5th Seat + VW Cool Box

Kitesurfer · Dec 30, 2013

Hi All

I have ordered my cali beach & included the VW cool box, which clips onto the rail system

i am thinking of adding the 5th seat but will this fit on the floor rail system along side the cool box, or will this not work.

would appreciate your views

Thanks Terry

rupertpoon · Dec 30, 2013

I believe there are 4 rails in all Beaches so your seat and cool box can be fitted in the middle position at the same time. We have a 12 plate Beach and the ones I saw in show rooms were the same as ours with the 4 rails, even if they had 2 seat benches.

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Goldie · Dec 30, 2013

Kitesurfer said:
Hi All

I have ordered my cali beach & included the VW cool box, which clips onto the rail system

i am thinking of adding the 5th seat but will this fit on the floor rail system along side the cool box, or will this not work.

would appreciate your views

Thanks Terry

There's a thread here http://www.vwcaliforniaclub.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=104&t=2513.

I doubt if you'll get the seat and the cool box in together as there is only space for a single additional seat.

I went for the Waeco CF40 http://www.vwcaliforniaclub.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=5282 Its a squeeze but it's a proper compressor fridge / freeezer that can be used for camping. It runs off 230v and 12v.

Andy

bournemouthbeach · Dec 30, 2013

Hi Terry

If you have the 3 seat bench the cool box can fit under the multi plex board behind the bench seat . James told me that... If you have the 2 seat it doesn't fit under the multi plex board because the 2 seat bench is lower...

Shaun

Kitesurfer · Dec 30, 2013

Hi
Thanks for the info.

i have ordered the 2 seat bench as this is the better bed formation that suits us.

will speak to Hugh at SMG, probably just get the 5th seat & sort the fridge out later.

Regards
Terry :thumb

Goldie · Dec 30, 2013

Terry,

I've got the Beach with the 2 seat bench and the bed is a really good size and flat. Apart from 2 nights in it with my son we haven't really used it yet. There is just the two of us who will use it mainly (wife and I). A few things I have noticed:

The bed is quite long and there is not a lot of room left when the bed is down. We will probably sleep upstairs and leave down below in seat mode - unless it's v cold. I have a fifth seat that is probably going to spend its life in the garage, but at £350 it's silly not to buy it (mine was thrown in by the dealer).

I wanted to get a removable kitchen pod for the occasional wild camping when I go to New Zealand. You can get them for the 3 seater but they won't fit in the two seater with the bench down so I'm going to make one.

The Waeco fridge is expensive, but much better than the cheaper absorption units. Very quiet and uses little power. Good idea to get the Cali first and then make a decision.

Andy

owen_h · Dec 30, 2013

Another 2 seater Beach owner here. Mine was an ex demonstrator and came with a 5th seat and the VW coolbox, both of which I have now sold (via this forum).
With the multiflex board in place there is not much space for the 5th seat and it always seemed in the way to me. Its a heavy bit of kit to lift in and out on a regular basis as well. Having said that they are very expensive to buy (around £700+ when I last looked) so the £350 as an option is worth it if there is any chance you might need it later on (and have somewhere to store it).
As has been said above the VW coolbox wont fit under the 2 seater multiflex board so either has to sit on top of the board (unsecured) or in the main cabin. I kept mine by the side door for a while but have now replaced it with a Waeco compressor version that is narrower and fits in a kitchen pod I've built. (thread here: viewtopic.php?f=104&t=4130 ).

Owen

Goldie · Dec 31, 2013

Owen,

Thanks for link to your Pod, I hadn't seen the full article before. I want to make a small pod to fit behind drivers seat to qualify for wild/free camping in NZ using Smev 8821 http://www.jacksonsleisure.com/cara...nits/smev-8821-hob-and-sink-combination-unit/so have just bought the fixing brackets using your part numbers.

Both wife and I are around 5'' 6" so I had thought about getting a second hand multiflex board and shortening bed by 6" - 8" overall. This would give the space to fit a standard pod and a bit more room. Has anyone done this?

Andy

Kitesurfer · Dec 31, 2013

Hi Andy & Owen

Thanks for the info, this forum is just brilliant for the help, it generates by just asking a simple question.

Changed my order to include the 5th seat, ( 2 grand children to No1 son & 1 grand child to No2 son.

It would not go down well to leave 1 of the wee ones at home because we did not have the room to take all 3.

Merry Christmas to you all & A Happy New Year. :hello

owen_h · Jan 2, 2014

Goldie said:
Owen,

Thanks for link to your Pod, I hadn't seen the full article before. I want to make a small pod to fit behind drivers seat to qualify for wild/free camping in NZ using Smev 8821 http://www.jacksonsleisure.com/cara...nits/smev-8821-hob-and-sink-combination-unit/so have just bought the fixing brackets using your part numbers.

Both wife and I are around 5'' 6" so I had thought about getting a second hand multiflex board and shortening bed by 6" - 8" overall. This would give the space to fit a standard pod and a bit more room. Has anyone done this?

Andy

Hi Andy
Had a look at the multiflex board yesterday and it does look like you could shorten it to give room for a pod (behind the front seats). That wasn’t really an option for me as I want to keep the whole length of the bed. Would you also keep the existing storage pod in position? That cant slide back any further than it is at the moment due to the wheelarch cutout.
That combined sink / hob unit looks good. I did quite a lot of investigation into the various options. With my side layout most (almost all) of the available units were too wide to fit in comfortably. I also found that by the time I had a gas locker, fresh & grey water tanks etc there was no room left for anything else. The gas locker was the difficult one as it should be in a dedicated sealed locker with a drop out vent and I didn’t want to go drilling large holes in the floor. Not sure how the commercially available pods get round this, maybe they don’t as it was unclear to me what regs applied to campervans and if they were mandatory or recommendations. Think there was a thread on here a linking to the NZ regs for wild camping a while back which were quite comprehensive.
Owen