Removal Van mode....Bench Seat removal

[HectorPascal]

Our family recently had a need to assist our daughter to move flats (again) and, now being retired, I offered to do this for her. I was also curious as to how practical and repeatable this might be as an exercise.

The Cali owner's manual gives little info as to the 'how', restricting its advice to a warning that if you do take it out make sure you are physically up to it.

We have all invested quite heavily in these machines so I was keen to see it 'earn its keep' if this could be done without damaging the van. Here is how I did it with help only to lift the seat out of it's rails and through the side door.

First reduce the weight of the thing. I read the bench seat is about 90 Kg naked.​

​

Remove the styrofoam vehicle jack/tow-ball storage unit from the rear of the bench seat and also the puncture repair pump etc which is attached to the kitchen-side of the bench seat (we have a van with no spare wheel).​

​

Remove the sliding storage drawer from its rails by pulling it out (after emptying it of course), removing the two small self-tappers on the floor of the drawer close to the front edge. Lift it out carefully and store it somewhere clean and dry. Then put a small piece of tape on the drawer rails to stop them sliding in and out freely.​

​

Slide the driver and passenger seats fully forward and wind the back rests out of the way. Also slide the bench seat back.​

​

Remove the grey plastic end-covers from the front of the floor rails. They clip in place and can be unclipped by gently and evenly levering them from the floor taking care to use a blunt flat tool to avoid scratching the floor and levering evenly to avoid cracking the plastic. The aluminium rail dust covers can now be slid forwards and lifted out. They might be a little stiff due to dirt/grit trapped between them and the floor. Set these parts aside - maybe in the drawer you just removed.​

​

This will expose the steel rails and no doubt some dirt and fluff. I took a dry paintbrush and cleaned them with a vacuum.​

​

You will see the cast alloy forward-stop for the bench seat which is located in the rail closest to the sink. Maybe take a picture of this before removing the screw (just loosen it off) and sliding it forward and out of the rail for safe keeping.​

​

Flip the head restraints back out of the way, slide the bench seat forward. I stuck a screwdriver in the hole located on the sliding-door side of the bench seat to jam the unlock lever open. (Pull the unlock handle fully out/up first and it will push in). You can now slide the seat fore and aft at will.​

​

At this point, before lifting the seat out of the runners (there is a gap in the runners for this), I laid some 6mm MDF on the floor between the rails to protect the surface. Two fit and able people are really needed to lift the seat carefully out of the runners and then out of the side door. We placed it on a clean dry garage floor on a sheet of MDF. Anything would do to protect the paint on the feet of the seat. The person inside the van has the hardest job lifting whilst bent over. It would be very easy to hurt your back or give yourself a groin-strain doing this so take care. Perhaps it might be possible to lift it out of the rails using the van's jack or suitable leverage but we managed okay. Once it's out of the runners it's much easier to inch it sideways and out of the van.​

​

​

Next, if you are inclined, is a cleaning job to wipe down the parts of the side walls and flooring that you can't normally reach easily.​

​

Reversing the above is easy enough though it is a bit of a two-person job to re-seat the drawer on its runners. We pushed the runners forward with a three-foot strip of wood (from behind the bench seat) to seat the runners properly home. You will know when they are in position because the self-tapper holes line up.​

Now you have a removal van. We slid a 6'3" x 4'6" double mattress in on edge and then pushed it vertically up against the sink just to give you an idea.

Hope this of some help to some of our community.

 

[GrumpyGranddad]

Our family recently had a need to assist our daughter to move flats (again) and, now being retired, I offered to do this for her. I was also curious as to how practical and repeatable this might be as an exercise.

The Cali owner's manual gives little info as to the 'how', restricting its advice to a warning that if you do take it out make sure you are physically up to it.

We have all invested quite heavily in these machines so I was keen to see it 'earn its keep' if this could be done without damaging the van. Here is how I did it with help only to lift the seat out of it's rails and through the side door.

