How Do People Attach Furniture?

[Ann3x]

Getting towards installing furniture for my camper build and just starting to work out how to anchor it.

I see 2 potential anchor points on the drivers side, the 3rd row seatbelt bolt and another bolt near the wheel arch. Clearly this isnt enough secure points to retain a set of full length units as the front section would be effectively loose.

Lots of searching and youtubing and I cant find anything specific about how to attach furniture in the best way except some high level references to T bolts in the floor (my floor is in and as its a bonded floor for Reimo rail system, cant see an obvious way to retrofit T bolts).

What do people do? Any pics out there?

On a related topic, how do you all secure fridges into the units? With friction only itll do doubt "walk" out over time.

 

[rod_vw]

I fix a timber strip to the side below the windows using rivnuts then screw the furniture to that with angle brackets where ever necessary.
I fit a tall wardrobe and oddments unit at the back which I fix in the middle as above and at the top with self tapping screws and angle brackets to the internal metalwork.
There are some pictures of my older (T5) where it is advertised for sale at www.1946vw.co.uk/camper which show my style of conversion.
My current one is a LWB Highline T6 with a REIMO hightop and is helping us enjoy roaming Europe at present.

Fridge fixing of my Waeco is by means of screws through the side, there are holes visible from the inside that need drilling through. Waeco supply plugs to cover the holes but don't fit them until you are happy with everything as you will damage the plugs taking them out again.

 

[$immo]

Getting towards installing furniture for my camper build and just starting to work out how to anchor it.

I see 2 potential anchor points on the drivers side, the 3rd row seatbelt bolt and another bolt near the wheel arch. Clearly this isnt enough secure points to retain a set of full length units as the front section would be effectively loose.

Lots of searching and youtubing and I cant find anything specific about how to attach furniture in the best way except some high level references to T bolts in the floor (my floor is in and as its a bonded floor for Reimo rail system, cant see an obvious way to retrofit T bolts).

What do people do? Any pics out there?

On a related topic, how do you all secure fridges into the units? With friction only itll do doubt "walk" out over time.

I used a number of stainless steel L brackets in the back of drawers and cupboards screwed direct into metalwork structure of the van.

As for fridge, as described, there are pop out covers over recessed holes in the side. Screw through them into surrounding cupboard and then pop on the covers. Very secure.

 

[Donk]

Angle brackets and rivnuts.

 

[Bryn23]

Rivnuts and bolts

I installed mounting rails in my cabinets when building them so I didn’t need to look at fixing angle brackets.

If u need to drill a hole for rivnuts, just apply some primer to the hole to reduce any corrosion.

Also use a vacuum to grab the swarf when drilling, makes it a cleaner job and reduces the metal sitting in the cavities

 

[boxer750]

I've looked at the few vids that I can find about fixing furniture into the van
I've seen right angle brackets and those plastic things that lock together and get bolted.

I am about to embark on this if I decide not to do the Kombi thing with some kind of slidepods, and assemble every night beds...
It just worries me slightly, that this furniture and the contents could weigh a bit, and I dont want to get it all the back of my head in case of an accident!

Vids from the pro's never seem to go into the detail..

What have you all done, or if done professionally do you know how it was done?

Pete

 

[True Romance]

For this reason alone:

Fiat Ducato motorhome crash test video, scary!

not sure if this has been posted before but pretty scary how the inside fell apart.

www.t6forum.com

 

[Ann3x]

I used Rivnuts into the metalwork at 3-4 points down the van. Then attached to the furniture with angle brackets.

 

[j4ckal]

I used Rivnuts into the metalwork at 3-4 points down the van. Then attached to the furniture with angle brackets.

Same here. Bolted to the floor too, used the screw in nut inserts into the ply floor then bolted to that.

 

[T6Jay]

Same here. M6 rivnuts into the side wall metalwork, plenty of woodscrews into the floor. I bought some lengths of angle alu to make my own brackets into the floor, and used some stainless steel angle brackets elsewhere. I did NOT use any plastic angle brackets, and only used the plastic modesty blocks where strength as not required.

