Glacier blue roof bellows?

[MarkVw2017]

Hello @motacyclist. Im thinking of ordering the blue bellows. Whats it like inside once up, does it make everything blue and/ or darker, but noticed bellows have 3 windows so am i right to assume they still let alot of light in. Thank you

Hello @motacyclist. Im thinking of ordering the blue bellows. Whats it like inside once up, does it make everything blue and/ or darker, but noticed bellows have 3 windows so am i right to assume they still let alot of light in. Thank you

........I meant using downstairs once up, being darker like you said once its a bed is alreadu a bonus

 

[MarkVw2017]

Don’t buy red! We used to have a T2 on our fleet with a red roof we added for a visit England promotion. It’s really awful being in the roof in the daylight. Everything is red obviously. Sort of stressful, living in hell, headache enducing red!
We have blue fabric on some of our T2s and it does fade quite a lot even though it is top quality specific outdoor canvas fabric (for boats). I would say 6-10 years until it looks bad enough to warrant a replacement. £650 for new bellows by the way. £55-60k on a van and £650 every 6-7 years to spruce it up. I would go for it. I think we shall even try blue next time.

Dont mind £650 after 5 years

 

[motacyclist]

Hello @motacyclist. Im thinking of ordering the blue bellows. Whats it like inside once up, does it make everything blue and/ or darker, but noticed bellows have 3 windows so am i right to assume they still let alot of light in. Thank you

I’ve not noticed any blue cast. It is dark and doesn’t let much light in, but I would sooner have that than be woken up by the sun at 5am! As you say, there are three windows plus the normal light from the van windows.

 

[MarkVw2017]

Thanks for the quick reply! If it gives me an extra hour in bed before the kids wake up, then im sold

 

[BikerGran]

I don't like the idea of that dark colour when the roof and bed are up for headspace - one of the reasons a really dislike the 'Comfortz Leisure Room' (sides for the windout awning) is because it's so dark.

 

[Kevthegas]

Is £650 the fitted price for a new set of bellows from VW ?
I thought it would have been more.

 

[Timø]

Hi everyone. Sorry I haven’t spotted anyone suggesting where to go to get a new canvas. Any tips? £650 doesn’t seem too bad.

 

[Borris]

Hi everyone. Sorry I haven’t spotted anyone suggesting where to go to get a new canvas. Any tips? £650 doesn’t seem too bad.

Well since its a VW part the obvious place to start would be VW Commercial California dealership. Get a price, ask for discount, then chase around the other dealerships and see if any of them can better the price. SMG Tonbridge have given discount on accessories to club VIP members before i.e me, so it might be worth asking if they can do something on a new canvas.

 

[Timø]

Well since its a VW part the obvious place to start would be VW Commercial California dealership. Get a price, ask for discount, then chase around the other dealerships and see if any of them can better the price. SMG Tonbridge have given discount on accessories to club VIP members before i.e me, so that might be worth asking if they'll do something on a new canvas.

Cheers Borris. I’ll try that although Tonbridge might be a little far from us!

 

[Borris]

Cheers Borris. I’ll try that although Tonbridge might be a little far from us!

You don't have to actually go there. Speak to them on the phone and see if they will send it to you (that is if you decide to buy one from them). Then get it fitted locally.

 

[MarkVw2017]

Makes me slightly sad hearing getting replaceable bellows, im still at the ordering stage, and hope they last forever (wishful thinking i know!)

 

[BikerGran]

Makes me slightly sad hearing getting replaceable bellows, im still at the ordering stage, and hope they last forever (wishful thinking i know!)

Take heart Mark - My Cali is 11 years old, I only bought it 2 years ago but as far as I know it has the original bellows (with a small repair from being caught in the struts), and they are still waterproof too.

Trouble with a forum like this is that you see people talking about all the things that can go wrong, but people rarely say much about the good stuff!

 

[MarkVw2017]

My Cali is 1 years old, I only bought it 2 years ago but as far as I know it has the original bellows (with a small slight repair from being caught in the struts).

I have seen some members have an elastic band around the roof bellows but is that standard or has someone designed that for the very reason you just stated to avoid it getting caught in the struts?

 

[BikerGran]

I have seen some members have an elastic band around the roof bellows but is that standard or has someone designed that for the very reason you just stated to avoid it getting caught in the struts?

It's not standard but it's available from the club shop (on this website), look for 'bellows bungee'. I've bought one but but haven't yet got round to installing it.

 

[Wobble’s Mum]

Don’t buy red! We used to have a T2 on our fleet with a red roof we added for a visit England promotion. It’s really awful being in the roof in the daylight. Everything is red obviously. Sort of stressful, living in hell, headache enducing red!.

Not sure whether VW have changed the material used since the T2s but we have red on our T6, and it doesn’t cast a red glow at all. I’ll try and find a pic of the inside from our last few days in all this glorious sunshine. It was definitely NOT like living in a stressful hell

 

[Borris]

Makes me slightly sad hearing getting replaceable bellows, im still at the ordering stage, and hope they last forever (wishful thinking i know!)

Nothing lasts forever!

 

[Amarillo]

I have seen some members have an elastic band around the roof bellows but is that standard or has someone designed that for the very reason you just stated to avoid it getting caught in the struts?

Bellow's Bungee.

Useful for the Ocean but more of a hindrance on the Beach.


Follow my blog: www.au-revoir.eu

 

[SpikeMcBike]

Bellow's Bungee.

Useful for the Ocean but more of a hindrance on the Beach.