First reduce the weight of the thing. I read the bench seat is about 90 Kg naked.​

​

Remove the styrofoam vehicle jack/tow-ball storage unit from the rear of the bench seat and also the puncture repair pump etc which is attached to the kitchen-side of the bench seat (we have a van with no spare wheel).​

​

Remove the sliding storage drawer from its rails by pulling it out (after emptying it of course), removing the two small self-tappers on the floor of the drawer close to the front edge. Lift it out carefully and store it somewhere clean and dry. Then put a small piece of tape on the drawer rails to stop them sliding in and out freely.​

​

Slide the driver and passenger seats fully forward and wind the back rests out of the way. Also slide the bench seat back.​

​

Remove the grey plastic end-covers from the front of the floor rails. They clip in place and can be unclipped by gently and evenly levering them from the floor taking care to use a blunt flat tool to avoid scratching the floor and levering evenly to avoid cracking the plastic. The aluminium rail dust covers can now be slid forwards and lifted out. They might be a little stiff due to dirt/grit trapped between them and the floor. Set these parts aside - maybe in the drawer you just removed.​

​

This will expose the steel rails and no doubt some dirt and fluff. I took a dry paintbrush and cleaned them with a vacuum.​

​

You will see the cast alloy forward-stop for the bench seat which is located in the rail closest to the sink. Maybe take a picture of this before removing the screw (just loosen it off) and sliding it forward and out of the rail for safe keeping.​

​

Flip the head restraints back out of the way, slide the bench seat forward. I stuck a screwdriver in the hole located on the sliding-door side of the bench seat to jam the unlock lever open. (Pull the unlock handle fully out/up first and it will push in). You can now slide the seat fore and aft at will.​

​

At this point, before lifting the seat out of the runners (there is a gap in the runners for this), I laid some 6mm MDF on the floor between the rails to protect the surface. Two fit and able people are really needed to lift the seat carefully out of the runners and then out of the side door. We placed it on a clean dry garage floor on a sheet of MDF. Anything would do to protect the paint on the feet of the seat. The person inside the van has the hardest job lifting whilst bent over. It would be very easy to hurt your back or give yourself a groin-strain doing this so take care. Perhaps it might be possible to lift it out of the rails using the van's jack or suitable leverage but we managed okay. Once it's out of the runners it's much easier to inch it sideways and out of the van.​

​

​

Next, if you are inclined, is a cleaning job to wipe down the parts of the side walls and flooring that you can't normally reach easily.​

​

Reversing the above is easy enough though it is a bit of a two-person job to re-seat the drawer on its runners. We pushed the runners forward with a three-foot strip of wood (from behind the bench seat) to seat the runners properly home. You will know when they are in position because the self-tapper holes line up.​

Now you have a removal van. We slid a 6'3" x 4'6" double mattress in on edge and then pushed it vertically up against the sink just to give you an idea.

Hope this of some help to some of our community.

View attachment 82236

Useful to know @HectorPascal but I think I would have hired a van

 

[zinglefiffy]

We recently moved house, and skipped a removals van in favour of our Beach. We had a three week overlap and 15 minute drive between the two houses, so lots of runs were possible.

I had to do school runs as well so the three seat bench stayed in the van but as we have no cupboards there was still tons of room with the bench folded and pushed forward. My memories already getting vague but I think I had about 6 foot from the camping seat storage in the tailgate to the back of the bench, and above the height of the bench there's about 7.5 feet from tailgate to drivers seat.

If I was moving anything fragile or over 6 foot I'd put the bench into bed mode along with the multiflex and lay it on the bed. There's various points on the bench that can be used to attach bungee cords and avoid stuff slipping around, for example the isofix hoops and leaving the headrests in place gives you some nice metal rods to hook stuff to.

The most restrictive element was the internal trim that runs across the top of the rear of the van - with the multiflex in place it creates quite a small opening to fit your 6ft+ furniture through. it was definitely worth measuring stuff beforehand.

We had *a lot* of stuff to move and the only thing I didn't move in the van was some garden plants that were over 6 foot tall and would have scratched the roof. Fortunately I also didn't have a three-seat sofa to move, we wouldn't have fitted one in with the bench still in the van.

 

[steve_b]

I agree the biggest constraint is the airline style locker above the rear seats, does a masterful job of preventing you from putting anything large in!

I hired a van in the end, 50 quid well spent in my eyes.

 

[jonathanweaver]

Our family recently had a need to assist our daughter to move flats (again) and, now being retired, I offered to do this for her. I was also curious as to how practical and repeatable this might be as an exercise.

The Cali owner's manual gives little info as to the 'how', restricting its advice to a warning that if you do take it out make sure you are physically up to it.

