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Swivel base install. 2015 TK
Installation of swivel seat. 2015 TK

The Sportmobile Store was out of stock of the base within my time frame so I searched the Internet.

I found the base in stock here:
Ford Van Seat Bases,driver,passenger seat bases

The last base at the bottom of the page.
'96 plus swivel base . The seller said this base will fit the passenger side seat for all years starting in 1996.
Part number 113631 $209 plus $37 shipping and handling to Colorado.

Ordered on a Saturday. Shipped FedEx on Monday, received in CO on Wednesday. Super service. Excellent price. By all appearances, it's a quality product. It's certainly heavy enough. All the holes lined up just fine. About 2 hours work start to finish. Less without dog help.

The original post by Thefuofus was superb. Here are a few things I learned.
I found it much easier to remove the base from the floor first. Some of the nuts securing the base to the seat are much easier to access when the seat is laying down. The new base design is different than the Ford base making reinstallation much simpler in that all the bolts involved are visible and readily accessible.
Concerning possible pinching of the wires. I had some clear flexible vinyl tubing left from another project. I cut the appropriate length, split it half open with a razor knife then put the wire inside the tube. Sort of like running it in conduit. Used 3/8" OD x 1/4"ID
In the few places where I could not use the vinyl tube, I taped the wire to the floor with double stick tape leaving the plastic strip on the exposed side. This tape is thick and acts as a pad. At least that's the plan. Time will tell.
I did not have to remove the arm rest as long as I can crack the passenger door open an inch or so. Without opening the door, the seat will swivel about 90% of the way. Suits my needs.
Any time I swivel the seat, I will carefully watch that the wire doesn't get snagged on something. That's about the only thing that could go wrong moving the seat.
Amazon has a set of Torx sockets for $12. Plus a set of cheap metric wrenches for about the same. My local hardware store wanted $10 for one metric wrench.

Much thanks to Thefuofus. Whoever that may be.

Picture order. Top left is the floor after the seat was removed. Then the bottom of the seat. Then the new base on the left and the original on the right. Then the completed install and finally, the seat facing towards the rear.
Re: Swivel base install. 2015 TK
Reply #1 –
Thanks for the link and excellent instructions and photos, Ed! That's a nice savings. I owe you a beer (or 2) when next we meet. Really appreciate it - and also Thefuofus' post on this topic that got the ball rolling (thanks Thefuofus!). I'm ordering the swivel and look forward to making my first cool mod of the LD when we finally get our coach.

Jim
Cautionary tale: swivel seat base install triggers airbag warning light
Reply #2 –
I thought I'd share my swivel seat base-install mistake so that no one else makes it. I ordered the base linked to in the original post by Ed. I followed the excellent instruction Ed wrote (and the extensive ones by Thefuofus) to install the swivel base, and everything was hunky dory. A couple of weeks later, we were driving out of town and the red airbag light on the display next to the speedo suddenly went on, indicating an error with the airbag. It didn't flash/blink. It just went on and remained on when I was driving and when the key was in the 'on' position (engine running or not).

After googling to read up on issues that cause airbag lights to go on, I believed that it was probably the yellow connector under the passenger's seat. Because I had disconnected it to install the swivel base (it's possible to do the install without disconnecting it - but I didn't do it that way). Maybe the connector had pulled loose from getting caught and pulled on the seat base while turning the seat around??

I checked the yellow connector and it was indeed loose. I pressed it until it make a reassuring 'click!' Unfortunately, when I turned our LD on again, the airbag light went on again and stayed lit again. So, I inspected the wire beneath the seat, all along its length and right up to where it disappears beneath the swivel base and it all looked perfectly fine. Thinking that maybe the loose connector had triggered an error code and I just needed to reset the light, I next watched and then tried the tips in a few youtube videos for resetting an airbag system but none turned the light off.

Even though it made sense that I messed something up putting in the swivel seat base, I couldn't be certain that something else hadn't set the airbag light off. I decided I better have the Ford dealer make sure my entire airbag system was A-OK. The bad news was that that cost $139.95. Had it been a warranty issue on the new Ford, it would have probably been free to reset the airbag light.

The good news was that the Ford mechanic's diagnosis showed an error code of low ohms going through the wire BENEATH the swivel seat. So, while it was more than I wanted to spend, I now at least knew for sure where to look - and more importantly, that our airbag system was fine.

To find and fix the problem, I took the swivel seat base out again and discovered what I'd done wrong. The swivel seat base has a flat metal plate on the bottom. To make the base fit, you have to cut a square hole in the carpet the same size as the swivel's base and remove that piece of carpet. That's needed or else the base won't go down low enough to start the bolts and nuts that tighten it to the floor. Note that the stock LD seat base has no such flat metal plate on the bottom.

Once you cut out the carpet square to make room for the flat metal plate comprising the swivel's base, you'll see a layer of foam insulation on the floor and see the outline of the wire running beneath that foam a ways before it comes out to extend up further to click into the yellow connector.

What's harder to see - and I missed it - is that beneath the foam insulation layer it's all metal, i.e. the floor of the chassis. The wire is insulated but it's right on top of the metal floor. Since the seat swivel base is also a large flat piece of metal, when you place it down and tighten the bolts, you have two pieces of metal with the all important wires getting crushed between them as the swivel base is tightened in place (there isn't even any carpet on top of the wire anymore). In my case, this crushing of the insulated wires pushed the electrical wire inside right through the insulation making it short out against the metal on the floor of the chassis, thus turning on the airbag light.

To fix it, I simply made sure that the wire was no longer between the two metal plates. This is relatively easy, though Ford uses a little plastic white press-in connector to attach the wire firmly to the floor, so you do have to pry this out with the edge of a putty knife or something similar. Once it's loose you can gently work the wire free all the way beyond the rearmost edge of the swivel base so that it's out of harm's way when you tighten the base to the floor.

To fix my damaged wires, I simply wrapped the exposed areas with electrical tape. And the airbag light finally went back to sleep. I'm sorry I didn't take any photos to show, but the whole time I was trying to fix this, I was sure that nothing I did was going to turn off the airbag light. I hope this helps prevent anyone else making my mistake, but if anyone does, a search on "airbag light" should bring up this fix.

Oh, and the swivel seat is a nice upgrade for our TK. But, you should know that it makes for a very low seat - cushion about a foot higher than the floor (photos). At least you don't need a hassock/ottoman, which we carried around in our previous camper.

Hope to see you on the road,
Jim & Deb
2016 TK
Santa Cruz, California
Re: Swivel base install. 2015 TK
Reply #3 –
Hello,
I'm a newbie to this group and LD.  We just picked up our TK and I'd like to follow your example and convert the passenger seat to a swivel.  Since I am not handy at these things, do you know what kind of shop would be able to do this service?  I'm in the SoCal area.

Thanks for your help.

sandy
2016 24' Twin King
Re: Swivel base install. 2015 TK
Reply #4 –
Quote from: ssragan  - 
  We just picked up our TK and I'd like to follow your example and convert the passenger seat to a swivel.  Since I am not handy at these things, do you know what kind of shop would be able to do this service?  I'm in the SoCal area
Any RV shop or even your mechanic, it isn't a complicated job. The seat is secured with four bolts and there may be a plug to connect.

Larry
Larry
2003 23.5' Front Lounge, since new.  Previously 1983 22' Front Lounge.
Tow vehicles  2020 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon, 2001 Jeep Cherokee
Photo Collection: Lazy Daze