Fitting RIB bed with long seat cushion and Kiravan fitting kit

[dmadden]

Hi Folks,

has anyone any experience installing a RIB bed with a long seat cushion in a VW T6 2018 using the Kiravans fitting kit? I had a look at this myself, drilled a pilot hole, and found the fitting kit too close to the spare wheel hanger. Put the van back together and gave it to my garage who appear equally baffled and suggest dropping the kit and using spreader plates instead. Seems a shame - am I missing something?

thanks,
Dave

 

[Eclipse Custom Vans]

Never used them but seen them, I assume the fitting kit dictates the position of the seat, work out kit position first, then the seat position. I would'nt let the garage touch the van if they are equally baffled. What have Kiravans said? This is the problem unfortunately buying from a shop rather than a company that specialises in conversions.

All the best,
Ian

 

[dmadden]

Never used them but seen them, I assume the fitting kit dictates the position of the seat, work out kit position first, then the seat position. I would'nt let the garage touch the van if they are equally baffled. What have Kiravans said? This is the problem unfortunately buying from a shop rather than a company that specialises in conversions.

All the best,
Ian

thanks Ian. Kiravans are due to call me back with some feedback/photos. Yes I agreed we won't be drilling/fitting anything until we clarify what is required. I wasn't expecting this install to be such an issue obviously a conversion company will have seen this before and know what to do. If I had a conversion company anywhere near me here in Ireland I would possibly have used them but with a 5km lockdown everything is a challenge ;-)

 

[Niknak]

The kit is quite straight forward goes between the box sections below the floor bolts into the rails and then fix your seats onto them,

 

[Niknak]

Safest bet using these spreader plates is just bodgy

 

[dmadden]

The kit is quite straight forward goes between the box sections below the floor bolts into the rails and then fix your seats onto them,

thanks it's certainly straight forward if you have the standard length rib bed - good clearance to drill the holes in the chassis rails. However with the longer Rib bed it's not so straightforward unfortunately!

 

[Niknak]

Must have been lucky on the ones I’ve fitted them

 

[dmadden]

Must have been lucky on the ones I’ve fitted them

Good to hear that it actually fits! Was that a SWB T6 or a LWB T6 or have you done both?

 

[Niknak]

Done both, no pint getting a crash tested seat frame then not using one

 

[dmadden]

Done both, no pint getting a crash tested seat frame then not using one

thanks, I will wait for the photos from Kiravans and have another look at it. If we still can't figure it out I will upload some photos of the issue

 

[Sim60]

Hi Folks,

has anyone any experience installing a RIB bed with a long seat cushion in a VW T6 2018 using the Kiravans fitting kit? I had a look at this myself, drilled a pilot hole, and found the fitting kit too close to the spare wheel hanger. Put the van back together and gave it to my garage who appear equally baffled and suggest dropping the kit and using spreader plates instead. Seems a shame - am I missing something?

thanks,
Dave

So are you SWB or LWB?

This is what is says on the Banwy website


Seat Length:

• Standard Back - standard seat length of the back is 65cm - this is the length of all our stock beds.
• Short Back - 58cm - Popular in small vans where space is a premium.
• Extra Long Back 73cm - For those of you that are particularly tall this may be an option. Please ensure it works with the overall layout of your van though, most suited to a LWB as it would require a SWB to be fitted forward of standard position.

 

[dmadden]

So are you SWB or LWB?

This is what is says on the Banwy website


Seat Length:

• Standard Back - standard seat length of the back is 65cm - this is the length of all our stock beds.
• Short Back - 58cm - Popular in small vans where space is a premium.
• Extra Long Back 73cm - For those of you that are particularly tall this may be an option. Please ensure it works with the overall layout of your van though, most suited to a LWB as it would require a SWB to be fitted forward of standard position.

thanks - yes I actually saw that when I ordered. I'm SWB . I took this to mean that the bed does sit further forward inside the van so you need to make sure that when the bed is fully extended it doesn't obstruct anything. This is why I went for a top loading fridge kitchen design so I wouldn't have any issues with the long bed. The Kiravans instructions for the fitting kit underneath actually give you the specific measurements to use for the long bed and the short bed. Just doen't seem to work out in practice so will wait till I hear back from them....

 

[boxelder]

I used a very similar kit - what is the issue sorry, I'm not understanding? The U shaped steel wraps around the cross member under the van (above the spare wheel), so is in a position determined by that. Is the issue that the 'feet' of the bed then sit too far forward to be bolted through it?
Does this help at all? There are instructions for other width RIBs, both slider and non-slider: RIB Altair Seat Anchorage Kit Instructions - 130cm and 150cm Widths, Non Slider Frame - Clearcut Conversions

 

[Sim60]

thanks - yes I actually saw that when I ordered. I'm SWB . I took this to mean that the bed does sit further forward inside the van so you need to make sure that when the bed is fully extended it doesn't obstruct anything. This is why I went for a top loading fridge kitchen design so I wouldn't have any issues with the long bed. The Kiravans instructions for the fitting kit underneath actually give you the specific measurements to use for the long bed and the short bed. Just doen't seem to work out in practice so will wait till I hear back from them....

what doesn’t work out with the 220mm standard bed/ 140mm long bed measurement that Kiravans give?
I’ve fitted a standard bed and the 220mm measurement worked for me - Are you saying that if you position the mounting bracket at 140mm, then it clashes with the spare wheel hanger? From you first description it sounded more like you positioned the bed and then drilled a pilot hole down through the floor and didn’t think the bracket would fit there. Are you sure the bed won’t go further towards the back of the van?
I positioned the bracket according to the kiravans measurement and drilled a pilot hole up through the floor and aligned the bed on that.
Simon

 

[dmadden]

what doesn’t work out with the 220mm standard bed/ 140mm long bed measurement that Kiravans give?
I’ve fitted a standard bed and the 220mm measurement worked for me - Are you saying that if you position the mounting bracket at 140mm, then it clashes with the spare wheel hanger? From you first description it sounded more like you positioned the bed and then drilled a pilot hole down through the floor and didn’t think the bracket would fit there. Are you sure the bed won’t go further towards the back of the van?
I positioned the bracket according to the kiravans measurement and drilled a pilot hole up through the floor and aligned the bed on that.
Simon

Thanks Simon, we tried both methods. With the bed tight against the barn doors the mounting bracket underneath is still too close to the spare wheel hanger. But I will defer to Kiravans when they call and look at it again tomorrow maybe we have missed something...D

 

[boxelder]

OK, I see how this kit is different from the Clearcut one - and doesn't look as strong.



On the Clearcut one (which I think is the original RIB fitting kit?), the U shaped steel wraps around the structural cross member shown in blue above, and then the main fixing bolts go vertically down through both the original chassis cross member and the steel fitting. This means it's position is fixed and may not line up with the 'legs' of the bed. My bed is the slider version though, so the upper part of the bed slides up the van to allow the 'head' of the bed to fold back without fouling the door.
Yours definitely doesn't have the 200mm slider does it, and you've positioned the bed with it slid back?
If you can't get a solution from Kiravans, at 6'4", I find the standard length bed fine, so you may not need the extra length.