Bellows Bungee

[shudycamps]

Afternoon all. How many of you use a bellows bungee? Does it do the job that it says it does? One of my worst nightmares is to have trouble with the roof during a camping trip! Would you recommend one as a standard pack along?

 

[reserves]

Afternoon all. How many of you use a bellows bungee? Does it do the job that it says it does? One of my worst nightmares is to have trouble with the roof during a camping trip! Would you recommend one as a standard pack along?

Highly recommended.

It's costs under £15 and it prevents almost any chance of your bellows getting damaged.

I have one it's fitted since new, it's a no brainer for me.

 

[shudycamps]

Highly recommended.

It's costs under £15 and it prevents almost any chance of your bellows getting damaged.

I have one it's fitted since new, it's a no brainer for me.

Thank you very much - I know it is not expensive and the peace of mind it must bring: priceless!

xx

 

[shudycamps]

Going to order one today!

 

[MattBW]

I have a 2015 and although they seem to have modified the design in recent times to reduce the chance of it getting trapped I still intend to get one of these at some point for peace of mind. I think if youre cali is earlier its well worth a look.

 

[GrannyJen]

It does not love all problems. Nothing but nothing beats nipping out and have a look before the scissors come into possible cutting contact.

However it does contribute to peace of mind. In fact, contributes a lot. I am fan of mine even if it did come loose and smack me in the teeth when I was putting it on


Granny jen Cali spotting tip: Mine is the one with a max factor lipfinity no.40 shade on the bellows bungee

 

[Big Bloke]

We fitted a bellows bungge from new and so far so good.
The two hire Cali's (from BMVS, Bognor) that came with us to Norway recently also had them fitted.

 

[larrylamb]

+1 for the bellows bungee, little tip i always do, poke your head up the opening as you press the lower roof button so you can monitor the roof fabric folding in as it should do.

 

[Freeley]

Same here. With bungee fitted I no longer feel the urge to keep stopping when lowering the roof and nipping outside to check.
I just stick my head up the hatch and watch from inside

Sent from my Galaxy S6

 

[Borris]

I have a 2015 and although they seem to have modified the design in recent times to reduce the chance of it getting trapped I still intend to get one of these at some point for peace of mind. I think if youre cali is earlier its well worth a look.

Hi Matt,
I am curious. Do you know what modifications have been made. I have recently collected a 2015 ex demo Se and are being very careful with the roof. It seems to have reinforced inserts that pull the canvas in as it comes down. Are these what you mean? Has this stopped the canvas getting trapped? Do older calis have these?
Sorry to bombard you with questions but as this seems to be one of the biggest issues on the Cali wouldn't it be great if this mod has sorted this issue!

Can anyone else clarify.

In the mean time I am still going to assume that the problem still exists. I also have ordered a bungee strap thingy.
Best wishes
Paul

 

[Martin]

There are two new inserts on the 2015 Cali but they do not appear to have made much difference with folding the bellows in. You still need to bring the roof down with caution.

 

[Hotel California]

There are two new inserts on the 2015 Cali but they do not appear to have made much difference with folding the bellows in. You still need to bring the roof down with caution.

....and at least one door open....

 

[Nick CB]

The door or window open is vital. Otherwise you are trying to create a balloon with the bellows

 

[Borris]

There are two new inserts on the 2015 Cali but they do not appear to have made much difference with folding the bellows in. You still need to bring the roof down with caution.

Thanks Martin.

 

[Alan]

I always keep a small led torch handy to shine inside to make sure I get a clear view when closing the roof

Alan

 

[DavidofHook]

We have had one for a long time now. It gives peace of mind if nothing else. However previously we had an Eriba pop top caravan, these are high quality little vans and the pop top had a bungee to keep it in place as you pulled it down to travel. Eriba know what they are doing, even if VW don't always!

 

[Nick CB]

You're right David, we had an Eriba before the Calli and quite honestly we miss it terribly. The only reason we parted with it was I just hated towing. They are superb little beasts, couldn't be faulted.

 

[rookeryview]

I had bought a piece of elastic to make my own bungee for about £3, but on receiving the 2015 Cali, we found that there are reinforced strips which force the roof to fold inwards. HOWEVER, this doesn't work that well when the wind blows in the wrong direction, as once it turned inside out and could have made things worse rather than better probably.
I still haven't fitted the bungee as if any damage is done through stretch marks, rubbing, or otherwise, this won't be covered on the warranty. It will work if you want to press the button and do no checking though, but you need to make sure that the bungee is intact each time. One day it will perish knowing how toast falls...
But as others have said, putting your head up through the hatch gives you a good sense of things going well. You can pull in the fabric from there at the front if you need to and the back is unlikely to get trapped as it's not flappy enough. If the wind is howling though, make sure you open the windows on the leeward side.

 

[WelshGas]

VW will not cover ANY damage to the canvas bellows as it will be classed as Operator Error no matter what.
I'm prepared to put up with stretch marks etc: , Not that I have seen any after almost 50+ roof operations , for the additional protection of having a Bungee fitted.

 

[DavidofHook]

You're right David, we had an Eriba before the Calli and quite honestly we miss it terribly. The only reason we parted with it was I just hated towing. They are superb little beasts, couldn't be faulted.

Yes, great aren't they. We gave up ours for the same reason, I didn't like towing.
Oh, and we had a puncture on the N340 in Spain, highly hazardous, which capped it for me. So we went for the Cali, next best thing and you don't have to tow it!

 

[DavidKeith]

My local VW dealer managed to trap the canvas while lowering the roof causing a slight crease in the roof. It was in for a warranty repair on the internal roof light at the time. I'm now scared to let them have it back, fearing what they will do next!

 

[Adamvanman]

Was looking at some T6 Demo's today and all the showroom Cali's were fitted with Bellows Bungees!

 

[Denzilgts]

We are in our first year of owning a cali. The bungee was one of the first things we ordered for the site. Great investment, but still I take time and check when lowering he roof.

 

[DavidKeith]

We are in our first year of owning a cali. The bungee was one of the first things we ordered for the site. Great investment, but still I take time and check when lowering he roof.

Where did you get it?

 

[SimonB]

Where did you get it?

It comes from the Club Shop
https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/shop/product-category/cali-essentials under the Cali Essentials section £12.99