4-Berth Campervan Conversions: A Family Guide

Berths Are Not Seats

A campervan’s berth count is the number of people it sleeps. Its travel seat count is the number of people it can carry, one per belted seat. The two are different numbers, and plenty of vans sleep more than they seat or seat more than they sleep.

For a family of four you need both: four places to sleep and four belted seats to travel in. Get those two numbers in writing from any converter before you look at anything else.

What the Law Says About Seats

UK law is simple on the part that matters most. If a seat has a seat belt, you must wear it, and only one person is allowed in each seat fitted with a seat belt. Children must use the right child car seat for their height or weight, and a child seat needs a lap-and-diagonal belt unless it is designed for a lap belt or fixed with ISOFIX.

There is no rule we could find that sets a separate standard for the rear seats fitted in a converted van, so the safety of those seats rests on what is fitted and how it is fixed. The DVLA’s own guidance puts the responsibility on the converter or the keeper to make sure alterations do not compromise safety. In practice that means asking what seat is being fitted and what testing its maker states.

The Rock and Roll Bed Does Most of the Work

In a compact camper the rear seat is usually a rock and roll bed: a bench with belted seats that folds flat into a double. Makers publish their own testing claims. Reimo, for example, states that its V3000 bench is tested to ECE R14 and R17, the UN standards for seat belt anchorages and seat strength, and comes with ISOFIX fittings for two child seats. Other makers advertise M1 pull testing. These are the manufacturers’ statements, so ask the converter for the certificate for the exact bed they fit.

For a family, check three things:

1. How many belts the bed has. Two-seat and three-seat versions exist.
2. ISOFIX, if your children still use child seats.
3. How the bed is fixed to the van floor, and whether the converter uses the maker’s own fixing kit.

Where Four People Sleep

The usual four-berth layout in a mid-size van is two on the rock and roll bed and two in a pop-top roof bed above.

The pop-top bed is typically where children sleep. We found no published weight limit for pop-top roof beds, and makers describe them in terms of sleeping places rather than weight, so read the roof maker’s manual and ask the converter before two adults sleep up there.

In a large van (a Ducato, Sprinter or Crafter) four berths usually means a fixed double at the rear plus a dinette or a drop-down bed that converts at night. That gives adults more room, but you still need four belted travel seats, which in a large van usually means a belted bench behind the cab seats.

Which Vans Suit a Family of Four

Mid-size with a pop-top (VW Transporter, Ford Transit Custom, Renault Trafic, Vauxhall Vivaro) is the most common choice. It drives and parks like a large car, and a two-seat rock and roll bed plus the two cab seats gives four belted seats.

Large van if you want a fixed bed, a washroom and space for long trips, and can live with a van over 6m long.

Small vans such as the Caddy are two-berth vans. They are not a family option.

Weight Adds Up Quickly

Four people, their bags, water, bikes and a rock and roll bed use a large share of a mid-size van’s payload. A pop-top and its roof bed add weight high up. Work the numbers through the payload calculator with your family’s real weights before you commit.

What It Costs

Nine converters in our directory list family builds as a specialism, and five of them publish a price range. That is too small a sample to quote an average honestly, so use our price list and the cost calculator. A pop-top usually adds a significant sum to a mid-size conversion, and a tested three-seat bed with ISOFIX costs more than a basic two-seat one. Both are worth paying for if you are carrying children.

Questions to Ask a Converter

• How many belted travel seats will the finished van have, and how many berths?
• Which rock and roll bed do you fit, what testing does its maker state, and can I have the certificate?
• Is ISOFIX available on that bed?
• What does the roof maker say about the roof bed’s use?
• What will the finished van weigh with four people aboard?