Interesting van conversion

[Sunny43.5]

Today I fitted a sunroof to a fellow VW owner with a T5 .1 LWB , what was different was that as Dave was in a wheelchair he had had his van custom built to his special needs . Now I was amazed at the job which had been done to his van , first thing a electric side door with an electric self deploying ramp for access into the van . When he enters the van it has airbag suspension for lowering and raising the van so you hear lots of air valves making noises as the van does its thing . Then the drivers seat is also electric with all sorts of adjustments for rotation of the seat forwards back and I presume height etc. Naturally the van had hand controls but the most interesting thing was it had the whole floor area from just in front of the front seats through to the rear had been LOWERED approx. 120 mm so the level of the floor was now the same as the side step at the very opening edge , now that on its own would have been a monster of a job to do as you can imagine the work in cutting down the whole floor area of a T5 . I hope Dave posts some articles and photos about his conversion soon as he has joined the Forum , I know quite a few Forum members have asked about seat mods for disabled use and also other drivers aids this guy will be a good source of information for those people .

[Umai Naa!!]

I saw one recently up on a hoist, that had pretty much the whole rear cargo floor replaced, for the purpose of rear and side loading wheelchair ramps.

I'm all for people overcoming adversity, and getting out and about to try and live a fulfilled life, but the workmanship and level on engineering on this particular van was scary. It flexed that much on the hoist, that the sliding door bound up, and wouldn't open.

[Sunny43.5]

From what Dave told me the insurance company were covering his condition and paid for the van plus conversion , he may clarify costs later but the price of 90k plus was mentioned ouch !

[Bryn23]

I've seen these conversions, a lot of modifications involved and huge costs..

I did look at them, but it was over the top, and as i'm paying out of my pocket, i went for the side cassette lift option as it was cheaper and i can have it removed later, if i want to sell the van or upgrade to a newer van.

Well at 23k it isn't cheap, but a damm lot better that 90K and the vehicle structure isn't compromised.

[Sunny43.5]

We have a folding ramp system for our disabled use , great system as it is only secured by a couple of bolts and is easily removed . I used to fit wheelchair lifts etc to vans 16 years ago and never wanted one for our van due to the weight and complicated fitting . So the Prarie View Industries folding ramps were the answer . The ramp only weighs around ten kg and takes up a tiny space at the rear on one side and folds out in seconds . I fitted one of these to a fellow forum member Multivan some years back for his son , he could drive his own chair so it was easy for him to get into the van by himself once mum and dad had unfolded it for him . If anyone wants photos let me know .

[Bryn23]

Edited as i posted in wrong thread