I am nervous about these swivel seats, have these things been crash tested? Are they really as strong as the OEM seat mount?

 

This is what they list. Durable materials: The base of the rotary seat is made of high-quality stainless steel, carbon steel, and hot-bound steel to ensure the overall hardness and durability of the turntable and can withstand harsh conditions.

 

Part of that is that Hiro has the brackets to bolt to the floor and the seat rails already made for it. Your more paying for all the work than just parts. Unless your a metal fab person it might be worth the extra money to not have to do all that fab work.

 

Would suggest seeing a Hiro seat before attempting. The geometry to be able to swivel is very tight And there are trim cutouts to allow. And I think his base plates adjust so that the cushion remains level? Note his seat is labeled “For Off-road Use Only”.

 

It also raises the seat about 1.5" and the element sets high already. I imagine it says that so he doesnt get sued if it breaks in a crash

 

I have installed a Hiro swivel in someone's E. It is a heavy duty piece and well made. I cannot state anything about crash concerns however.

 

No experience with the element, but put swivel seats in our ford transit. We used the highest grade bolt we could find, metric 10.9 (IIRC SAE equivalent grade 8). To get the driver side to swivel, we had to modify the parking brake - lowering the whole handle assembly to get the seat to clear when turning. That might not be a problem for the element? Idk.

 

Part of that is that Hiro has the brackets to bolt to the floor and the seat rails already made for it. Your more paying for all the work than just parts. Unless your a metal fab person it might be worth the extra money to not have to do all that fab work.

No experience with the element, but put swivel seats in our ford transit. We used the highest grade bolt we could find, metric 10.9 (IIRC SAE equivalent grade 8). To get the driver side to swivel, we had to modify the parking brake - lowering the whole handle assembly to get the seat to clear when turning. That might not be a problem for the element? Idk.

Good job, you got it to work. The dimensions look pretty standard for the base the way they advertise for rvs, vans etc. It would be a gamble, perhaps there might be some bolt hole mods necessary on the Element.

 

I take it these swivel seats do not have any Department of Transportation approval or certification? Has any testing been done by TUV or anyone else?

 

I wouldn't think so, from China.

 

I am not a lawyer, nor in the insurance business, but I would be concerned about the insurance company cancelling insurance in the event of an accident where you were injured because they are not DOT approved nor Honda approved.

 

I have Hiro's installed on my passenger side since last summer and installing the drivers side this weekend they are very pricey but amazingly well-designed. I've worked in the Automotive design field and have prototyped many vehicles so naturally I thought I could build my own, After much design and material cost research I decided I would purchase the Hiro's set. The seats look like they are professionally engineered so I am comfortable using them but by all means, decide for yourself according to your comfort level. I do remember reading something about certification but don't recall if that ever happened. BTW, they are a game changer when it comes to the usability of space when camping or road tripping.

 

Thanks for the input. Sounds like you're happy with your choice. I'm waiting for warmer weather, but yeah, you have to have something for the small vehicle. The back is all bed now, so the lounge chair will be nice. Thanks!👍

 

I have the same safety concern. I think the lack of certification is a bigger deal with the later gen Elements, where the seat belts are anchored in the seats themselves. I WANT these, but I realize how much DOT certification means to me, particularly with the amount of long distance travel I do in mine.

 

I thought I'd put one on the passenger side, as I travel alone. Having grown up in an era where a seat belt was a new thing, I'm pretty confident that if the steel is heavy enough, it'll be alright.

 

I finally was able to install the driver's side swivel base. It was much more involved than the passengers, on the install video Hiro made it look much faster. I spent about 2 hours just grinding, drilling, and sawing. I want to mention that the thickness of the steel on the Hiro seat is greater than the OEM seat. It also is more involved to rotate around because of the steering wheel but I love it! We are heading up the Westcoast in a couple of weeks and looking forward to both seats being able to face rearward especially if it is raining and we have to spend more time inside the E.

 

I camp in the E quite a bit and figured that on top of the gain of space and fun to have those additional seating positions, it might make entering/exiting the E at night (like 2AM pee) much easier since u can sit in seat to put on or take off shoes then easily access front door latch/handle… pretty clumsy doing this otherwise. Would u agree with that take?

 

Looking good. I was planning on only the passenger side. $500 is a lot of money to sink into a 2003. Thanks.

 

For those like me pondering addition of swivel seats, can consider instead simpler mod like done here. I like this and will likely try to make similar. The owner of the E in this video has lots of other great mods towards camping.

 

This guy had ideas and designs that were ahead of the curve. Thanks.

 

Cool idea, are there any plans/measurements one can download to make these?

 

I think if u watch the full video, there is mention of plans available.

 

Here is a longer video where he talks more about the Jump Seats. Looks like they work best for Gen 1 vehicles... if you want to rock that seat storage.

 

Great Video, thanks for posting this, very clever designs throughout this build. Was a pleasure to watch the whole thing.

 

Nice post Lou. His build looks really light weight.

 

Haha, you found it. I agree looks light but well designed. This whole topic made me realize I can just use my existing toilet seat as jump seat too, it’s really funny the whole process of design sometimes blinds you to very simple solutions until new ideas trigger your mind to re-think.

 

Looks like a nice project, makes for a seat or a table. I'm not sure my John is heavy enough for a seat, "butt" things evolve.

 

i did a DIY swivel on my 2007. The swivel unit is designed for ram promaster, with a little mod, it fits element. I'll do driver side in couple of weeks, this time I'm gonna weld it on to make it stronger.

 

Fantastic!

 

Thank you, when time allows, could you please elaborate what "with a little mod" exactly is? I bet a bunch would love to know, or is there a thread on it somewhere here? Merci.

 

https://www.elementownersclub.com/threads/diy-swivel-put-ram-promaster-swivel-on-element.176510/

 

It would help to make these swivels affordable. ZY, can you post a link?

 

https://www.elementownersclub.com/threads/diy-swivel-put-ram-promaster-swivel-on-element.176510/