I think it's well documented that you need a swivel on the drivers seat as well to be able to swivel a bench seat, although someone may know differently.

 

Strange......I fitted one three years ago and it works fine as long as you remember to put the hand brake off and ensure that the van isn't going to roll . It just kisses the hand brake cover slightly as it turns...... What direction are you turning the seat to rotate?

J

 

hi,i have the kiravans double swivel and somewhere(it could be on their site)it does say to put the van in gear and release the handbrake.The swivel does come easier with practice.

 

The touch of class double swivel and slide works great. Can be seen in action here: https://youtu.be/RAXKLQLLKHY


Sent from my ONE A2003 using Tapatalk

 

Thanks. Think I'll have a look at these. T:

 

Yes it does say that the handbrake should be off on their web site. It doesnt say though, that it will not spin without scraping along other part of the cab. I think £260+ quid for something that only just works it not acceptable. I could understand putting something of this quality in a Ford, but VW buyers generally buy them for their quality amongst other things. Maybe I'm expecting too much, but definately don't want seats that take an age to turn if you don't get it quite right. Rather spend more money and get a single seat and swivel. My wife hasn't tried to turn them yet but I'd can guarantee she wouldn't have the strength to turn them.

 

I also have the Vanhaus sliding swivel and give it a T:

 

I would have though it pretty obvious the bulk head mount needs to be out to be fair. I decided against the kiravans one and got one from just kampers, everything is contained inside the seat which contrary to most opinions I actually prefer, it's neater. I don't have or need a driver swivel, I don't need to take the handbrake off either. I do need to put the drivers arm rest up, no effort at all.
I did have some minor alignment issues and the little cable things around the pins are and almost all snapped, but after reading this I'm starting to think it maybe isn't so bad.

 

It comes with practice/trial and error, I've never taken the hand brake off but I do push the driver's seat back which stops it hitting the arm rest. I also loosened the centre bolt a quarter of a turn which made it all the more easier to slide around.

I must admit I was frustrated with it when first fitted but I'm happy with it now I've learned how to turn it.

 

^^^ yep same here, took me quite a while to understand how it works, but now I've got the hang of it, it's pretty quick. Never take the handbrake off, just make sure the captains drivers chair arm rest is up and no issues.

 

We could do with a full review of all options lol. Vanhuas, Kiravans, touch of class and Sportcraft (I think that's right). Are there anymore out there that are easy to use?

 

Same here, I have the Kiravans, and we love it

no trouble fitting at all, half an hour and it was done. Although I did get someone to help me lift it in.

Swivels great, I dont need to take the handbrake off, although I dont have a drivers arm rest.

Dont have a drivers swivel either.

The way I swivel if from driving position is, push it forward a touch into the cab then rotate anticlockwise, go the other way and its getting close to the door pillar. To put it back I rotate clockwise again it gives more space away from the pillar.

 

I had my Kiravans double swivel professionally fitted and I must say that I've had no problems rotating it. I neither have a drivers seat arm rest or drivers swivel and have never had to take off the handbrake ... although id does hit the brake handle on rotation (anti-clockwise).

As above I use the same anti-clockwise rotation and sometime momentarily open the passenger door to rotate. The best things about the Kiravans swivel are 1. no-grease and 2. it rotates without emptying all the under seat storage (which is usually chocked full and like Tetris

Great product if fitted well.

 

Yes, I think to describe the Kiravans seat as " awful" is a bit unfair. |I too had to ease the mounting holes with a round file to get the base to fit. And I also had to loosen the central bolt to get the seat to swivel easily. I think this is not the best quality control on Kiravans part, and they could give you more info on fettling at the sort of price these things are. I also have to release the handbreak. With the space available I think it works well.
But having said that, once you realise how to deal with these glitches it is an excellent product.

 

Agree with Matt645 - I have had the Kiravans double swivel a while and its easy to fit and easy to turn. Just turn it anti-clockwise and back n forth a bit and around it goes, all very simple just need to get used to it.
I wouldn't say it's awful at all.. it's a decent swivel base and does the job well.
That's my tuppence worth! T:

 

How about some silicon spray on the pad surface to make it slide easier?

