Total Adaptive Vehicle Conversion

Adaptive Vehicle Conversions for Wheelchair and Scooter Owners

Having to use a wheelchair or scooter can make getting in and out of your vehicle a challenge. The Mobility Resource™ has the solution—adaptive equipment vehicle conversion.

The Mobility Resource will make modifications to a minivan, such as the Chevrolet Uplander, to allow easy wheelchair or scooter access to the vehicle, thus creating handicap accessible vans and vehicles.

First, the floor is lowered 10 to 12 inches to provide headroom for the person in the wheelchair or scooter. Then, a ramp is installed in the side passenger door or in the rear door of the vehicle to allow the person in the wheelchair to easily roll into the vehicle. The Braun Corporation Entervan or Rampvan wheelchair accessible conversions are examples of quality lowered-floor conversions.

After the vehicle has been converted, a dealer from The Mobility Resource™ can work with you to further customize the vehicle to meet any other specific needs you may have.

Putting a ramp in the vehicle makes it faster and easier to get in and out of the vehicle than using a wheelchair lift, and it can be a huge benefit in stormy or winter weather.

An adaptive minivan is a popular choice for wheelchair transport because it is smaller and easier to maneuver than a full-sized van. Because the floor has been lowered, it provides a lower center of gravity and therefore gives the vehicle better traction in winter.

There are also special ground effects that hide any wheelchair equipment modifications that might otherwise be visible and therefore make the adaptive conversion less noticeable, especially with an in-floor ramp. And don’t worry, a minivan with a lowered floor will fit in most garages and car washes.

The Mobility Resource has new and pre-owned modified wheelchair vehicles readily available.

Adaptive Van Conversions

Deciding which type of adaptive conversion is right for you can be confusing. But The Mobility Resource is dedicated to providing you with the knowledge you need to make an informed choice. Read FAQs about Adaptive Vans

With most side-entry models, the floor is lowered from just in front of the rear wheel well to underneath the dashboard. A ramp is installed that deploys from the bottom of the passenger-side sliding door. The center seats are removed to allow access for the wheelchair or scooter.

Typically, both front seats are built with a quick-release pedestal allowing you to remove one or both seats for ambulatory or wheelchair access to the front driver position, the front passenger position or both. Up to three wheelchairs may be secured in a side-entry minivan.

The side-entry minivan allows easy access to the center of the vehicle as well as to the front driver or passenger positions. It provides more maneuverability inside the vehicle and allows the user to turn around and face forward while entering and exiting the vehicle.

Better safety is also a benefit since entry is done from the passenger side, not in the traffic lane in parking lots. And when parallel-parking, the entry is done from the curb-side of the vehicle instead of the street.

Also, since the rear of the vehicle remains unmodified, you retain the rear seat bench as well as the storage space behind the rear sofa for groceries or luggage.

In a rear-entry minivan, the center of the floor is lowered from the rear hatch to just behind the front seats. This provides a path up the center of the minivan for the wheelchair or scooter. Up to two wheelchairs can be secured inside a rear-entry minivan.

Typically, the two center bucket seats can be left in the vehicle. An aftermarket rear bench seat, which folds up out of the way when needed, can be installed in the rear of the van for additional seating. The driver and passenger seats are not modified.

A rear-entry vehicle gives you access to the vehicle by allowing you to get in and out in a straight line, no turning required—great for those with longer wheelchairs!

The rear-entry minivan eliminates the concern of being “parked-in” in parking lots—which occurs when someone parks too close to a handicap parking space on the side of the van where the ramp deploys, effectively blocking vehicle access.

Rear entry minivans also allow vehicle access if you have a narrow garage. The individual in the wheelchair can be positioned next to one or both of the center factory seats, depending on the size of the wheelchair and someone can still sit next to the individual in the wheelchair.

The Mobility Resource can provide you with a ramp that folds up and stows in the entryway of the passenger-side sliding door. When stowed, it blocks the entry to this door, but still allows visibility through the sliding door window and hides the ramp from outside view.

The fold-out ramp is recommended for anyone in a wheelchair or scooter who will be operating the vehicle alone. If the ramp ever malfunctions, it can easily be deployed to allow easy access into or exit from the vehicle. A fold-out ramp also provides more headroom than an in-floor ramp for those who sit taller in their wheelchair or scooter.

The in-floor ramp slides in and out of a pocket built into the floor of the van. When stowed, the ramp is not visible from inside or outside of the minivan. An in-floor ramp comes with automatic controls and doesn’t require any manual deployment.

The in-floor ramp provides extra room inside the van, and because it’s hidden, is more aesthetically pleasing. If there are other people who need access to the van, an in-floor ramp is advantageous since access is not limited from the passenger side.

However, this ramp is not recommended for wheelchair or scooter users who will be alone driving the minivan, as the back-up system to deploy the ramp is not as easy to use from a wheelchair or scooter as the fold-out ramp.

Read FAQs about Adaptive Vans