See a animation photo animation of the
van lowering and the door/ramp operating
here
The
complete floor is cut out, and replaced with a new one 10 inches
lower. The suspension is raised a couple of inches before
being refitted to allow ground clearance for the dropped
floor level. This gives plenty of headroom inside for a
large power wheelchair with its occupant.
Fuel tank air conditioning and brake lines
and wires as well as exhaust systems are all extensively
moved/replaced/relocated. A computer system and a special
winch device is installed into the rear under the floor. As
well as an electric in floor or fold up ramp.
The
computer controls and integrates the ramp, the sliding door
and the winch that lowers the rear of the van. Then the
doors are extended downwards and body skirts added along the
sides. Once completed and repainted and re-trimmed it
looks like a brand new showroom vehicle once again. With a
difference!
Look at the picture below. It shows the extra
"size" and height and with my aftermarket wheels (18 x 8.5j
ET35 with 245/50/18vr tyres) fitted it looks better and more
substantial than the original vehicle like the blue one its
parked next to..
The
picture on the right is my Rollx converted Dodge van parked
next to a UK Chrysler Voyager.
It shows the increased ride
height, and the side skirts at the bottom that make the
sides deeper. It makes the standard unmodified vans look
sort of diminutive and old! The voyager is the same as the
US "Town and Country" model.
The front grill is about the
only obvious difference between the standard vehicles. My
van is really black in a limo/film/mafia kind of way and you
feel good driving it! Handling, controls, and performance
are all good. And with the extra wide wheels fitted any
extra body roll caused by rollx increasing the height for
ground clearance reasons is effectively cancelled out. They
look cool too and are about an inch bigger in total diameter
too so fill those huge arches much better.

Desktops sizes
below should you be interested!
This is my Rollx Dodge Caravan SXT sat on my drive in the rain
in England...

Rollx minivan 640x480
Rollx
minivan 800x600
Rollx
minivan 1024x768
Rollx
minivan 1280x1024
Rollx
minivan 1440x900
Rollx minivan 1600x1200
Rollx
minivan 1920x1200
Rollx minivan 4208x2794
***Imported on my
behalf by Alfred Bekker Mobility in my own name. Because he
does this regularly and has to fit the hand controls and
wheelchair clamp.
I could have imported it myself including
all charges for shipping, customs, ministry test and lights
conversion etc for 27,000 UK pounds. Alfred Bekker did it
for 30k including fitting hand controls and powerchair
clamp/tie down and all paperwork and a 12 month warranty on
conversion and vehicle.
While the Braun and the Rollx as
well as VMI vans are near identical and almost
interchangeable there are some other less well known minivan
conversions that are not quite as suitable.
Problems range from fit and
finish as well as serious issues like this conversion below.
For example in my own van there is ample room to get my
large powerchair up to the steering wheel centrally and
correctly lined up. In the following picture that's not the
case.
This is the first van I ever
looked at and it was simply not possible to get correctly
lined up with the steering wheel due to the door pillar and
the plastic trim covering it and the seat belt mechanism.
See image. Not all conversions are the same!!!
Look at
the wheelchairs wheel and see how its hitting the door
pillar at the bottom. In most US conversions this is removed
and there is a larger wider flat floor area.
This
pillar makes the van feel and seem much smaller inside and
prevents you getting lined up properly even in the narrow
wheelchair pictured. I hope the manufacturers don't mind me
pointing this out but it is pretty important! It probably
only effects a few users but be careful! This is why you
must see one and assess it before you buy. My van and most
others are about a foot wider (300mm) at this point on the
inside.

At the pub in town in the summer evening...
Lowered suspension not used this time so ramp is steeper.
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