Upgrading Your Sprinter's Seats
If you're a Mercedes Sprinter owner, you know that converting your van into a comfortable and functional living space is no easy task. It takes a lot of planning, effort, and dedication to make your van comfortable and practical for living on the road. You also know that storage space can be hard to come by. You need to find multi-purpose, easy to use solutions. Have you considered how you're using the seat pedestals? Our Sprinter Seat Base Panels are designed to cover the back of your seat base with a neat panel that can be used for finding a little extra storage space. This simple piece can also make a subtle but noticeable impact on the interior look and feel of your van. It completes the look of the front cab area and integrates your interior design with the rest of the van.
Let's see how it works.
There are 4 factory holes in the back of the seat pedestal. This is where we start. You will take a 10mm drill bit to "open up" the factory hole size in order to fit a 1/4-20 rivet nut (aka rivnut).
Make sure you clean up any metal chips / dust from the drilling and add a primer or paint to those holes to prevent any rust.
After you've prepped the holes, install the rivnuts with your rivnut installation tool (see below for recommendations). If this is your first time using rivnuts, you've picked the best possible project to get good at using them. You'll have access to the front and back of the rivnut and you've got plenty of space in front for positioning the tools. It's easy once you get the hang of it.
We use all 4 of these in our shop:
Inexpensive but labor intensive
Professional Van Builder / Upfitter
The panels come in two versions: lowered swivel (Short) and standard (Tall), and are available in several material options to fit your style. If you have swivel seats installed from the factory and your seat base is approximately 8" tall, choose the Short option. If you do not have swivel seats installed from the factory and your seat base is approximately 12" tall, choose the Tall option.
With your rivnuts installed, all you have to do is secure the panel with the 4 included machine screws and an allen wrench. Don't overtighten them - snug up the screws with the wrench and you're done!
Now What?
With your panels installed, you've just created a wonderful little storage space for items you'd like to have accessible at the front of the van, and near the sliding door. Because it is a durable, strong material, you can use it to attach all manner of useful items. Some suggestions:
Tool Kit like this one or this one
Or anything you can mount with a Quick Fist. My favorite.
Also!
When you order the panel from us, you can add a 2-5/8" hole on one of the panels that will act as a template for your heater vent. This will give you the exact spot to put your heater vent hole, so it is easy to install your Espar (Eberspacher) or Webasto heater under the passenger side seat. So easy!
And then...?
Continue looking for ways to get the most out of your van conversion. Every cubic inch of the van does count - and should be considered for some purpose or another. Keep in mind, that sometimes that purpose can be for storage, for some function or other useful space, and sometimes, that purpose can be to look good, feel nice or bring joy. Don't neglect the value of clean, open space built with lovely and natural colors / materials.
If you're looking for other ways to elevate your vanlife experience, consider adding some of our other interior products to your van conversion. You won't regret it.
To learn more about Featherbuilt's interior options, check out our Sprinter Collection. And if you'd be more comfortable having us take care of the installation, we offer that too. Let us know if you've got any questions at all and we will see you out there!
PS - "out there" = your driveway, backyard, or wherever you're building your van. Soo.... go out there. And build!
