T5.1 Kombi

IestynD

Senior Member
VIP Member
T6 Pro
Hi all,

So I thought I'd introduce myself and the VAN. I'm Iestyn, Dad, husband, avid DIY enthusiast, IT Storage consultant and generally all round nice guy*

*I wrote my own bio so it may be a bit biased!

We are pretty experianced campers, with an amazing (soon to be for sale) OutWell pheonix 7 polly cotton tent. This tent is the rolls royce of tents. 3 bedrooms, massive living space, and a seperate porch/kitchen area! I'm a bit of a polly cotton convert now, so drive away awning would have to be Polly cotton I think... Anyone got any experiance with Polly Cotton Drive aways?

We've recently purchased (see other thread on that ordeal), a T5.1 Kombi. Relativley low mileage, twin sliders, tailgate, twin captains, T32, highline think its about 150PS but not certain about that. Its the DSG.

At the time of writing this, the van is with VANWORX for some love.
Its getting the twin captains seats configured for swivel.
A leaisure battery, diesel heater, awning rail, full sound deadend, insulated, and carpet lined. Its also getting LED spot lights with various switches, 240V invertor off the leisure battery.
The bulk head is being removed.

I'd welcome comments on the plan for this van. I would like the ability to use it as a van. Not all the time, but from time to time its really handy to have a van. So I don't want to do a full conversion. I have two youngish children (5 and 7).
Initially, we were thinking, the kids would sleep in the van on the Amdro style bed, and me and the Mrs would be in a drive away awning... we'd fit teh Amdro boot jump so that created a day van sort of feel ( rear pull out cooker, with seating and table area on the right), we'd then have a Compressor friday that would double as a seat/stool.

We were then looking at Drive away awnings, such as the Vango Galli 3, or the Kampa travel Pod. All pretty pricey, but not as pricey as a pop top so easy to justify the prices if we get the use out of them.
We then saw these Cabbunk beds, that looks like they may allow the kids to sleep in the cab at the front of the VAN, with me and the boss in the fold down double. That would be us all in the van warm and toasty. It would mean we "Could" buy a smaller drive away awning, which would pack smaller and be easier to put up... we could still buy a bigger one, but just not set the bedrooms up in it.

I've looked at the various forum posts discussing drive aways, so if you added anything to one of those posts, Thank You - very informative and useful.

Thats it realy... I'm hoping to add a spash of colour to the front of the van, it looks a bit "terrorist" at the moment, and some new lights - Has anybdy fitted the TransportHQ lights? The ones with dynaic indicator and DRL bar in the light fitting? Any feed back apreciated?

When money alows and we have sorted the inside out, I'd like to lower it, not too much but 40mm would be nice.

Thats it really... new forum members.

Thanks for having us :thumbsup:







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Welcome to the forum, a good looking van and some nice sounding plans!
 
Hi lestyn.
Nice looking van.
If you have a look ay some of the build threads, there are some good ideas. I can't remember who it was but someone did like a sofa that fits down one side of the van which then pulls out (a bit like a caravan bed does with the wooden slats) to make a double bed.
Your van can then be used as a van and as a camper.

I think one of the big things is a slidepod. They have removable kitchen units which fit in the back of your van.

I understand what you are saying about the roofbed/poptop being expensive but I do think the it would "future-proof" your van. If your child is 7 already then they might be too big for the bunks. The roof bed gives you more options.

Congrats on the new van and look forward to reading more.
:)
 
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