Caravan refit
Hi All,
Visited NEC Caravan and Motorhome Show and really enjoyed it. Children have now grown up and we are looking at converting our 6 berth van to a 4 berth by ripping out the bunk bed and small dining area and replacing it with a fixed double bed. We have a Swift Freestyle S6TD 2017. Reason I mentioned NEC show is because it will cost us another £9k to swap for a caravan with a fixed double bed. Any ideas on whether there are companies who can refit for us. Any advice welcome. Thanks. Stephen
Comments
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Can't help with advice but sounds a good idea from an economic point if view and you know your caravan!
Just wanted to say hello and welcome to CT I can't recall seeing a post from you before, but I maybe wrong 😂.
Hopefully someone will be along with some advice or assistance before too long.
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I think it’s something to be very wary of doing. It could affect the balance of the van and perhaps it’s weight. I suspect it will prove to be a bigger and costlier job than anticipated and might affect the van's resale value.
Kofi, you say to swap your van for one with the layout you want will cost £9k but do you really need to buy new?
As for who could do the work, I’d suggest an internet search.
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I think your van might be the same layout as ours - Sprite Major 6 TD?
Now ours kids have flown we leave the TD table down and the bed made up together with the lower bunk to have two 'permanent' singles at the back of the van. A mattress topper helps the lower bunk rather thinner mattress. We use the top bunk for storage when on site (cameras, coats, whatever). We did remove the bunk ladder but that is easily done.
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Major structural surgery may have a detrimental effect on the van's integrity, however well carried out. Damp is always a concern and you could create your own problems a little further down the line.
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If it’s a 2017 model, and in good condition, why not look to sell it privately, getting as much money as you can for it? You can then put this into buying the layout that might suit you better, at a price to suit. If you know a bit about caravans, then you will know what to look for in terms of buying a good model. There are some decent second hand vans out there, and people sell privately for all sorts of reasons. Friend of ours let a stunning four berth Bessacar go for a pittance not so long ago. It went for a good few thousand under what they paid for it. Even we were tempted!
If it was an older van, I would say have a go at altering layout, but not a new one, too risky.
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The interior is usually a major part of the structure of the caravan and removing this could leave you with an unsafe caravan.
The caravan is built to balance with the furniture fitted as sold, and changing this to the extent suggested could leave you with an unstable outfit, or a nose weight that is beyond the tow cars capacity and that of the hitch.
I do sympathise as we had the same problem, but I am afraid the suggested changes are not viable. We just had to live with it until we changed the caravan.
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