Hey all! I've been reading this forum a whole bunch lately as I've just purchased an '05 E350 15 passenger van. Lot of great info here! I've tried searching a bit but haven't found a direct answer with this though.

My question is, Is there a way to replace some of the bench seats in my van with any type of captain chairs? I'm in a touring band and these benches get mighty uncomfortable on long drives. We used to have a 99 E150 conversion van and the seat in it were great. I was hoping that there would be a way to get something like that in here. Preferably I'd like something that can bolt directly up or OEM seats that require little modification. I know the Chateau models had some type of factory captain chairs. Would they bolt up?

Any advice or input would be extremely appreciated! Thanks again guys!

 

No, they won't bolt up, but it's a pretty easy conversion if you've got a drill and aren't afraid to put some new holes in the floor. Just seal up the old ones so you don't have a water problem and use big bolts and washers through the floor. I've done this in older vans and felt pretty safe about it but you need to make sure where you are bolting them is pretty strong. I would think the hard part would be finding a Chateau model with salvageable seats. If you don't have to have an exact match, there are plenty of great minivan bucket seats out there to be found, and they usually have a flat base like you would need for a van. Another problem you might run in to is seat belts though.
This may be more than you want to get in to, but the factory buckets will not mount where your benches are without modification.
Good luck!

 

I picked up a conversion van sofa/bed, the mounting hardware was able to be turned to bolt down where the factory bench was secured. Use large thick washers to bolt the the replacements down, that's all conversion companies do, be aware of what lies beneath before drilling.