Follow my blog: www.au-revoir.eu

Agree. Bungee is not needed on the T6 manual roof. Mine is now used as a washing line.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[MarkVw2017]

Bellow's Bungee.

Useful for the Ocean but more of a hindrance on the Beach.


Follow my blog: www.au-revoir.eu

Sorry, but why would that not be handy in a beach roof, still a newbie?

 

[Amarillo]

Sorry, but why would that not be handy in a beach roof, still a newbie?

After pulling down the roof, the bellows need rolling back behind fastening clips either side. A bungee makes this more difficult, and increases the risk of trapping the bellows in the clip.


Follow my blog: www.au-revoir.eu

 

[Max-Felix]

Sorry, but why would that not be handy in a beach roof, still a newbie?

Check this post and video before doing your Beach roof for the first time:

https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/not-even-received-and-repair-required.18620/#post-213243

 

[Borris]

Just my opinion but actually I find having a bungee fitted on our Beach makes the roof closing process a little easier.

Firstly, the Beach is great because the roof mechanism is blissfully simple and very effective. Personally, I cannot see how the design could really be improved.

Also the fact that you are closing the roof manually on the Beach means that you have much greater control. If the bellows on the SE/Ocean becomes trapped without you being aware, the electro/hydraulic system will continue to power the roof down until it damages the canvas and possible the roof as well. There have been numerous posts about torn canvas and a few referring to buckled roofs and struts as a result of the canvas becoming trapped. I stand to be corrected but I don't recall reading about any issues of this type with the Beach. I am assuming that's primarily because if you were to feel any resistance you would normally stop the action immediately and investigate.

Returning to the bungee, I'm sure that in blustery weather without the bungee fitted it would not be impossible to get the canvas bellows trapped however I agree that it is much less likely than on the Ocean. In our case we have a Brandrup Isotop internal roof liner fitted so you cannot see the canvas when lowering the roof therefore the bungee does give us that extra security. I must add that the way the integral fold in canvas straps operate does ensure that entrapment is much less likely. You might imagine that the internal liner would make the roof more difficult to close but that's not my experience. Apart from the first couple of attempts at closing the roof when I was learning the process, closing it has been straight forward and problem free. The bungee assists when the roof is being closed by pulling the canvas and internal liner in all around but especially at the front where you can easily grab it and pull thus ensuring that there's no chance of anything becoming trapped. With the roof pulled down to the almost closed position, you can then push all of the material behind the webbing strap to the rear of the buckle. Then whilst fealing to check that there is no material fouling the buckle hooks, pull down on the roof bar and snap the overlock buckle shut and connect the safety strap. Repeat on the other side and then tuck all material away before closing the roof hatch. Simple.

IMO the manual roof is one of the biggest advantages of owning a Beach and frankly I would like to see it as an option on the Ocean as well.

 

[Kiwikamper]

Having ordered a glacier blue roof bellows we were rather surprised when the bellows colour turned out to be a navy blue and thought there must have been some mistake.
Quite why VW describe the blue bellows as glacier blue is hard to fathom, especially when glacier blue is a colour strongly associated with early VW beetles.

 

[MarkVw2017]

Just my opinion but actually I find having a bungee fitted on our Beach makes the roof closing process a little easier.

Firstly, the Beach is great because the roof mechanism is blissfully simple and very effective. Personally, I cannot see how the design could really be improved.

Also the fact that you are closing the roof manually on the Beach means that you have much greater control. If the bellows on the SE/Ocean becomes trapped without you being aware, the electro/hydraulic system will continue to power the roof down until it damages the canvas and possible the roof as well. There have been numerous posts about torn canvas and a few referring to buckled roofs and struts as a result of the canvas becoming trapped. I stand to be corrected but I don't recall reading about any issues of this type with the Beach. I am assuming that's primarily because if you were to feel any resistance you would normally stop the action immediately and investigate.

Returning to the bungee, I'm sure that in blustery weather without the bungee fitted it would not be impossible to get the canvas bellows trapped however I agree that it is much less likely than on the Ocean. In our case we have a Brandrup Isotop internal roof liner fitted so you cannot see the canvas when lowering the roof therefore the bungee does give us that extra security. I must add that the way the integral fold in canvas straps operate does ensure that entrapment is much less likely. You might imagine that the internal liner would make the roof more difficult to close but that's not my experience. Apart from the first couple of attempts at closing the roof when I was learning the process, closing it has been straight forward and problem free. The bungee assists when the roof is being closed by pulling the canvas and internal liner in all around but especially at the front where you can easily grab it and pull thus ensuring that there's no chance of anything becoming trapped. With the roof pulled down to the almost closed position, you can then push all of the material behind the webbing strap to the rear of the buckle. Then whilst fealing to check that there is no material fouling the buckle hooks, pull down on the roof bar and snap the overlock buckle shut and connect the safety strap. Repeat on the other side and then tuck all material away before closing the roof hatch. Simple.

IMO the manual roof is one of the biggest advantages of owning a Beach and frankly I would like to see it as an option on the Ocean as well.

Great repsonse, the coast would tick that box of an ocean with manaual roof so im surprised thry dont sell thrm here

 

[MarkVw2017]

Having ordered a glacier blue roof bellows we were rather surprised when the bellows colour turned out to be a navy blue and thought there must have been some mistake.
Quite why VW describe the blue bellows as glacier blue is hard to fathom, especially when glacier blue is a colour strongly associated with early VW beetles.

Are you happy with your bellows and any boue cast/ darker inside?