This is for those new to the hobby to share the "workarounds" we have evolved with our van.
Ours is an Autoquest 100, which is based on the Peugeot Boxer chassis and the layout is similar to that used in many other maker's vans.
It is nominally 4 berth, with 4 travelling seats; there is also what is called a child's berth, but more of that later. You can see the layout in the following pictures:
It is not until you actually start using the van that you realise that there are some limitations with this type of layout. The manufacturer calls this a 4 berth. There is a double over the cab and another double can be rigged where you see the table. The so-called child's berth is on the opposite side to the table.
See what happens when you rig the ladder in order to climb up into the over cab berth.
The foot of the ladder fits into the gangway OK, but there is no space for it if you rig the base for the dining area double berth as you can see here:
The problem is that, if the dining area double bed is rigged, there is no way you can use the over cab double at the same time. Theoretically the van is a 4 berth, but practically, for us, is is only a 2 berth. Although you could use our two singles concept and the over cab double, but that was not what the manufacturer envisaged
We found that it is possible to rig the dining area berth as a large single, and leave the gangway clear, and that is what we have ended up doing.
Pulling out the bed base only to the edge of the seats means you have to drill a couple of holes either side and use two long bolts and nuts to secure it in place. If you don't pull it out all the way, there is a danger of it sliding off the rails.
Rather than rig the ladder and me to sleep above the cab (we have tried that and it is OK despite me being 6ft 2 ins tall), we have used a trick to extend the child's berth for my better half. This works only if your front passenger seat has a swivel. Ours did not, but it was simple to buy the swivel unit on Ebay and it was easy to fit.
I obtained a memory foam mattress and cut it to shape:
The memory foam mattress being stored in the over cab berth when not needed.
So there you have our work around to make the best use of the van for our needs. It takes about 10 minutes to rig the berths for sleeping and we don't mind that. A small price to pay against a much bigger and more expensive van to operate. Ideally it would be nice to have a fixed rear double bed, but you are talking about a totally different type of van. It is not until you start to use your van regularly, that you find out the problems and limitations and you invent your own solutions.
Tony.
Ours is an Autoquest 100, which is based on the Peugeot Boxer chassis and the layout is similar to that used in many other maker's vans.
It is nominally 4 berth, with 4 travelling seats; there is also what is called a child's berth, but more of that later. You can see the layout in the following pictures:
It is not until you actually start using the van that you realise that there are some limitations with this type of layout. The manufacturer calls this a 4 berth. There is a double over the cab and another double can be rigged where you see the table. The so-called child's berth is on the opposite side to the table.
See what happens when you rig the ladder in order to climb up into the over cab berth.
The foot of the ladder fits into the gangway OK, but there is no space for it if you rig the base for the dining area double berth as you can see here:
The problem is that, if the dining area double bed is rigged, there is no way you can use the over cab double at the same time. Theoretically the van is a 4 berth, but practically, for us, is is only a 2 berth. Although you could use our two singles concept and the over cab double, but that was not what the manufacturer envisaged
We found that it is possible to rig the dining area berth as a large single, and leave the gangway clear, and that is what we have ended up doing.
Pulling out the bed base only to the edge of the seats means you have to drill a couple of holes either side and use two long bolts and nuts to secure it in place. If you don't pull it out all the way, there is a danger of it sliding off the rails.
Rather than rig the ladder and me to sleep above the cab (we have tried that and it is OK despite me being 6ft 2 ins tall), we have used a trick to extend the child's berth for my better half. This works only if your front passenger seat has a swivel. Ours did not, but it was simple to buy the swivel unit on Ebay and it was easy to fit.
I obtained a memory foam mattress and cut it to shape:
The memory foam mattress being stored in the over cab berth when not needed.
So there you have our work around to make the best use of the van for our needs. It takes about 10 minutes to rig the berths for sleeping and we don't mind that. A small price to pay against a much bigger and more expensive van to operate. Ideally it would be nice to have a fixed rear double bed, but you are talking about a totally different type of van. It is not until you start to use your van regularly, that you find out the problems and limitations and you invent your own solutions.
Tony.
Be happy and respect others!
Hi Tony.
Great ideas and I'm glad it works well now for you.
When we bought ours over 7 years ago now, it wasn't the layout or the style we wanted at all but it was by far the best condition motorhome we saw and we knew instantly it was the one for us and it has been great, as you say you work round any things that are not ideal
For instance we have a single dinette in the rear corner, so I converted that into bunk beds for the kids, that lasted well for a few years until the kids got a bit too big.
So I have now returned it to standard and the seats and table are now more useful for us again.
For me happy motorhoming is wanting what you have rather than necessary having the one you want.
Just like marriage I guess........
Great ideas and I'm glad it works well now for you.
When we bought ours over 7 years ago now, it wasn't the layout or the style we wanted at all but it was by far the best condition motorhome we saw and we knew instantly it was the one for us and it has been great, as you say you work round any things that are not ideal
For instance we have a single dinette in the rear corner, so I converted that into bunk beds for the kids, that lasted well for a few years until the kids got a bit too big.
So I have now returned it to standard and the seats and table are now more useful for us again.
For me happy motorhoming is wanting what you have rather than necessary having the one you want.
Just like marriage I guess........
Rolling on and enjoying life on the road
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I don't think there is a motorhome on the market that will suit everyone's needs.I've numerous vans over the years,ranging from split screen VW surf bus to tag axle A class and they have all needed "modifying" to make life on the road more comfortable.I bought my present van new 3 years ago after dragging around countless dealers.After a few days away I discoved that I disliked sleeping in the fixed bed as there was no roof vent above,so out came the jig saw and mastic et voila I could see the stars,3 years and quite a few miles later,I've fitted larger tanks,pumps cameras and much more.Being at home for the first time in many months,I've had to fight the urge to reconfigurethe seating,but I have the plans in my head upon my return from Spain next year.
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