Carpet Lining Original Boards Vs Ply

[t5TEC]

Hello All,

Just after some advice and peoples past experience.

I am about to carpet the new van. I am lining the metal work separate to the boards. I have no intention of turning it into a full camper, so no need for structure to hang units etc.

So will i be fine just to use the original boards or would there be any significant advantage to making some new boards out of 3.6mm ply?

Also i notice a new addition on the T6 since my T5's of a wire that comes out from behind the jack. Guessing to do with the tailgate switch? Any top tips how people have made this neat?

Many Thanks

Tim

 

[Pauly]

The cable is how VW run the wires to the tailgate latching motor, it is poss to remove the tailgate threshold then take the plastic housing of the wires and drill them through the bodywork below floor level and reconnect

 

[slidepods]

if you carpet the metal work separate and use the oem hardboard panels it will be easy to replace them with a good cnc cut panel set when you realise you should have fitted them in the first place.

 

[The Joiner]

i removed the panels, cover the metal first then cover the original panels and turned the stretchy type carpet over the edge and on to the back a small amount and works and looks great

 

[Richie]

if you carpet the metal work separate and use the oem hardboard panels it will be easy to replace them with a good cnc cut panel set when you realise you should have fitted them in the first place.

Can you (or anyone else) shed any light on why we should go straight for CNC cut ply? Currently deciding whether to get ply, or use the original boards. In terms of looks, surely it'll be identical once behind carpet? And in terms of fixing things to it, shouldn't things be fixed to the metal behind the wood anyway ( for any kind of chance of it not being ripped out during an accident?).

Happy to be persuaded otherwise, and realise that most people do go for ply, but can't yet see why!

Thanks

 

[Superowls]

I've gone for ply panels because I didn't want to regret it at a later stage after the carpet lining had been done
I've just got a day van so no units or appliances to screw down, but I wanted the option to be able to attach things to the ply, I'm glad I did as I've attached a folding table & storage nets - which wouldn't have been strong enough with hardboard
Also the cost of ply panels is quite cheap, I got all my panels and flooring for around £120 so I thought it was worth the outlay compared to the cost most of the other jobs

Glad I did it & would recommend the same for anyone else, even if you're not having a full conversion, it's done then if you want to add anything at a later date

 

[Eclipse Custom Vans]

The standard hardboard panels will not have any strength for hanging items onto so will be fine if you don’t need this requirement. The OEM panels will bend slightly in when you put the clips some don’t worry about this, some do, its worse on roof panels, your call.

Thicker ply on doors doesn’t work with the door furniture without a bit of fiddling. We do a hybrid, ply on conversion panels and OEM panels on doors etc. where no load is expected. We have a 10x5 cnc machine so making the panels is no problem, however we choose the Hybrid method.


All the best,

Ian