Rock n roll

[shauns]

Looking to convert my mk7 into a day van soon......need to be able to safely and legally carry 4 people and was thinking rock n roll type bed/ seat......any ideas on how I can go about this on a pretty tight budget......seen the seats on the bay for bought £ 900 but not sure what d v l a or insurance would require.

[limitedblack]

Proper seats like RIB Altair start at about £2000 so I would guess no. They need crash safety certificate, correct fitting, and an engineers report. I think the cert is something like M2, which means seat belts and a pull resistance of 2 tons before deformation. The cheaper seat/beds are not for use when driving.

It's one of those things if you get caught, either roadside check, or accident.

[shauns]

The beds I've seen do come with seat belts amd it says m1 tested....

[limitedblack]

Real grey area, insurance is probably where I would start, talk to them and ask what they will accept. Mot require 3 point belts, secured to the van, or a tested seat. Sounds like M1 is the test, I know it's 2 ton pull but couldn't remember the code

[shauns]

I've seen some for round about £900 with m1 test certificate.......just don't wanna rush in and buy something that's no good but £ 2000 for what I'm doing is out of my league.... will check with insurance and my mot guy see where to go from here,

[darkbluevanman]

We're manufacturing a rock and roll bed for a company that is crash tested, it's a new product that's branded but can't find any pics on their site, think the retail on them is around 1500?... we just supply the metal work in a powder coat finish, they assemble them with bolts, wood, seatbelts x2, cushions...

[shauns]

Sounds good.....could I buy one direct off you ?

[BigMonty]

Shoot me down here, because I am no expert.
Couldnt you use seats out of an american day van ? or many of these grey jap imports have seats that fold into beds. Plenty of them in the scrap yards.
You could aways use the tourneo seat belt mounts and belts etc. Failing that we had an iveco minibus in a week ago, all the seats folded flat and they had integral seatbelts so they are about. Unfortunately that bus is on its way to Nigeria as we speak.

[Surfunitone]

Just had one fitted to my MK7, called the Adrian flux (my insurance) all they needed to know was weather it had seat belts i asked about ratings and they said that it didnt matter.. (then charged me and extra £150)

[limitedblack]

Forget the insurance/vosa/mot, although important it is the fact that if you are involved in a crash then no amount of savings on price would bring back a loved one if the seat fails, that is what you need to think when you price it up.

[shauns]

Been looking on a vw van site and it seems everyone on there converts a van and adds a rock n roll bed......doesn't seem to be the thing to do with a transit..... Gonna save hard and get as good as I can.

[BlueBikerNut]

Why Not sell your VAN. and USE the CASH for a Camper already Fitted out and DVLA V5 Reg.. Sorted.. Save you a load of hassle and Time..

[ake]

Why Not sell your VAN. and USE the CASH for a Camper already Fitted out and DVLA V5 Reg.. Sorted.. Save you a load of hassle and Time..

Where's the fun in that? Plus campers are always expensive, and whilst some self builds are fantastic, some a feckin horrendous death traps!

[antykz]

Forget the insurance/vosa/mot, although important it is the fact that if you are involved in a crash then no amount of savings on price would bring back a loved one if the seat fails, that is what you need to think when you price it up.

I have seen this kind of scare tatics used before. The rock n rolls that are in the sub £1k range are seldom crash test approved. The ones that are weigh in at almost double the cost (near £2k), but there is virtually no difference. The extra cost is simply the companies that make crash tested beds way of trying to offset to cost of being certified (which is somewhere in the range of £20k per annum). So how many beds would a company have to make before making any profit? It is easy, cost-effective, and NOT risky to buy the cheaper bed and have the belt system fitted elsewhere.

[BlueBikerNut]

Why Not sell your VAN. and USE the CASH for a Camper already Fitted out and DVLA V5 Reg.. Sorted.. Save you a load of hassle and Time..

Where's the fun in that? Plus campers are always expensive, and whilst some self builds are fantastic, some a feckin horrendous death traps!

NO FUN in doing all that. When you can get one for less than 3k with low mileage on it..Thats my view on it. Ready to use etc..