Lwb Tsi Double Cab Diy Camper / Work Van Wit

[AlexanderH]

Hey everybody,

First off I wanna thank the forum for all the useful info I found here, that really helped me decide which van to buy, and how to convert it to what we wanted.

For those who read my 1st post on the forum, I asked around for ideas onto how we could go camping with a double cab, fixed bulkhead camper. We decided to go for it, and finally got to the end result ( sort of).

So the van is a long wheel base, tsi, dsg, chestnut brown, bought new beginning of this year. It has a double cab, 5 seats, and a fixed bulkhead. We use it for daily driver, work van, camper van, everything.

We started with a Renault espace years ago, shifted to a fiat scudo but when that finally broke down, decided to go for a real car / van combo, and the decision was made.

In the back, we made some drawers, and a raised platform, to not lose any storage space, everything is still accessible. On top of the platform we have a custom made matrass, a small foldable bed for our youngest daughter (3 months). Me, my girlfriend and our oldest daughter (2 years) sleep next to each other. Since we are not very tal, we can fit in the smaller space (1,75m at bed level) we can even sleep with the booth closed, but prefer not to.

We also made a mosquito net, full electric system with 12v, 230volt, hookup, leisure battery and fridge and 2 small fans.

Don't have much photo's at the moment, just a film where I explain in Dutch to some friends what everything is.
If somebody would like to see more photo's just ask, I will try to get some.

 

[AlexanderH]

 

[AlexanderH]

LET'S START OVER :

So I had to take everything out due to the right sliding door power latch motor failing. It sits at the most annoying and unreachable place, where they have to take most of the bulkhead out. So because my construction was rather permanently attached, it had to be removed.

So now I'm in the process of rethinking the whole layout because, after a year of use, you get to notice the things where there's room for improvement.

Things I dislike :
*The Big storage area behind the drawers and underneath the seats is only accessible by removing the mattress and shoving it all down that hole from the inside..
*I feel like I'm losing a lot of space, and since we are traveling in a confined space, I want to make use of every centimeter of space.
*The front of the van (cab) usually gets filled with all sorts of stuff we don' use often when on the campsite, because of lack of good space in the back. This makes it annoying when wanting to go to the store for instance.
*etc, etc.

So in short :

*construct some drawers under the rear seat bench, that is accessible from the front cab.
*Construct a table in the front section so we can use the swivel seats and eat / relax indoors when it's cold.
*make an extremely efficient setup in the back for storage.


So for the back , I'm planning an ultra-large slide-out platform. as big as it can go.
We have a long wheelbase van, so I'm thinking 180 cm deep x 120 cm wide , with full extension.
This would be a flatbed, with various latching points , and I'm thinking removable kitchen unit (so can be used on the bed, or on the campsite.) Fridge unit, lockers for clothes, etc.
And then approximately 50 cm higher, we would have a fixed platform where the bed would be.
The bed would always stay free of luggage because everything would be easily accessible.

I'm looking into drawer runners at the moment, and there is not much to choose from when looking at an extension of 180 cm.
Also considering the weight that would be on the bed. (approx 200 - 250 kg?)

So if anybody has idea's or experience in this, I would gladly find out more.

I know there our some people here on the forum with extending platforms.. do maybe.. .?

I will keep you updated on the process.. looing a this as a good winter project!

cheers alex!

 

[AlexanderH]

I found this product , wich seems very nice.. letting you make any size platform rated at 200 kg if i understand ..

aluminum extrusion profile



downside is , that it does not fully extend.. only 70 percent. but i might be able to work myself around that problem considering i have room under the backseats to make my rails longer than the platform.

 

[AlexanderH]

So i finally managed to get the sliding platform in place.

fully extendable 1.8 meters no real sagging, feels very secure and rigid. I'm happy with it!

In the end I choose to go for steel c channel to take most of the load, and then made the platform from aluminium extrusion..
could have gone all the way aluminium, but I felt as if that would be more likely to bend when there would be load on the end of it..