Slidepod for the VW California Beach

[Annik]

Hi we are looking for a pod to go between the front seats and rear bench, we have found a few online but most are in Germany, we are looking for something like this. I realise we are no longer able to turn the passenger seat but it is a small compromise as there are only two of us

 

[SlidePods]

Right so here is the offer for the weekend

Anyone who pays there £250 deposit on their Slidepod Before the end of Sunday will get the shower upgrade fitted to their pod absolutely free!! this is a saving of £200

 

[Kirk]

Hi we are looking for a pod to go between the front seats and rear bench, we have found a few online but most are in Germany, we are looking for something like this. I realise we are no longer able to turn the passenger seat but it is a small compromise as there are only two of us

Looks good, where did you see it?

 

[owen_h]

The lack of Beach specific pods is what drove me to building my own. It was an interesting project and I learned loads in doing it. It’s an approach worth considering if you have some DIY skills ? Maybe even just a mock up in MDF that you could take to a conversion company to make in the proper lightweight ply. The MDF mock up I did for mine was very beneficial and avoided expensive mistakes, ideas that seem great on paper don’t always work in reality. Always happy to show people what I have done and the issues I came across and how I solved them.

With ‘internal’ pods the 2 seater bench lends itself to a design similar to the SE where you replace the storage box. For the 3 seater bench version then pod(s) behind the front seats seem the best option. A question for the 3 seater version owners, with the bed made what is the available distance between the bed and back of the front seat? I realise this will change with seat rake but for reference my 2 seater has a distance at floor level of 40cm (the yellow line on my image). With the taper of the seat this would allow a unit of 25cm at the top (red line) which seems quite narrow to me. I’m wondering if the 3 seater has a shorter bed length and thus more space between bed and front seats.

 

[MattBW]

According to the VW brochure the bed is the same size but I am sure I read it was slightly different... I am probably thinking about the seat height, 3 seat being higher.

Attached from 2015 T5 brochure.

 

[SlidePods]

According to the VW brochure the bed is the same size but I am sure I read it was slightly different... I am probably thinking about the seat height, 3 seat being higher.

Attached from 2015 T5 brochure.

View attachment 11313

The bed is longer in the 2 seater beach.

 

[SlidePods]

We are all setup with VW at camperex live in liverpool they have put a stunning T6 beach on our stand alongside our demo van. I have to say the mattress toppers we have had from Nick over at comfortz leisure are amazing quality as always and are perfect matches to both vans.

 

[2into1]

I visited the Camperex show yesterday and had the chance to see the Slidepods in the flesh and briefly chat to Jonny and Jane who were being kept busy by the visitors. The show is a bit of a mixed bag quality wise, but the slidepods stood out for the quality of their design and build. The show is only a tenner each and you get a full days parking thrown in, so you can make a day of it and visit the city as well.

 

[SlidePods]

Thanks Peter. Did you take a look at driftwood campers and their wooden caravan?
Thats my favourite stand at the show.

 

[andrew149]

We are in the market for a pod but it is a lot of money to risk on something you can't see in the flesh and for some reason Maxxcamp and Vanessa do not attend any of the shows in the UK. Don't get me wrong, the Slidepod looks great but I feel it is more suited to summer camping. We camp all year round and I would feel a bit odd cooking a curry at the back of the van in freezing weather. If you do decide to make one that goes behind the passenger seat I would be very interested.

 

[SlidePods]

We are in the market for a pod but it is a lot of money to risk on something you can't see in the flesh and for some reason Maxxcamp and Vanessa do not attend any of the shows in the UK. Don't get me wrong, the Slidepod looks great but I feel it is more suited to summer camping. We camp all year round and I would feel a bit odd cooking a curry at the back of the van in freezing weather. If you do decide to make one that goes behind the passenger seat I would be very interested.

I'll happily lend you one to have a try of for a weekend if you like.

 

[zeratul]

SlidePods,

Still I believe there is a serious opportunity for designing an internal pod for a 3 seater Beach. Since you seem to have made a great quality and good looking pod... don't you have time to make one? For these reasons:
- Camping all year around
- In my case, the love for scandinavia and iceland (which can be cold and windy)
- Alps camping
- Trunk space
- Bikes on the bike rack
- Quick coffee in the morning when it's still cold

I even have some ideas in my head based on experience with the ikea Alex, but I don't have the time to make it.