Take care to get the correct length of screws, even if they don't quite reach through the ply, they can bulge and crack the surface if the tip gets too close.

 

[Ann3x]

Same here. M6 rivnuts into the side wall metalwork, plenty of woodscrews into the floor. I bought some lengths of angle alu to make my own brackets into the floor, and used some stainless steel angle brackets elsewhere. I did NOT use any plastic angle brackets, and only used the plastic modesty blocks where strength as not required.

Take care to get the correct length of screws, even if they don't quite reach through the ply, they can bulge and crack the surface if the tip gets too close.

I used bolts and nylocks personally. Don't trust screws repeatability and also allows oversized holes in furniture to allow for some movement.

 

[boxer750]

Thanks for the replies (all that time ago)

I am looking soon to fit the floor and furniture into the van and I see 6 holes where i had the load restraining eyes..

I am thinking of using those holes .. at least on the furniture side to mount a metal bar along the length which would be predrilled to screw the L brackets for the furniture. It would still be screwed to the wall of the van, of course..

It seems to me, I could drill less holes in the floor.. and fill the thread restraint holes too

Just wondering what people think.. and if anyone has tried this before?

Also, as an aside.. anyone know a company that supplies kits of mixed length stainless self tappers?

Pete

 

[j4ckal]

Thanks for the replies (all that time ago)

I am looking soon to fit the floor and furniture into the van and I see 6 holes where i had the load restraining eyes..

I am thinking of using those holes .. at least on the furniture side to mount a metal bar along the length which would be predrilled to screw the L brackets for the furniture. It would still be screwed to the wall of the van, of course..

It seems to me, I could drill less holes in the floor.. and fill the thread restraint holes too

Just wondering what people think.. and if anyone has tried this before?

Also, as an aside.. anyone know a company that supplies kits of mixed length stainless self tappers?

Pete

Sounds secure.
I did a similar thing in my old T4 but with 2 parallel wooden battens bolted to the floor, running the length of the van under the furniture.
It created a nice void to run cables etc and it was finished with a kitchen plinth and led lights set into it.

 

[DXX]

I've looked at the few vids that I can find about fixing furniture into the van
I've seen right angle brackets and those plastic things that lock together and get bolted.

I am about to embark on this if I decide not to do the Kombi thing with some kind of slidepods, and assemble every night beds...
It just worries me slightly, that this furniture and the contents could weigh a bit, and I dont want to get it all the back of my head in case of an accident!

Vids from the pro's never seem to go into the detail..

What have you all done, or if done professionally do you know how it was done?

Pete

IMO there won’t be much that could stop it breaking free in a head on or sudden stop impact at best most are secured into 12mm plywood. Leisure batteries are scary lumps secured in varying degrees of competency, well over 500Kg mass is 60MPH rapid deceleration.
Make sure the head rest is higher than the top of your head!

 

[Lee37]

I used the metal struts in the side panels of the van itself for extra security, by wrapping steel cable around these then into metal eyes that I bolted to the insides of the cupboards etc.

As stated above, if it's just attached to the ply then you've got limited holding strength. In my approach the metal panels of the eyelets become the weak point, but otherwise the whole thing is attached to the fabric of the van itself. No option is perfect, but just wanted to share an alternative.

 

[Skyliner33]

I used the metal struts in the side panels of the van itself for extra security, by wrapping steel cable around these then into metal eyes that I bolted to the insides of the cupboards etc.

As stated above, if it's just attached to the ply then you've got limited holding strength. In my approach the metal panels of the eyelets become the weak point, but otherwise the whole thing is attached to the fabric of the van itself. No option is perfect, but just wanted to share an alternative.

ANy pics?

 

[DXX]

I used the metal struts in the side panels of the van itself for extra security, by wrapping steel cable around these then into metal eyes that I bolted to the insides of the cupboards etc.

As stated above, if it's just attached to the ply then you've got limited holding strength. In my approach the metal panels of the eyelets become the weak point, but otherwise the whole thing is attached to the fabric of the van itself. No option is perfect, but just wanted to share an alternative.

Perhaps banding / straps would be useful to secure to the van frames?

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[dejansuc]

T6.1 4motion camper conversion