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Wheelchair vans and their modifications

Wheelchairs vans are your regular commercial vehicles and private vehicles which have been modified to accommodate a wheelchair with utmost comfort. This is done by converting the passenger space in the vehicle to accommodate almost all types of wheelchairs be it manual or electric to comfortably seat people who are differently abled in the modified space. The biggest advantage of wheel chair converted vans is that the person who is need of the space need not get up from his wheelchair every time he or she needs to enter or exit the vehicle.

Wheelchair vans and their modifications

General conversions which can be made to your vehicle include the following:

  • A portion of the vehicle floor is lowered also keeping in mind the clearance space needed for speed breakers, which can be fitted with a small roll out the ram to push in or winch in the wheelchair using automated machinery.
  • Seating can be modified or completely removed to make the wheelchair fit in its place without compromising the safety and comfort of the said passenger.
  • An external ramp can lift or even a turning seat can be fitted in order to move the wheelchair into position and thus seat the passenger comfortably without having to move him or her constantly.
  • Electric wheelchairs are heavier and thus might need the owner of the vehicle to configure the shock absorbers and payload arrangement, to absorb the additional pressure and weight.
  • Passenger conversions involve the following which can be made to certify the vehicle safe for driving, which generally includes floor reinforcement to handle the additional weight, security measure like restraints for the chair are installed to make sure the chair doesn’t move amongst other modifications.

There are two distinct types of entry conversions that can be made to your vehicle which mainly includes side entry and rear entry. This has to be taken into account because how the wheelchair will be positioned inside the vehicle is a major concern and factors like seating position, static position, space needed to occupy other passengers, and even space needed to store cargo has to be taken into account.

The major advantage of a side entry is this position allows the person to drive, while being comfortably seated in the wheelchair. However, if the wheelchair occupied person is not going to drive, rear entry vans are preferable since these vans won’t need the extra space after modification and handicapped parking space.

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