Wheelchair Vans Need Rocker Panel Boxes

Automobile chassis were once made entirely separate from the bodies, with the actual body attached on top of the solid steel frame. Over the decades, automakers' manufacturing designs evolved, integrating the chassis and body into a single unit body, or “unibody”, minus doors, fenders, and hoods. The unibody frame is now the automotive industry standard.

Integral to a minivan's unibody are the rocker panel boxes -- steel panels that run along the bottom of the vehicle directly underneath its doors, supporting and distributing the weight of the van while adding to the protection of the vehicle’s occupants. (Rocker panels also provide protection for the door from tar, dirt, and other debris from the road.)

Some mobility conversion dealers have these panels sliced, in an attempt to offer more interior space. This, however, could compromise the integrity of the rocker panel boxes, which in turn could compromise the vehicle's ability to withstand impacts.

AMS Vans, Inc. is one of the only wheelchair van companies that sells wheelchair vans with the original rocker panel boxes intact, including the driver’s side.¹ We’d like to note that side entry Legend wheelchair vans by AMS have passed all crash tests on the first attempt.

¹ For accessible vans converted to be driven by the wheelchair user, their wheelchair, including the wheels, has to be less than 21" wide to keep the driver’s side rocker panel intact. Drivers must also get at least a generic EZ Lock installed to secure their wheelchair.