Joshua Galusha

Hey there, I've successfully removed the rear two seats of my 15 passenger van, and removed the rails that they mount into as well (the long ones that run all the way through to the front two seats I cut and just removed the back half. In the process, I found these two plates that were sandwiched underneath the bed in the rear right and left corner of the van, roughly underneath where the jack housing is bolted. It seems to me that perhaps they are "washers" of sorts to keep the frame rails from pulling through the bed in case of a nasty head on collision. The pictures show the bracket and where they were under the van. I'm planning on leaving these out as I no longer have seats in the rear. Ideas? Do they serve some other purpose? Thanks-
Josh

canucklehead

If they are the match for the separate 2 pc rear bench brackets then I would say yes you dont need them.

Artie1

I'm surprised you were able to gain access to those bolts. They assemble them before the frame, so some bolts for the 2nd and 3rd row are plainly inaccessible without separating the body.

canucklehead

Not true. Its a pain, but to access the rail bolts you just need to drill out the rivets on the splash shields and move them around. Dropping the spare tire reaches the rest. Its a tight fit in a few placed to get your hand but doable.

Joshua Galusha

Hey, thanks for the replies. I did take a slightly different approach on some of those bolts that are tough to get to. Instead of taking down the heat shields, I went through the top, through the lovely seat frame rail...which is about the most beefiest chunk of metal I've seen in a while. Nevertheless, I piloted a 1/4" hole above the bolts that were hidden, then used a 1 1/4" hole saw to go through the top of the frame. That gave me enough room to use a 1" hole saw which without the pilot bit fits perfectly over the head of the bolts. Then just go easy until I cut through the seat frame rail and not through the bed and leave the damn bolt right there where it was born and lift the frame rail off over the top.

Artie1

Ugh. Either approach sounds like a lot of work and cause enough fatigue to call it a day. May I ask the reasoning behind removing those rails? It's not that they take too much cargo space or weigh too much?

canucklehead

Good question. I like having the option to pull my tools and shelf and put back the seats for long vacation trips. Only takes an hour each time. I hated my decision to remove the rails and bench seats from my 2002 and bolted in 2nd row bucket seats. Only having 4 seats was an issue a few times. ( I bolted in a couple of swivel buckets from an old chevy nomad van.....so I could still get long items up the middle for work.....)

Joshua Galusha

Yes...why we do these things. Here's my thought (for better or for worse : ) I am a carpenter/exterior remodeler by trade. This vehicle for me will be both a work and family van. The rear will be shelved out for my daily grind, there will be a firewall behind the second row of seating, so I am left with two full bench seats in the middle of the van...so pick up from soccer practice etc my kids are no longer sitting on compound pails (if they're lucky) in the back of the van. This is a 1 ton with the 6.0, so now I can tow a reasonable travel trailer for camping etc, a cargo trailer etc. I will most likely be using partial benches in the middle section, that is the rear driver side split seat X 2 which will give me seating for 6, with all the space by the side doors wide open and easy. I will need to buy one more split from the rear drivers side as I obviously only have one, but then I can not have to worry about seat belts etc, I'll just use the factory stuff. I will need to weld some grid work into the existing rails in the mid section as they will not accommodate the bolt pattern from the back, but for this I will cut up the gargantuan systems I removed from the back and weld them in. It saves me from having to pay twice as much for a pick up truck version with 4 doors that would still feel cramped compared to this. There is more....but for now- believe it or not, but if I left those rails an went to put a ply deck on top, I wouldn't be able to get 4X8 sheet goods in the back...a primary concern in my case. The firewall will have a sliding door that will allow the sheets to slide up alongside my 1/2 seats