How one company customizes trucks and SUVs to better suit wheelchairs

• AT Conversions customizes trucks and SUVs to make them more accessible for people who use wheelchairs.
• They transformed the head-turning gull-wing door into a functional design.
• The converted vehicles give people who use wheelchairs more options when they are purchasing a new vehicle.

The following is a transcript of the video.

How one company makes accessible vehicles for people who use wheelchairs.

Narrator: AT Conversions customizes vehicles for a good reason. It turns popular trucks and SUVs into wheelchair-accessible vehicles. The conversion process works on a variety of makes and models so customers have a broad range of options. The most eye-catching option? The gull-wing door. It takes 25 seconds for the lift to expand or retract. AT Conversions' mission is to make wheelchair-accessible vehicles that people want to drive. It can customize a vehicle's passenger or driver side, and accommodate manual or powered chairs. Customers also have the option to keep the manufacturer's seats. Here's how the vehicles are converted.

When a vehicle arrives at the shop, it's lifted 3 inches to accommodate a lowered floor, which allows the wheelchair to fit inside the vehicle. The original flooring of the vehicle is cut out and the frame is modified to make room for the newly lowered floor. Now an employee can install the lift pan and gull-wing door hinge while another modifies the door to fit the new configuration. Employees paint the new floor and the area near the door to match the rest of the vehicle. They install the hydraulic lift and wire everything to work with a remote control. The interior is put back together. The door is then attached and employees put the final touches on the vehicle. The entire process takes about six weeks.

The vehicles give people who use wheelchairs more freedom. Clint Lindemann, a quadriplegic, has a YouTube channel where he shows users the adaptive equipment he uses for hunting and fishing. His converted truck helps him get around more efficiently than a van.

Clint Lindemann: Since I've gotten this pickup, I've been able to do a lot more hunting and fishing. All my free time is spent driving around the outdoors of North Dakota, looking for deer and finding spots to set up bow stands and rifle hunts. The benefits, of course, of having a four-wheel-drive pickup in North Dakota is, by far, you can go anywhere pretty much. My van in the past was always breaking down. With the two-wheel drive in North Dakota, it was tough being around sometimes with it here, especially in the winter months.

Narrator: AT Conversions' vehicles start at $30,000.