 2/3's of the way because the left arm rest would run into the door armrest and you could not recline it because of that.

Rolin,
Here is an Idea. I see on page 4 that Remmag has a 2007 E 450 with the swivel seat and it works for him. How bout you asking him,thru a PM, what kind his is and how it works.Just a thought 🙂

Page 4 of Thread

And maybe he can post back here for the other Ford guys.
One thing nice about this Forum is that there always seems to be someone that will help out.

[IAMICHABOD]

emcee wrote:
IAMICHABOD:
I'm taking you up on your offer for additional questions.

I see where the chevy part is only 2" high. but you also said that the ones from Factory Surplus "have a much smaller bolt pattern"

Yes the one from Factory Surplus is for an after market Captain Chair that has a 8x11 bolt pattern. The factory seat bolt pattern is much larger,on my Chevy it is 14 1/4 by 13 1/4 I would measure the one on your Ford and see what it is.

DiscountVanandTruck's stock #113619 is supposed to fit my (2002 E450) vehicle (although it isn't a swivel) and has an 8 x 11 top bolt pattern. The FactoryRVSurplus stock #1181 also has an 8 x 11 top bolt pattern.

The #113619 is a fixed base for an after market seat. it has a 8x11 base also.If you have a stock Ford seat you will need to scroll down a little and see the OEM Seat Bases #113630 for drivers side or the #113631 for the passenger side.Here

You also said that the product from FactoryRVSurplus is a "flimsy sheet metal adapter". Do you know that this product uses lighter gauge steel than the one from DiscountVanandTruck.

When I called they said that they had an adapter that would bolt on to the base that consisted of 2 straps that bolted to the existing holes and extended out to meet the bolts that came with my seat.That didn't seem safe to me. I wanted to bolt directly to the seat base and not be adapted with 2 straps.That is why I chose the one from Discountvantruck, their plate is 3/8inch steel and bolts directly to the stock base with grade 8 bolts and NyLock nuts.It is all made in the factory in La Harbra California.

I hope this helps.
As to Rolin's question,the inboard offset was for the Chevy Base. I have no real first hand knowledge of how they work on a Ford. If you have any Questions, just call them they are very helpful. Here

[Rolin]

I am also interested in upgrading to a swivel passenger seat. However, when looking for our present motorhome (E450 based) we found a used one (same year = 2006 chassis) that had a swivel seat and it would only turn about 2/3's of the way because the left arm rest would run into the door armrest and you could not recline it because of that.

I believe that there was a mention that one of the swivels moved the seat inboard about 1/2 to 1 inch. Any recommendations? Would be willing to pay more for a USA made kit vs an imported kit so if the $160+ kit works and is USA made I would rather purchase it than a less expensive imported kit.

[IAMICHABOD]

This may take a few back and forths to explain.

[emcee]

IAMICHABOD:
I'm taking you up on your offer for additional questions. I see where the chevy part is only 2" high. but you also said that the ones from Factory Surplus "have a much smaller bolt pattern".

DiscountVanandTruck's stock #113619 is supposed to fit my (2002 E450) vehicle (although it isn't a swivel) and has an 8 x 11 top bolt pattern. The FactoryRVSurplus stock #1181 also has an 8 x 11 top bolt pattern.

OK I had this mod on my to do list for a while. It would be great to do it for only $50. You also said that the product from FactoryRVSurplus is a "flimsy sheet metal adapter". Do you know that this product uses lighter gauge steel than the one from DiscountVanandTruck?

[John_M1]

lowreyfarris wrote:

I did do it myself, it took about 30 minutes, and all the hardware came with it when I ordered it from discountvantruck.com. It is offset to the side about an inch, not really noticeable, and it did raise it almost 2 inches. I had to ream out one of the bolt holes, and I would recommend cutting down or bending the latch lever 90 degrees. It sticks out about 6 inches and my wife kicked it every time she got in and out. I ended up cutting it down to about 1 inch.

This is almost exactly my experience.
At first I thought the additional seat height would be a problem, but by the end of our first trip we hardly notice. When the seat is swiveled to face the rear, the added height is kinda nice as it makes it easier to get into and out of the seat.

Ours is a little different than what shows in IAMICHABOD's photo of the seat tilted back toward the windshield. The top of our seat back hits the roof just above the windshield so it won't tilt back that far. Moving the sun visor around so that it is over the door window helps, but we don't get as much tilt as IAMICHABOD does. Our MH is on a 2012 Chevy chassis, so that could be what makes the difference. I don't recall what year his Chevy is.

[Foggy]

My '97 E450 V-8 came with swivels. A friends '97 E450 V-10 came without. The doghouse for the V-10 is too big to let the seats swivel. Might be different on newer rigs.

[pnichols]

If anyone riding in the passenger seat is a little short (the DW?) they may not care for an additional 2 inches of height. Does anyone offer a whole new pedestal to go with the swivel so that the passenger seat height remains the same as stock?

What would really be nice is an adjustable height pedestal with a swivel top. That way you could raise the passenger seat all the way up when it was swiveled around facing the coach, since some Class C coach areas have higher floors than the cab floor. This would bring the chair up in height to better match the coach floor for more comfortable socializing, eating, watching TV, etc. with others in the coach. How do you get up out of a swiveled passenger seat that is down low relative to the coach floor?

[Snowman9000]

Thanks lrf, that is the same as ichabod's, then.

[lowreyfarris]

Snowman9000 wrote:

Nice. Do you know what hardware was used? Did you DIY?

From what I'm gathering, the seat has to be offset to the left to be able to swivel. Is that true? And possibly higher than stock, depending on the hardware.

I did do it myself, it took about 30 minutes, and all the hardware came with it when I ordered it from discountvantruck.com. It is offset to the side about an inch, not really noticeable, and it did raise it almost 2 inches. I had to ream out one of the bolt holes, and I would recommend cutting down or bending the latch lever 90 degrees. It sticks out about 6 inches and my wife kicked it every time she got in and out. I ended up cutting it down to about 1 inch.

Very happy with the results. I got a couple more feet of usable space for about $200.

[IAMICHABOD]

emcee wrote:
IAMICHABOD you said it raised the seat about 2". The web site describes the part as 6" high. Does it just sandwich between the base and the seat? If so why doesn't it raise the seat 6". Did you use a different model?

The swivel IS sanwiched between the base and the seat bottom and it is about 1 5/8 inch thick.
If you go to the web site for the Chevy
I hope that that helps,any other questions just ask or send me a PM.

Also the ones from Factory Surplus are made for After Market Captain seats that have a much smaller bolt pattern and have to be adapted to fit a factory seat.After talking to them I decided that I would rather have a direct bolt up than a flimsy sheet metal adapter for safety.

[emcee]

IAMICHABOD you said it raised the seat about 2". The web site describes the part as 6" high. Does it just sandwich between the base and the seat? If so why doesn't it raise the seat 6". Did you use a different model?

[emcee]

Has anyone tried this swivel:

http://www.factoryrvsurplus.com/products.php?product_id=1615

It's a lot less $$ and comes in 4 different heights

[the_trippers]

Ductape Dave wrote:
Atwood is now producing swivel seat bases for ForestRiver E350/450 C's. They slide on a 45 degree angle so it clears any obstructions to spin around easy. The seat also remains at the same stock height. No problems with the seat belt cylinder wiring and it does not void any warranty according to their forum. They are just coming out now so I am keeping an eye on these for a possible future purchase.

I'll be looking for this too, my wife presently can barely reach the floor with her feet.