The manual says the seats should or could fold flat and make a bed. Mine do not appear to do this. 96 ext...

What seats do fold into a bed... Year Make Model etc?

I would like Captains Chairs but my Wife would like to have the seats make into a bed for camping...

 

Mine do on my '91 Extended Eddie Bauer. 2nd and 3rd row are benches which fold flat. I prefer to sleep in the Van while camping instead of pitching a tent and air matress. The seats in the van are more comfortable than the bed in my room. Seriously!

 

both my 90 Eddie Bauer and 91 XT (both extended) have the fold flat benches.....I recently bought a complete set of seats out of an Eddie Bauer (including 2nd row captains) on eBay......they swap out as needed.

 

My '93 XLT has the camper seats too. You can identify the fold-flat 2nd row seat by its lack of arm rest on the right side. I don't know if the 3rd row is visually different or not though.

There's an easy compromise to the captains chair versus bed seats - get both from a junkyard, swap them in and out as needed...

 

Will the captain's chairs fit in where the 2-person bench comes out? Or would it require floor mods?

 

The swap was simple before the addition of sholder belts around 93-94. The lap belts were integrated into the seats. They present a problem for the back right captain's chair. The belt mounts to the floor for the chair but it mounts to the bench seat. Some modification is needed.

So, is there a middle bench that doesn't fold down? All three Aero's I've had had the captain's chairs. I assumed all benches folded down. I know the rear bench in all of mine did.

 

I've seen a lot of 2nd row benches that didn't fold flat. Most don't, actually (at least that's what I've observed in junkyards). I think the standard ones might have the back ford forward if I'm not mistaken, but I can't think why that'd be useful.

On a related note, how do the captains chairs attach to the floor? Does each chair lock into one of the floor points? It would seem like that might be unstable...

 

I believe that the seat-bed option was standard on Eddie Bauer model with bench seats and optional on other lines. Since I ordered both my 90 XL and 94 XLT direct from the factory, I opted for the seat-bed. Of course, It was necessary to swap the seat-bed into my latest, a 96 XLT.

I travel about with 3 large dogs and often go camping. The seat-bed is integral to my activities and is rarely in the upright position. I have a large box or drawer that fits under the bed, full of camping gear and I've made lots of other minor mods to make my Aerostar what I call the "essential RV".

And yes ATC Crazy, they are more comfortable than my bed at home.

 

My 93 XLT extended has a third bench seat that opens flat. It has a lever on the right side which when pulled releases the back to open flat. It is very useful for stacking up stuff. I've never used for sleeping though :-(

 

You dont know what you're missing! After a night in the Aerostar, you will want to sleep out there every night instead of in your house

 

Just make sure that you get the seatbelt buckles pushed down into their slots so they aren't poking into your back...