Does anybody have a VW T4 campervan with a pop up roof?

The little ones are getting to a size where they could sleep on boards in the roof. Have you made your own or sourced them somewhere? If making your own three boards with one cushion over the top seems to be the normal, is this right?

Thanks for any info.

Tom

Tp, away pc /t4 but will post pics etc later

Have a Reimo roof on my T4 Holdsworth conversion. Came as 2 birth without the bed option (which you can still buy from them if you have the £’s).

I made a couple of boards made out of 18mm birch ply and just use a Alpkit mattress on top. They slide on top of each other and to the back during the day and I fold the mattress in half. Seems to work ok although the boards are a little heavy for my wife.

Thanks.

Stoner – Look fwd to some pics.

db – The width (across the van) is obvious but what about the other dimension? Would you trust two 3 year olds up there or should I consider netting to keep them in?

Cheers

Think they would be fine – kids bounce pretty well!

I had to buy a sheet of 8×4 which the yard cut into 4 quarters for me. I then trimmed down the width (across the van) but left the length at about 61cm each pannel. The bed including the fixed part is almost 2m long but there is still enough room to get in and out climbing on the front seats.

My 15 year old daughter uses it so a couple of 3yr old should be ok. There is a little flex but 18mm ply should not break easily.

I had every intention of edging the the ply with some 20mm alloy profile to give it a little more strength and finish it nicely but just haven’t got round to it… it’s on the list ok!
Maybe just edge the end panel with a bit of wood to give a ‘lip’ which would stop pillows from dropping off. Would only need to be say 5cm (which would allow the roof to still close) and if the pillow is not moving they are unlikely to wriggle over it…

All imho and take no responsibility when your missus finds the kids in a heap on the dashboard!!! 😀

tp – sorry, tis dark now 🙂

Will try and get a video of ours v soon for you.

But, basically its a reimo factory jobbie with gas struts. Three panels, joined by piano hinge. One piece high density foam pad (about 2″ thick or so) upholstered. Piano hinges in a one up/one down arrangement so that it goes up into the roof like a cobra shape.

Its a double sided lined marine ply board ( I think about 18mm).

as I say, video showing it in operation when I can, in the meantime, some library pics:

Front of ceiling with gas strut

ceiling “up”. You can see the two piano hinges working.

Dont actually have a photo inside the roof with the ceiling down.

As for netting…

Weve not had the kids up there on their own yet, but I have some synthetic webbing that I think I might rig up as a catcher. Just in case. Jr Jr is only 2.

Stoner- is your rock ‘n roll bed on sliders??
We’re they factory fitted, or did you kit the fan out yourself??

Also, if you were to convert a panel van into a pop top, I always thought the boards would “come with the kit” – is this wrong, and all you get is a lifting roof….??

DrP

rock and roll on tracks in the floor, you can just make them out in the photo.

the fit out was an aftermarket one, an excellent job specified by clink of this ere parish from whom I bought the camper 5 yrs ago.

I imagine you can specify having boards or not. they are independent of the pop roof.

dp

Stoners RR bed is a Reimo Variotech… one of the few crash tested RR beds out there. You can pick em up 2nd hand for around £500 and get some new rails from Concept multicar and fit it yourself.

You can buy the roof bed seperately.. from http://www.conceptmulti-car.co.uk/

We have a LWB T5 with a Reimo lifting roof.

Bought this safety net from SouthWest Campers so that our 6 year old can sleep safely up there;

http://www.swcampers.co.uk/index.php/popular-additions/child-safety-net

Bit pricey, but very effective.

thanks for the link FM – I shall snaffle the design when making mine…

I got a Fiamma (I think) safety net — it’s designed for overcab beds on coachbuilts so was a bit wide, but nothing that a hacksaw couldn’t sort out 😉 Essentially the same as that Southwest Campers one and about the same price, so I’d get that — they didn’t do them when we bought ours.

(6 and 3 year olds in a hightop, not sure what our roof boards are made of but they’ll take the weight of two adults…)

but they’ll take the weight of two adults…

too right. Its the shock absorbers Im more worried about 😉

Thanks for all the information everyone. Excuse the slow response, work took me away for a day or two.