We have all invested quite heavily in these machines so I was keen to see it 'earn its keep' if this could be done without damaging the van. Here is how I did it with help only to lift the seat out of it's rails and through the side door.

First reduce the weight of the thing. I read the bench seat is about 90 Kg naked.​

​

Remove the styrofoam vehicle jack/tow-ball storage unit from the rear of the bench seat and also the puncture repair pump etc which is attached to the kitchen-side of the bench seat (we have a van with no spare wheel).​

​

Remove the sliding storage drawer from its rails by pulling it out (after emptying it of course), removing the two small self-tappers on the floor of the drawer close to the front edge. Lift it out carefully and store it somewhere clean and dry. Then put a small piece of tape on the drawer rails to stop them sliding in and out freely.​

​

Slide the driver and passenger seats fully forward and wind the back rests out of the way. Also slide the bench seat back.​

​

Remove the grey plastic end-covers from the front of the floor rails. They clip in place and can be unclipped by gently and evenly levering them from the floor taking care to use a blunt flat tool to avoid scratching the floor and levering evenly to avoid cracking the plastic. The aluminium rail dust covers can now be slid forwards and lifted out. They might be a little stiff due to dirt/grit trapped between them and the floor. Set these parts aside - maybe in the drawer you just removed.​

​

This will expose the steel rails and no doubt some dirt and fluff. I took a dry paintbrush and cleaned them with a vacuum.​

​

You will see the cast alloy forward-stop for the bench seat which is located in the rail closest to the sink. Maybe take a picture of this before removing the screw (just loosen it off) and sliding it forward and out of the rail for safe keeping.​

​

Flip the head restraints back out of the way, slide the bench seat forward. I stuck a screwdriver in the hole located on the sliding-door side of the bench seat to jam the unlock lever open. (Pull the unlock handle fully out/up first and it will push in). You can now slide the seat fore and aft at will.​

​

At this point, before lifting the seat out of the runners (there is a gap in the runners for this), I laid some 6mm MDF on the floor between the rails to protect the surface. Two fit and able people are really needed to lift the seat carefully out of the runners and then out of the side door. We placed it on a clean dry garage floor on a sheet of MDF. Anything would do to protect the paint on the feet of the seat. The person inside the van has the hardest job lifting whilst bent over. It would be very easy to hurt your back or give yourself a groin-strain doing this so take care. Perhaps it might be possible to lift it out of the rails using the van's jack or suitable leverage but we managed okay. Once it's out of the runners it's much easier to inch it sideways and out of the van.​

​

​

Next, if you are inclined, is a cleaning job to wipe down the parts of the side walls and flooring that you can't normally reach easily.​

​

Reversing the above is easy enough though it is a bit of a two-person job to re-seat the drawer on its runners. We pushed the runners forward with a three-foot strip of wood (from behind the bench seat) to seat the runners properly home. You will know when they are in position because the self-tapper holes line up.​

Now you have a removal van. We slid a 6'3" x 4'6" double mattress in on edge and then pushed it vertically up against the sink just to give you an idea.

Hope this of some help to some of our community.

View attachment 82236

hey there, so it was easy enough to remove the drawer under the rear seat bench? I need to store my surfboard somewhere when travelling with the family.

 

[cjjenkinson123]

Many thanks - just the step by step instructions I was after.

Wish me luck!

 

[2into1]

This is helpful but read the comments about locking the lever to avoid having to release the front seats. Be careful, it is SO heavy. Heavier than you could have imagined...

 

[Captainfunbags]

Great thread, thank you for posting.

I have a rather expensive E-Bike so was looking at doing this so I can get the bike in and stored away from prying eyes when away.

Wonder how easy it would be to use the traditional 5th seat as a single seat so you could still use the camper for how it's intended whilst also still having room for a mahoosive bike. Obviously sleep up top.

 

[Pollewop]

This is helpful but read the comments about locking the lever to avoid having to release the front seats. Be careful, it is SO heavy. Heavier than you could have imagined...

