OMG vacuuming up the washcloths! hahaha .... I love how you called this a 3 out of 10 for difficulty, watching how complicated everything was gave me a whole new level of appreciation of the intricacy of the whole project. Wow.
Your videos are great. Keep them this granular as it is helpful. The drivers seat install was complicated but looks like it would be fun to take on. Looking forward to seeing more videos.
Bruce, you are exactly who I had hoped would find my videos. Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment and I hope to see your comments on future videos!
Just got to the end of this video. Please dont decrease the granularity of the videos. I can always skip a bit i dont need, but i definitely cant add more :D
Just found you. We are looking at doing our own van conversion and are looking at a number of different peoples builds. We like your presentation with the do’s and don’ts along the way. Really like your break down on cost of materials, the tools and time. Not seeing others do that thus far.
Thank you for taking the time to leave feedback! I sincerely do appreciate it and will do my best to keep the cost and material summary sections in my project videos!
Eric I am converting a Transit in England. I'm viewing the airbag unit like it is an unexploded bomb. Your video has taken away a lot of the fear in handling this. In your debt man-so many thanks for your detailed video. PS I enjoyed the vacuuming of the duster episode, my sort of thing.
I like that you are making a Transit van because most of the stuff on YT is Sprinter related. Yes, most of the things can be translated quite easily. However, I think that the Transit makes a lot more sense to buy if you want to save some money. At least in Finland a used Sprinter is almost 2x the price compared to a Transit. I like how granular you are explaining things as I will probably use your videos with my van. Thanks for that. One thing that you might want to do is when you are doing something wrong, have a visual indication that this is not correct. Some people will not have sound on if they are following your instructions or might not be listening that carefully. It is a small thing but I think it will help make the video clearer.
It's a very helpful video for a brave DIYer and wouldn't change anything, but, seeing what you went through on that driver seat, I personally would leave that for a garage to do and only attempt the passenger side. That's really all I'd want, anyway. I thought the rag being sucked up was the best part!
Hey Eric thanks for posting this video. It was a game saver in helping me install the driver’s side swivel. I have the same van and swivel base. Yes the ebrake lowering was a chore. I would add that I was able to save the inverter by relocating it. I also saved the cover by cutting it down. I was going to add pics but you tube doesn’t let me here. Send me a message if you would like them. Thanks again. 🙏😁
Great vid and explanation. Noticed you didn't have any video of cutting the brake cable so that it is shorter. In my mind, I'm imagining you have to cut out the slack created by lowering the brake. True? No? Thanks.
Hi Jonathan! Thanks for leaving a comment! I think getting a straight dye grinder would be a fantastic time saving tool for anyone considering starting their own renovation!
Erik, I'm enjoying your tutorials! I like how you explain the obstacles you ran into and how to avoid them. I also appreciate the tool list, cost breakdown, and cost percentage of the entire project. I look forward to each episode, so keep them coming! Oh, and your photography is amazing! I love the Costa Rica footage!
No notes on the video itself. Your presentation is spot on. My only 'complaint' is the thumbnail which says d.i.y. swivel seats which these are not. Maybe I'm nitpicking but this is a manufactured swivel seat install, not a d.i.y. project.
Hi Jimmy. Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment! From my perspective, the swivels weren't installed by the manufacturer, or by a 3rd party upfitter. I installed them and made all the required modifications to make them fit "myself". I think from that standpoint, this is absolutely a "DIY" project. But, did I smelt the metal plates, or thread my own screws? Absolutely not.
0:42: ⚙️ DIY van conversion project involves installing passenger and driver seat swivels, with precautions for airbag sensor and battery power. 3:11: ⚙️ Installation tips for swivel seats in a Ford Transit camper van conversion, including removing plastic cover, using torx t45 bit, and cutting zip ties. 7:17: ⚙️ Detailed process of removing components and wiring to access the handbrake in a camper van conversion. 11:35: 🔧 Modifying mounting bracket, removing inverter, and preserving hand brake cable during van conversion. 18:41: ⏰ Effortless installation of new seat swivels, taking only 2-3 hours for the passenger seat. Scope pimas were a breeze to install. Recapped using Tammy AI
Hi. Great detailed video. How many hours do you think this took you? Any issues that you ran into since installation? Looking at a coachmen beyond on the transit 2020 chassis and it doesn’t look like they had swivel seats until 2021 or 2022. I’m wondering if I can do this conversion. Like you though I might have some obstacles esp on the drivers side since the bath is behind.
With the brake height being lowered, the original cover no longer fits, so it's just left open for now. Honestly I've never noticed it, but I'm sure you could make some kind of wood cover for it.
Not technically, though I have found that if you don't open the door, depending on how you have the seat positioned (forward/backward) you can end up scratching the door plastics.
Seems like a really frustrating install honestly. Not sure how this compares to any other task on a van build, like house electric system scares me. Following a guide on that, you have to take apart the driver seat to tap into alternator charging too. Just plain replacing that battery seems dumb too, like the idea of having to dismantle a seat like that to replace a battery is just bonkers...
It really wasn't that bad, if you've watched any MB or Ram battery removal videos you are either removing a seat or removing several body panels to gain access. At that point it's mostly just a question of how many screws do you need to loosen. With the seat, technically it's just four screws if your just doing a quick swap and don't need to remove the seat belt attachment.
Hi Erik, Great video. I plan on watching your other videos since I have a 2022 Transit on order and will be converting it also when it arrives. My question is that I noticed a lot of people have had clearance problems when swiveling the drivers seat over the top of the hand brake. A lot of people have had to modify the hand brake cover so the seat doesn't rub on it. You didn't seem to have that problem. Is there something you did that you did not mention or show in your video? Also, did you have any issues with the seat rail hitting the door panel and scratching it when you swivel it around? I've seen some people have to open the door to allow the seat to swivel around. Is that true with your 2020? Thanks.
Nope, the video shows everything I did, and maybe more specifically I didn't go in and replace the ebrake cover after the install since the final hand brake location is now 3" or so lower that it was, the old plastic cover won't fit anymore.
@@ErikJohnson2020 dust, not shavings. A job that should have taken two minutes probably took like 20. Vacuum for two mins after. Embrace grinders my friend.
I have same size van on order and appreciate all the info and tips. You probably already follow Rich, here is a link to one of his vids. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE--qRw_gytSKc.html
Whoa .. great video, the details are awesome. You just convinced me that should I install swivels, I'm only going to install the passenger. Now it makes sense why some other DIY van conversions do this as well. Thank you!!!
Yeah, the passenger is much easier to install, but depending on your build layout it is so worth having the driver seat swivel as well so you can have a little lounge at the front of your van.
