Access to upper bed!

[Sandrafuller]

We have just bought our first Cali after years of camping, currently away Pre-booked camping but with Cali as vehicle to try it out. One thing we've noticed is the access to upper bed! Does anyone have suggestions, I'm reluctant to stand on armrests as it says in info to do?

 

[calikev]

Hi there. You have two choices you can buy a little extending ladder or just climb up
Do not stand on the armrest it will break. I stand on the seat then put my foot beside the headrest
And then pull myself up I hope this helps.

 

[peregrinus]

The armrest will break.
We use this Ikea Bolmen stool on one of the seats;
http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/80159519/

It is moulded and we use it to carry stuff when it isnt acting as a step.

 

[Freeley]

I've always found it pretty straight forward to just stand on one of the front seats and climb up

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

 

[peregrinus]

I've always found it pretty straight forward to just stand on one of the front seats and climb up

Length of legs and agility are two factors which make this less easy for some and hilarious to watch for others.

 

[2CV67]

We find it easy & we are neither young nor tall.
Seats facing forwards.
Stand on seat cushion - facing forwards.
Take weight on hands - one on the roof ledge & one on bed (not plastic slider!).
Swing bottom onto bed, maybe with one foot on seat shoulder.

Getting down - same in reverse.

Interested to hear (see?) how others manage.

By the way, does everybody sleep head-forwards, or what?

 

[GeoffB]

The armrest will break.
We use this Ikea Bolmen stool on one of the seats;
http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/80159519/

It is moulded and we use it to carry stuff when it isnt acting as a step.

This is the bees knees, you can use it outside as a seat or table as well, or as a step for cleaning the roof, and when inverted and used as storage, the rubber inserts stop it sliding around, Not bad for about a fiver! :goodone

 

[Spuktoid]

My solution: bought a very nice leather poufé from the lanes in Brighton (very colourful leather). Put on passenger seat at bed time, stand on drivers seat, step up onto poufé on passenger seat and an easy transition into the top bedroom, stable and no edges pushing into the seats!

Also comfortable and stress free when climbing out in the morning!

Poufé also very comfortable for feet when relaxing on the bench seat watching DVD and the front seats rotated but too far away to put ones feet on comfortably.

Leather smells nice too

Dave

 

[Velma's Dad]

Unless you're very heavy you can put a little weight on the hinge section of the folded armrest. Not your full body weight though.

But if you stand on the arm section of armrest you'll almost certainly break it. An expensive repair.

We have no problem getting up and down without ladders, steps etc and we're not particularly athletic.

 

[ArunAlec]

Must admit, after a month of ownership, I hadn’t realised that you were not supposed to stand on the arm rests.
A BMW I had once developed a fault with the front seat passenger sensor, which meant it sensed someone sitting in the front seat (when it was empty) and alarmed because the seat belt was not in use.
I had no option but to get it fixed, because a fault on the dashboard would have been an MOT failure. It was an expensive fix and I was told that it was commonly caused by people kneeling on the passenger seat to retrieve items from the back seat, breaking the webbing / wire connection to the seat sensor.
As a result I had thought it best to avoid standing on the seats.

Also kneeling/standing on the seat could damage the heated seat element.

 

[Velma's Dad]

Also kneeling/standing on the seat pull damage the heated seat element.

Has that actually happened to anyone? I always stand on the seat pad and our seat heaters are fine so far.

 

[parrot2]

Welcome to the forum Nice to see you have already started a discussion.

 

[Auberg-ine]

A simple DIY idea, for those who are not so keen on standing at the seat sensor:

 

[Hotel California]

I never used the seat heating but always stand on it while climbing up ...need to test if it still works...

 

[pjm-84]

My technique.

1) Stand on drivers seat (cant seem to manage so well on the passenger side)
2) Left and right arm through opening and hands onto the front edges of the roof at the front corners ( behind my body)
3) Face slightly diagonal toward the kitchen (I sleep on the kitchen side)
3) Push up, lift legs and slide legs in first and down


I find getting down harder in the mornings and have some times used the edge of the kitchen unit to aid exiting. Luckily I'm light on my feet for my size / weight

 

[Amarillo]

We have just bought our first Cali after years of camping, currently away Pre-booked camping but with Cali as vehicle to try it out. One thing we've noticed is the access to upper bed! Does anyone have suggestions, I'm reluctant to stand on armrests as it says in info to do?

Scharphof Manoeuvre shown at 6 minutes 30 seconds.

 

[Gary&Heather]

That video clip is interesting showing how it can be done, unfortunately, me being small and fat and not slim and six-foot does not help....

 

[ArunAlec]

That video clip is interesting showing how it can be done, unfortunately, me being small and fat and not slim and six-foot does not help....

I've noticed these videos all seem to be by 6 ft athletes!
The one showing how to easily fit the external roof topper is the same!

 

[Amarillo]

That video clip is interesting showing how it can be done, unfortunately, me being small and fat and not slim and six-foot does not help....

Try it. The difference between 6'6" inches and 5' high probably equates to a 6" difference in bottom height.

 

[GillianC]

Scharphof Manoeuvre shown at 6 minutes 30 seconds.

Ah it takes me back watching that! When I got my T5 I watched it numerous times. He makes everything look so easy.