Rear seat safety in side conversions

[athomas50]

We're about to buy a Bongo with a side conversion. We have a young child who will travel in the rear. I understand that when a side conversion is done there are two options. 1) use the original rear seat but reduce it's width from 3 to 2 seater, or 2) replace the rear seat with a rock and roll bed/ bench seat. From what I've read 1) is more comfortable to travel in generally and 2) more comfortable to sleep on - although reupholstering the original seat would make it more comfortable to sleep on.

Are both of these options safe (legal even) in the event of a crash? What (if any) certification is needed to show the seats have been fitted correctly?

I'm sure I'm not the first to ask this, but can't find any other threads.

Thanks.

[bingbangbongo]

Hi,

We have a side conversion with the original seats (not sure if they have been modified). When hunting for a Bongo we looked specifically for one with the original seats as I figured this was the closest thing to a guarantee of safety we would get. They are also 3 point belts whereas many conversions are lap-belts. We have two small children so safety was a priority. You can buy crash-tested rock n roll beds but they are quite expensive.

The two seats in the back fold down flat, we then have a padded insert which slots into where the head rests sit when the bed is made up. The head rests are removed for sleeping.

I have slept in both RnR beds and on our original seats with a mattress topper. The original seats are way more comfortable. They also have a bigger lap area when travelling s are actually more comfortable for driving. Even my 5 year old complained the RnR seat was too small.

Finally, in terms of storage, because the original seats slide on the original runners it means you can have a whopping great boot space when driving as the seats are located to the front when in use. When you park up the seats are slid back. You can easily remove them or even add more if you need to.

RnR beds are locked in place, usually toward the back of the van (until you slide them into bed modee of course), so most of your load space is in front of them. I wasn't too keen on stowing all our camping gear in front of the seats for a long journey.

I appreciate this doesn't perhaps answer your questiondirectly but explaining our line of thinking may help you make up your mind.

Best of luck with your Bongo adventure!

Just a thought and it probably opens a can of worms, but if you have the budget you can always buy an unconverted van, see how you use it, and then convert it in the future once you know exactly what you want.

PS Having bought a 4 seater we are now trying to figure out how to cram 2 more seats in the car for when we are taking other kids away! You never know how you are going to use it until you have one!

Good luck!

[Colin H F]

hi have posted this before but this is what I done in my first bongo £25 off ebay a two bum fold up seat with lap belts (allthough not nessesary in rear facing seats) taken from a VW, I did put a proper lever on for the release after I had finished it , needed to be fold up to gain access to the fridge