J

 

I know someone earlier said there was no grease but there was on mine? I added a bit more which isn't a problem if you have the storage bottom plate.

 

reading the comments as i am looking at getting one of these seems people with drivers seat with armrests are having more problems would that be correct?

 

You just need to push the drivers seat back (from a sitting perspective) and it clears the arm rest.

 

Like many of the items for sale to convert your van the seat swivels are yet another example of where a bit of decent, detailed documentation from the supplier would help resolve a lot of problems and save a lot of time. It's not that the product is faulty or bad, it's simply that the supplier ships a box to you with pretty much niobium's instructions and expects you to get perfect results by guessing how to install it and use it.

I think most of the problems in this case are down to a lack of practice and technique. I have arms on my driver's seat and just have to remember to lift the passenger side one up before rotating the seat. Mine is an auto so having the handbrake off is normal for me anyway.

Making sure it's installed correctly helps, if you have a spacer missing (as I did) under the original seat then, when you bolt down the base it twists, making the seat really stiff to move around. Once the base is level though it moves quite freely and I suspect that those who have mentioned undoing the centre nut by half a turn may have been experiencing this problem although there's no reason not to loosen the nut off a bit really. I think, during installation it's worth checking the the moving plate moves freely before you tighten the bottom nuts up and after. If it tightens up then something's twisting the base and it needs levelling.

Turning it the correct way also makes a HUGE difference in ease of rotating it. Always rotate it anti-clockwise to go from front to rear facing and clockwise when putting it back to normal. Trying it clockwise means it catches on the trim next to the door and makes it a LOT more difficult.

The centre pivot allows the seat to move backwards and forwards as you rotate... don't forget that, you need to move it back and forth to clear "obstacles" as you rotate it.

Given the size of the double seat and the very limited room available, I can't imagine a design that doesn't take a bit of technique to rotate it ! I've no idea who thought it would actually be possible in the first place as, looking at it, there's no way you'd think it was possible

 

Anyone got any pics of the Vanhaus double swivel. Seems that it gets the the best feedback of most of the seat. Would like to see the workings before I put an order in for one.

 

The Kiravans double swivel is a good bit of kit for a converted van, It's pretty obvious it won't swivel with the bulkhead trim still in. I am only a DIYer, and I found the instructions perfectly fine. As others say, it's just getting the 'knack' of it. I don't have arm rests, so that's not a problem.
My advice is to remember to close the front cup holders, or you're likely to snap it off trying to force it to spin!

 

Hi all
I have fitted hundreds of theese
i have never had to release the handbrake, but it does hit drivers arm rest and scuffs the n/side plastics
2 things i have found the frirst is that the centre nut allways seem to be different tension so make sure turns easy before fitting and next i dont do as they say, i find the easy way is to stand behind, push forward and then aim at passenger footwell when turning not the steering wheelA:

 

I've just fitted my Kiravans swivel and I'm not sure how I feel about it! My handbrake has always been close to the passenger seat, so I need to release it to swivel the seat which isn't the end of the world. But is it supposed to be that way or is my handbrake bent?

My main problem is that it's really hard to get all four bolts screwed up properly. The front right and rear left feel misaligned and as if they are cross-threading. You have to jiggle the seat and do them up half a turn at a time, and by the end it requires enough force to be painful on your hands, surely that can't be right? Anyone else had that problem?

 

I've just ordered one from just kampers, be interesting to see how that goes

 

I found practice makes perfect. All covered above - handbrake off, drivers seat shifted. Plus I make sure there is silicone on the hdpe base. But yes a few scratches along the way. Remember its top tapers out to match the original seat dims and we are asking a lot of a swivel seat I think, who ever fabs it.

 

I have the Kiravans double swivel. I'm a complete novice converting my van but found it straightforward to fit and use. I don't have arms on the double seat (but do on the drivers) and it swivels fine without gearstick down. Mine is the auto.

I did find the holes didn't line up perfectly, I had to 'adjust' two of them, but pretty simple fix.

Sure, its not as nice as the single seat swivel we have in our converted t4, just having to lift a lever versus undoing bolts but having the double seat more than makes up for it IMO.