California bed and furniture choice
- Thread starter Wills
- Start date
Good spot - I saw that post and looked at the bed (as I have one too and hate the lack of side plastics for us RHD users) but didn’t notice the cooker.
The short answer is yes. Most people seem to buy Cali beds from Kernow Transporters and have Oxford T5 fit them.
If it’s a bed on rails that he piqued your interest, I think the Smartbed Evo R is a contender.
Yes a fair few have the California seat/bed set up and it's fairly easy to do. Some slight issues with it being mounted on the nearside rather then offside but all can be overcome.
As for the Cali units, it's not particularly easy though and requires you to attack your nice complete kitchen set up with an angle grinder as only the front section is usable (due to it fitting on the opposite side of the van to a standard Cali). It really is nice quality stuff tho, just takes a fair bit of work to fit, it makes it easier with mine being a LWB.
The rear section is custom made to mate up to the Cali front section.
We've already got our van converted by Cambee conversions which are birch ply units and we're really happy with them but we hired a California before we bought the van and their units are brilliant too... I just didn't know you could buy them off the shelf.
Love the look and set up you've got there...
Love the look and set up you've got there...
Hello,
My first post on the forum. So thanks in advance if anyone can help me.
I am at the stage in my conversion to pick a kitchen. I have a California bed with rails and the one I have at the top of my list is the EVO designs 5.4 pro lwb. My question is; has anyone used this kitchen/bed combination before? From what I can see it looks a really tight fit.
My first post on the forum. So thanks in advance if anyone can help me.
I am at the stage in my conversion to pick a kitchen. I have a California bed with rails and the one I have at the top of my list is the EVO designs 5.4 pro lwb. My question is; has anyone used this kitchen/bed combination before? From what I can see it looks a really tight fit.
Letstravel
Member
Hi, I’ve got the swb version and it fits just fine. Less gap than evos pictures but no rubbing when the seat is moved. Would 100% recommend. The only issue I had was ordering the bamboo top, it wasn’t treated so the converters had to be very careful not to mark it before I was able to put on wood treatment
Great job Wills!
Would you say the depth of your Evo 7.4 (34cm I believe) is the maximum amount possible to fit with a Cali bed?
It certainly looks like it from your pics.
I'm also looking to do the same as you but would like a standard fridge rather than a top loader. Knowing the max furniture depth would really help with planning.
Cheers!
The depth of the unit where the fridge is housed is 420mm. Fitting the fridge there utilises what would otherwise be a wasted void area. You lose storage area when fitting a standard front opening fridge IMHO.
The most useful measurement is the gap / distance between the front of the units and the C pillar, which is where the seat / bed will reside. That measures 1180mm.
Great, thanks for that @Wills. Yes I think I'm coming round to the idea a top loader, more efficient as well. Would you mind showing me which EVO 7.4 you have? I can only find a 34cm deep version, and annoyingly some units don't even show measurement for some reason.
@bobbybasic This is the 7 .4 LWB version T5 Long Wheel Base | EVO Design . There’s a SWB version too. When I asked James @ Evo about dimensions, he advised the front of the unit to the C pillar was the important measurement.
To anyone with the 2 seater Cali bed - do you ever remove the main underbed drawer? If so how easy is it to do that, and what kind of space does that void leave you with? dimensions?
For sliding in long things like pipe work, wood, skis etc.
Can’t seem to find much info on this. Thanks!
For sliding in long things like pipe work, wood, skis etc.
Can’t seem to find much info on this. Thanks!
I just removed the drawer to make the seat lighter to move.
Easy way; remove the base cushion first, pull grey plastic trim forward above the drawer at it’s lower edge, there are 2x bolts each end, lift the cushion clear.
With the drawer fully open, remove 4x screws each side on the drawer runners and pull out the drawer with runners.
Harder way; Leave the base cushion in place and reach under the rear of the seat with the drawer fully open to remove the runner screws.
You then have the full length of the van including the cab if you have captain seats to transport long lengths.
The seat is still usable without the drawer so there is no reason why it can’t be left out if you rarely use it.
So the restrictions are at the rear of the seat; two steel down pointing brackets (probably seat belt mounts but can’t see at the moment). These two brackets limit the height to 13cm with a full width of 68.5cm.
The space either side of these brackets and in the middle of the brackets is full height of the drawer.
Not sure if you have a Cali’ seat yet but if you do it’s much easier to take a look than explain.
My van is full of gear at the moment, when I get it emptied I’ll make a sketch so that there is a reference. I’ve been gradually doing this anyway so I have the info for moving stuff.
One of the big advantages of a seat bed on rails, well worth the money.
The good thing about the Cali’ bed when compared to others is the seat is the correct height so your feet are not off the floor and as a result when in bed mode there is plenty of headroom. Some other bed systems seem to biased towards under seat storage instead of human comfort.Thanks @DXX really helpful! I’m definitely going to get the Cali sliding bed I think. Any limitation under the bed is far outweighed by the ability to shift everything forward on rails. A sketch would be amazing if you had time
Has anyone looked into getting hold of these T6.1 California bed extensions? they can be height adjusted and are removable too.
I can't find a California T6.1 parts catalogue anywhere, hard to source a part number. Any ideas @Pauly - it's the bed extension itself and the 5 fixing bolts I'm after.
I can't find a California T6.1 parts catalogue anywhere, hard to source a part number. Any ideas @Pauly - it's the bed extension itself and the 5 fixing bolts I'm after.
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