You are correct. This video complete rubbish. There is no need to remove the front seat. I've done it together with my neighbour last december. In this video it is shown correctly (link below):
Selber bauen im VW T6 California Ocean - Rücksitzbank ausbauen und DIY Fußboden verlegen (youtube.com) It's in German, but you can have it with English subtills. It needs two strong persons to lift it out of the van however, so be prepared... It's HEAVY

 

[steve_b]

Wonder how easy it would be to use the traditional 5th seat as a single seat so you could still use the camper for how it's intended whilst also still having room for a mahoosive bike. Obviously sleep up top.

can't see why that wouldn't work, the "5th seat" doesn't really know or care if the 3rd and 4th seats as the bench are fitted or not

 

[2into1]

Great thread, thank you for posting.

I have a rather expensive E-Bike so was looking at doing this so I can get the bike in and stored away from prying eyes when away.

Wonder how easy it would be to use the traditional 5th seat as a single seat so you could still use the camper for how it's intended whilst also still having room for a mahoosive bike. Obviously sleep up top.

I only knew about the video because I wanted to do exactly what you describe.... Bench out, 5th seat in (kitchen side), large electric mountain bike down the gap. Worked really well. I just used elastic bungey cords around the 5th seat's heat rest to secure the bike, angling the seat back very forward to get to frame height.

 

[Captainfunbags]

Any photos mate ?

I was looking at getting something that would slot into the rail/s to
secure the forks or tyres to.

Modern ebikes weigh a ton

 

[2into1]

I'll see if I have a photo. I just rolled the bike in complete with both wheels. Fastening it to the 5th seat meant it was kept away from the expensive trim parts. It too was a very heavy bosch full suspension mountain bike.

 

[Marco Venturi]

If the process for removing the rear bench seat involves releasing and removing the "stop' bracket in the floor rail nearest the kitchen unit, would it be possible to actually fix that "stop" bracket further forward towards the front (passenger) seat so that the bench seat could be slid further forward than it does in its original factory set up ? That would perhaps allow easier access to the "new" space in the now enlarged boot area behind the bench, possibly even allowing sufficient gap for a person to get behind the bench (via the sliding door), where a portapotti could be situated for more discreet use on a journey.
I appreciate the bench may have to be moved so far forward that it would be impossible for someone to travel sitting on it, but if there are only two vehicle occupants the availability of a more private portapotti area could be very useful.

 

[andyinluton]

@Marco Venturi
Just take the stop out completely. It’s only there to give a marker to show where to stop the bench to make up the bed.

 

[Toastie888_uk]

Has anyone tried the opposite? Installing two bench seats to make a six seater? How far back can the bench seat slide with the boot bed section removed?

 

[andyinluton]

Has anyone tried the opposite? Installing two bench seats to make a six seater? How far back can the bench seat slide with the boot bed section removed?

You can’t fit two benches in they are too deep believe me we tried! Family of six in an Ocean, but we did manage to get two 5th seats in, end up with 5 decent seats + one with no leg room. Worked for us for a twice a year trip when the youngest was little.

 

[Marco Venturi]

@Marco Venturi
Just take the stop out completely. It’s only there to give a marker to show where to stop the bench to make up the bed.

That's what I thought, so a short length of (removable) wood against the base of the front passenger seat would give a corresponding marker for where the bench ordinarily should stop in its forward position I reckon

 

[andyinluton]

That's what I thought, so a short length of (removable) wood against the base of the front passenger seat would give a corresponding marker for where the bench ordinarily should stop in its forward position I reckon

Just slide it forward as far as you think you need to go, drop the backrest & then slide it back till it meets the rear shelf, it doesn't need to be in any exact place to put the backrest down.

 

[Marco Venturi]

Thanks @andyinluton and, for drawing attention to the German Youtube, @Pollewop ...I've now made my California Ocean much more usable as a Day Van by removing the floor rail "stop" bracket, which enables a large space to open up behind the bench seat, which is accessible via the side sliding door, and a porta potti 335 located under the boot bed board can be pulled into that space for "private" use.

Locate in the rail next to the kitchen unit the T30 Torx screw in the stop bracket and note its position next to the separation in the rail alumininium cover plates, which should then be removed to enable the stop bracket itself to be fully unscrewed and taken out. Replace the short length of rails and then the bench seat can be moved forward all the way up to the "B" pillar, this then giving good access for a person to the (now) large floor area behind the bench seat.
And in fairness to VW, provision has been made to utilise the otherwise inaccessible drink's cup holder under the offside bench seat as a toilet roll holder........made for it!