9 Seater Beach

[Kruger]

Hi,

After driving a 9 seater T5 Shuttle for the last two years our family have decided it's time to move on to something a much more flexible. The Beach seems to fit the bill perfectly - except that I need 9 seats!

It's not that my family is that large - but merely that our current T5 doubles as the local community bus 5 days a week. The added advantage is that 9 seaters don't pay London Congestion charge.

So my idea is this: replace the singe front seat with a dual front on a swivel base. Replace the middle row of two seats with a 3 seater bench facing backwards. Over weekends we can decide to keep the middle row and loose the multiplex board in order to make a very large bed. Or we can remove the middle bench and use the seating in the normal way.

There are many questions - but first is:
1.) Is it possible to fit a 2nd 3 seater bench to a beach?
2.) I've done some measurements on a Beach to see if a bed might work using two 3 seater benches folded flat. In theory it seems to work as long as you turn both the front seats around so that the edge of the bed can fit over the seats. Has anyone seen anything like this done before?

Thank you in advance for your input - it's a massive expense but would provide us with an incredibly versatile vehicle for many years to come!

Kruger

 

[andyinluton]

Kruger
I'm in a similar position, I've been looking at putting a second 2 seater bench into the back of a SE, when looking at the floor plan etc it looks like it should work but it doesn't quite.

The problem is that the 2 seater bench, and I am guessing the 3 seater, are considerably deeper from front to back than the single seats, this means that when they are slid as far forward as they will go on the rails there just isn't quite enough room to squeeze in behind to get to what would be the rear row. this will probably worse if put in rear facing as you loose additional space with the middle row headrests hitting the drivers seats ones.

Im not sure if that makes sense but it is difficult to explain.

A further consideration is that I am not sure that the benches are designed to be used facing backwards.

If I could find someone to do it I would quite happily pay for a lightweight pair of seats as fitted to the kombis etc that could be fitted to the rails. I have also considered whether I could get a pair of Kombi style seat mounting points added to the existing floor.

The Cheapest solution we have found so far is leaving a couple of kids at home !!!
The most expensive is to buy a beach as well as the se!

Would you be able to register as a "bus" with just a single opening door on the wrong side ?

Let me know if you find a solution.

 

[WelshGas]

The seats on the Californias, all versions, contain the seat belts and as such are tested and certificated for safe use in their normal position ie: forward facing. I doubt if DVLA would accept it and I'm pretty certain it would be uninsurable in the proposed configuration, if not unsafe for those sitting in the rear facing seats.

 

[andyinluton]

Rear facing is supposed to be safer than forward facing, the removable single seats are certainly designed to be used either forward or backward facing.
If for occasional use (i.e. a flip down seat) - rear facing seats do not legally require seat belts, for regular use they require as a minimum a lap belt. of course your insurer may have a different view.
People like vanbitz supply seats specifically designed to be fitted backwards in crew vans the only problem is getting something that will attach to the rails rather than drilling the floor.

 

[WelshGas]

Agree, but the bench seats in the California are not designed for use in the rear facing position. The Caravelle uses 2 single swivelling seats and the Crew bus forward facing seats only. So there is something in the way the California seats are locked in the floor rails that restricts their use.

 

[andyinluton]

I guess your right, even when the single seat is used facing backwards the "feet" that mount in the rails are still forward facing, using a bench backwards would involve the feet facing backwards.

 

[Kruger]

Thank you everyone - that's certainly given me a lot to work with. I'll be in touch with the DVLA today and also with my insurers to see what they say before I start looking at the ability to turn the feet around of the bench seat.

 

[WelshGas]

I'm sure something can be sorted mechanically but you are correct the Legal and Insurance implications must be sorted first. The double seat in the front is a proven and recognised modification and already available on some T5's.
The rear facing bench seat is something different. Maybe contacting VW Germany Technical/Special Vehicles might give you some additional info.
If there is someone on the German California/T5 forums you could contact might be useful.
Best of luck.