 

[Seasidesteve]

Agreed, we like to rock up and make a cuppa sometimes and we would not want to get out the van leaving the tailgate opening losing all the warm air. Just to quote above the side pod is cool for using in the summer but the compromise is just a bit too much for me.

 

[SlidePods]

Well I don't like to disappoint and you are quite a persuasive bunch .

Lets start with some market research.....

drivers or passengers side??
size of fresh tank?
size of waste tank?
type of cooker?

etc etc.......

 

[Dave bee]

Jonny,

Great to see I'm not alone on this one. As I've got a van with a caravelle conversion it would be behind the drivers seat for me but I think you could do one and swap front to rear etc you could cover those with near and offside sliding doors. Tank size would be what would be the best balance between size and storage left. As for cooker for me I would say either a can fl1323 or a small sink and a portable stove as per maxxcamp compact . For we the ability to have it like theirs down the side then turned behind the seat when the bed id down would also be great. As I've said before don't make it too big make a compact but well designed one as I think you could. There a loads online already, most far too big, just knocked up without too much thought ! Thanks Dave

 

[MattBW]

For me passenger side preference but not crucial. Use on either would be even better. May even open up for you selling pairs ;-)

Water tank can be small for me waste same size. Sink isn't even a must for me, nice to have. My t25 I have 12litre containers and they are plenty for short stays. Not sure if smaller are available.

Cooker again can be small, don't need a huge space. I tend to use a griddle so even one burner can work for me.

Would it help if I could put some cash in towards a prototype? I appreciate when you're developing you're not making the stuff to earn so happy to contribute.

 

[zeratul]

I prefer driver side, because passenger side is complicating the access to the van.
12l fresh water is the minimum. One can always have a second or third 12l bottle somehwere if it's not enough. For waste water 12l is enough.
The ideal module has tap+sink, cooker, small fridge and room for storage.
One small burner would be enough.

I have some ideas. I'll try to make a drawing soon, but I need time to measure things first with bed down, bed up, etc.

 

[MattBW]

I just realised driver and passenger sides are maybe misleading because we drive on different side of the road in UK. Here slider door is on the drivers side, so we probably mean the same side?

 

[Big Bloke]

We have the 2 seater Beach and would be VERY interested in a pod that would fit behind the passenger seat but with the supplied storage box still in place. We'd still want to be able to make the bed up full width.
The pod below would be ideal for us as we have the very same fridge! ...Sadly it will not fit with a 2 seater Beach's storage box in place.
If you could make something like this in combination with a redesigned storage box ( so tha the full width bed could still be used as intended).
A sink is of very low priority to us. A single gas burner would probably be enough for us, 2 rings would be a bonus!
For us, we could even cope with having a slightly shorter mattress on the pod side.

 

[SlidePods]

I don't think I would include a fridge in it. It's just too much to squeeze into a compact pod and also dramatically increases the pod weight.
Due to the bed length I'm dubious if any pod will fit in a 2 seater beach.

 

[SlidePods]

I think that the heart of this pod will have to be a portable single burner compact gas stove.
There is obviously loads of the "standard" type about for around the £10/£15 but are they any good?? Regarding function and quality??
Has say one seen any higher quality ones??

Also would you prefer the pod to be cheaper but only available in a couple of colours or a little more expencieve and available in our full range of 40 ish colours?

 

[sapto]

Well I don't like to disappoint and you are quite a persuasive bunch .

Lets start with some market research.....

drivers or passengers side??
size of fresh tank?
size of waste tank?
type of cooker?

etc etc.......

It is awesome to see and how you react to wishes and dreams and share your experienced knowledge with us! That is so super positiv and I can image a lot of big companies could watch and learn how to/you handle customer (-wishes). Even when it isn't possible to build a pod fitting every single wish!


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[Seasidesteve]

Behind the passenger seat for us with single burner hob, fresh water would be a bonus but we do not need a big tank, I would be happy with 10L to keep the size to a minimum.

 

[MattBW]

I have a campinggaz mini portable stove but I've not used it yet. Happy to try it, maybe see how it takes to boil a litre of water and report back.

 

[SlidePods]

That would be good. If the cheap portables are adequate then it will be a great way of keeping costs down. However we would prefer to be a bit pricier and use the best available on the market.