Adding a removable third seat

After our first test trip, we decided to put a seat facing forward and in the front of the van to make traveling more comfortable for our third passenger. The back bench seats have lap seat belts but the side-facing, rear-riding position made our daughter feel very nauseous. So for her and others with motion sickness, this was important.

It wasn't easy finding what we wanted. We didn't want lose any of our living space so we needed a track system that was flush with the floor. Even after we found the right track, it was hard to find someone who sold it. We found this track and the chair with a mounting block through different sellers on ebay.

The track has a valley (or base) that sits ~1/2" into the floor and a flange that trims out the floor. We weren't going to put in a floor because the van came with industrial padding and a rubber floor. But the thickness of the the floor planks along with the malleability of the padding and rubber floor worked perfectly. The floor is also water proof and will be much easier to keep clean which is something I really like. It also looks pretty good!

First step was removing the thresholds from both the back and side doors and laying floor planks up to the end of the benches. We started from the rear of the van and moved forward. Once those were in, we drilled a hole for our table mount. We already had this hole drilled but replaced the mount with heavier metal. This was another fix needed after our test trip. The first mount we bought was thinner metal and moved around a lot while we were driving. We hope the thicker metal along with a few extra fold-able legs sturdy it. I'll update when we test it again.

The next step was placing the chair with the track and mount connected in a good spot and marking the corners of the track. The good spot depended on the van's undercarriage (specifically where we could drill), the van's floor ridge lines (we situated in the valleys), and comfort of user (plenty of leg room, ability to recline, ability to fold chair and slide forward enough for to get to the back of the van). We then removed the seat and marked the lines of the track more clearly. Next, we took the mounting block off the tracks and marked and pre-drilled the holes that connect the track to the van. All holes were sprayed with this to prevent rust.

Then we starting laying planks again, drawing the outline of the base of the track as we went. We used the holes as a center line and measured out on both sides the distance of the sunken part of the track (making sure we didn't measure too large because the flange would be the trim).

After all of the floor boards were snapped in place, we cut out the floor and screwed the track onto the floor of the van.

We had to raise the van on ramps and lower the gas tank with a floor jack to reach all of these spots on the undercarriage.

In hindsight, we could've laid the entire floor first and then decided placement, cut floor, and attached the runners. It was nice to be able to feel the ribs for placement but the van specs have all of those measurements too and may be more accurate.

This was basically the shortest rails we could find. We could've gone shorter because the chair base slides back and forth.

Last but importantly, we sealed all of the floor's edges, put in trim, screwed back in thresholds, and put ends on the floor runners.

The chair is heavy- I think around 50lbs? So it takes a strong person to move it. But the lighter ones looked very uncomfortable and they weren't really much lighter. It fits in the front seat when removed.