Handicapped van suggestions

B

Bob McCarty

Moderator
Staff member
I'm the personal representative for a friend's estate. His adult daughter has been paralyzed from the waist down since she was 18 and needs her 20 yo vehicle replaced. There are side ramps, rear ramps, driver seat transfer boards with wheel chair hoists, etc. She wants the passenger seat to remain for her dog and uses hand controls. Unless she enters from the driver's door, the driver's seat would either need to slide back far enough for her to transfer, or possibly rotate 90* to allow the wheel chair to get close enough. She doesn't want to remain in the wheel chair while driving (even if fastened down). Just wondering if any of you have suggestions from experience on the best type of set up for this situation. It looks like the Toyota Sienna is a popular vehicle to convert. It seems to me that both side and rear ramp options could allow her roll into traffic (rear ramp) or into an adjacent vehicle (side ramp) even with a striped side strip for vans in handicapped parking. Her dad's best friend is going to help, but I'm trying to educate myself before we start looking.
 
Male neighbor, handicapped from waist down, has a full size bench seat pickup. He enters from the passenger door, then places the folded wheelchair on the passenger side.

Basically, I don't know and have no suggestions. Everything depends on the woman and her physical capabilities.
 
Bob,I'm not familiar with a toyota but I have done a few chevy and ford full size vans (new vans). It does not costs a lot to do and you can do it all yourself. Personally I would look for a fairly new van that has been equipped with handy capped controls. JMMHO
 
There are several businesses in my area that make (do conversions) handicap accessible vans. Some list new and used vehicles. If ordering new, I'm sure they can be made to meet the desires of the new owner since some will require more "special" controls than others.

If you did buy one from around here, I'll bet I know a guy that would drive it out to you..... 8)

https://www.superiorvan.com/
https://www.mobilityworks.com/
 
most handi cap vans are built my a independent shop that deals with the conversion company for the handicap parts, I would look for a local in your area, maybe check with local fire/police dept school bus company to see if they have a list of vendors for that
 
Thanks for the suggestions. I've scheduled an evaluation on Wednesday with Mobilityworks. We'll look at options and needs. There is even a version that "kneels" to decrease the ramp angle and a sensor that asks an adjacent vehicle to be moved if it is too close for side ramp use.
 
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