California Advice Needed

[Barn door to Cali?]

Hi - I couldn't find answers to these questions but apologies if it's covered elsewhere. My wife and I have a 20-month old and we've decided to upgrade our beloved 2007 barn door 2.5 TDi T5 conversion to a new or nearly new (2019/8 plate) California Ocean.

I'm looking for advice in three areas please.

1. The rear seats. Do they have Isofix (can't get a clear answer on this!) and is it safe to travel with the seats slid far forward so that we can pass snacks/water to our little boy from the front passenger seat while driving on long trips? Do others do this?

2. Bike racks. Our current vehicle has a towbar and we have a towbar mounted Thule 3-bike rack. It's a royal pain in the backside TBH with barn doors. Does anyone know if the Thule rack's (new model) tilt mechanism enables the boot door to be opened in the California? I've read a lot about the problems with gas struts and the door-mounted rack and that sounds like a nightmare frankly but if anyone knows the answer to this, that would be great

3. Final supplementary question - anyone got experience or a recommendation for a removable towbar (connected to 2.) I'm located in the greater Bristol area so a local supplier fitter would be … helpful.

Thank you in advance for any advice supplied here - cheers, Rob.

 

[DXX]

I have a Cali rear seat, it has visible tags on the seat cover stitching stating ‘isofix’. I don’t know how old the seat is but it’s older than 2018.

 

[j4ckal]

Yes mine (2018) has isofix, seat can be used in any position. This was my primary reason for selecting this seat/bed system (mines in a LWB converted panel Van) so that the young one (ours is 10 month old) can be close to us when travelling, not over the back wheels like they are with a rock and roll/rib type bed.

 

[j4ckal]

Oh and bike racks - I used an Atera strada dl3 on my T4 with tailgate and the rack slides in an arc to the floor so the tailgate can be opened.
My t6 is barn doors (which are far more practical than a tailgate, but loose out on the looks), will be fitting a tow bar at some point and using the Atera on there too.

 

[Volkywagen]

Hi - I couldn't find answers to these questions but apologies if it's covered elsewhere. My wife and I have a 20-month old and we've decided to upgrade our beloved 2007 barn door 2.5 TDi T5 conversion to a new or nearly new (2019/8 plate) California Ocean.

I'm looking for advice in three areas please.

1. The rear seats. Do they have Isofix (can't get a clear answer on this!) and is it safe to travel with the seats slid far forward so that we can pass snacks/water to our little boy from the front passenger seat while driving on long trips? Do others do this?

2. Bike racks. Our current vehicle has a towbar and we have a towbar mounted Thule 3-bike rack. It's a royal pain in the backside TBH with barn doors. Does anyone know if the Thule rack's (new model) tilt mechanism enables the boot door to be opened in the California? I've read a lot about the problems with gas struts and the door-mounted rack and that sounds like a nightmare frankly but if anyone knows the answer to this, that would be great

3. Final supplementary question - anyone got experience or a recommendation for a removable towbar (connected to 2.) I'm located in the greater Bristol area so a local supplier fitter would be … helpful.

Thank you in advance for any advice supplied here - cheers, Rob.

Hi rob.

1. tilt the rear bench back (as if you are doing bed mode) and you will see the steel hooks. You can then pull the cord and bring it back again. If you have seat covers it’s quite tricky. I don’t bother anymore, just use seatbelt around baby seat.

2. Yes there is a Thule one for use on the tow bar for rear door. Maybe as other members suggest.

3. no fkn idea.
Are you a member of the Cali club? There 1000s of threads on there about tow bars and bike racks.
Enjoy

 

[Barn door to Cali?]

Thanks all for the excellent advice.

Here's the new van!

 

[Richem]

Have you ordered?
Is the tow bar bike rack better than the VW fitted one then?

 

[MikeB]

As J4 notes, we have an Atera Strada DL3 on our T6 with tailgate and the rack slides in an arc to the floor so the tailgate can be opened. Well, in truth, we've found that with wide-handlebarred mt/bikes, you have to push the rack back a little to open / close the door. No big deal. We have the OEM VW removable towbar, which may sit a little closer to the van than does whatever bar is fitted to the demo van shown in one of the videos I've found!!

If you are using the DL3 with three bikes, I suspect you'll find the door wont open unless you rotate the innermost bike's h/bars thro 90 degrees. A friend has a Transit and notes exactly the same problem.

We went for the towbar mounted option largely as we didn't want the hassle of weight / stronger rams etc on the rear hatch, but mainly because we also carry sea kayaks on the roof, so the door mounted rack with bikes would have constantly fouled the boats.

As regards tow bars, why not use the OEM one? Failing which, I understand Westfalia are good.

 

[Roadrunner]

When I had my beach I had VW fit mine at the factory, it was a removable. Not problem to use once I sussed out how it worked and I used it to tow a caravan with no problem