Purely functional
we needed something minimal so we could still sleep all 5 of us. Tested the shelves last week with a week long trip to Cornwall before working out what final modifications are needed for a month in france.
Shelves 'sit' on the nearside rear seat mount and are bolted into the nearside rear roof handle (it can't move upwards so can't hop off the seat mounts). The rear 'leg' then sits over the ground anchor for the nearside rear seat (i was thinking of have a pin through the leg to lock it onto the anchor also..but it's solid already as it is) and the front 'leg' rests on the floor.
Lower level holds a portaflush 20L and a 25L water container..I'll be putting a submersible pump in the container and some form of pipe in as a tap
There's room left for a trug full of shoes etc and behind the water/over the wheal arch there's room for a small shelf where I'll be storing essential tools for the bongo ! Toilet and Water are tethered to the rear seat floor anchor in case of accident...they didn't move under their own weight the whole journey so happy with just tethering them for future..will replace the bungee with something else for the toiilet tho..
First shelf is for 'kit' (cutlery, 5 bowls, 5 mugs, msr stove , rope and various survival type things..oh..and toilet roll by the looks of it !)
second shelf has clothes and two sleeping bags with my travel fishing rods, another sleeping bag and a tarp wedged in the void by the window.
third/top shelf held a collapsible box with all our food in..easier to get into it when the roofs up of course, but sufficed on route as well..as well as , a 'box' of 'stuff' (maglights/first aid etc) and wash kit.
Wetsuits, wet weather gear, swimming gear and even 2 snorkels and masks were stored in a flat collapsible box under the bench seat with the remaining two sleeping bags under the bench seat and back seat. AA emergency bag of rubbish wedged under between bench seat and offside panel.
Finally, we had a fold away table which also held within it 4 chairs and a notebook BBQ sitting on its side between the shelves and the rear seat...a bit of a pain but it did get used..
Shelves are lined with grip mat (apart from the clothes shelf).
The contents were held in place by some pretty material and velcro and a few staples....we had NOTHING fall out or off in the whole week which is more than I can say about the motorhome we once rented !
we have 2 adults, a 3 year old, 6 and 8 year old and travel light (our previous bongo was a terra nova terra firma). Shelves worked a treat with the following mods to be made over the next few weeks..
1. Drop down doors (possibly sinlge doors covering shelf 1 and 2) to double as work surfaces at rear for outside prep and sides/front for internal prep to replace the material and velcro
2. Pumped water on a simple switch powered from the cig lighter
3. additional small shelf behind water tank for socket sets/tools etc
4. Pull out/recessed hooks on rear and side for temporary hanging of bin bag / wet clothes, other 'stuff'
5. Canister brackets to hold msr fuel
6. some sides and a half height door for the 'larder' shelf to avoid the need for the collapsible box and make access a little easier
1995 M reg 2WD AFT in green/grey (and an Oakley Thermonuclear Protection decal for some reason!)
